Work at Home

Many people would like to get a promotion at work, whether for recognition, change of job, or the additional pay.  These days such opportunities can be hard to come by, as companies generally arent growing, and layers of management are being eliminated.

Positioning yourself as the favored candidate for promotion takes time, though, so its good to get started well before a position opens up.  Thats the same advice I give to job seekers as well – waiting until the job is posted puts you at the end of the line.

Heres some tangible things you can do to position yourself for a promotion:

1. Understand the job.  Im often surprised at how many people assume that a promotion is just an increase in pay, with no other changes.  Thats rarely true.  A company will pay you more when youre doing something more important, delivering more value.  So the first step is to understand what that truly is.
2. Learn the new skills.  If that job will require skills you havent exercised, then you have to learn and practice them.  Then of course the next step is to:
3. Demonstrate the new skills.  The most persuasive evidence for a decision-maker is to see someone who is currently demonstrating that they know HOW TO APPLY the skills that are needed.  This can be tricky, though, because this can go outside your current job definition.  So look at some ways to demonstrate your abilities:
4. Volunteer for tasks that will demonstrate your skills.  If youll need to manage people in the new job, then look for areas where you can be leading or managing peoples work, even if its just for a task force or cross-team coordination project.
5. Leverage your skills from outside work.  Many of the soft skills (influence, leadership, organization, etc.) are the same when you apply them to non-work activities.  Volunteer to help out with a group at your kids school or at church.  Assemble a community group thats working on something that youre passionate about, like recycling or building bike trails.
6. Get mentored by people doing the job.  Theres nothing like getting the inside view of what a jobs really like.  It will help you to figure out whether you really WANT the job, what you need to learn, and who you need to know.
7. Hang out with the decision makers.  This isnt just the hiring manager.  You also want to have solid relationships with those who will influence that person.  Your goal is for them to know you, like the contributions youre making, and respect your passion for moving ahead.
8. Nurture the support of your boss.  Many times, your cur