Jan. 26, 2011
Take steps now to get promoted at work
By Ruth Mantell, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Eager to move up the career ladder? Your timing may matter, because employers are likelier to promote workers in certain months than in others, according to data released Wednesday by LinkedIn, a Mountain View, Calif.-based professional networking site.
LinkedIn evaluated profiles of its members, focusing on data from 1990 to 2010, and found that January, June and July are the top three months for employees in the U.S. to get promoted within their companies, rather than by changing employers. The timing of promotions is likely tied to firms’ fiscal years, experts said. Krista Canfield, a spokeswoman with LinkedIn, said workers should prepare before those top promotion months. “You should start thinking about how to get that promotion months ahead,” Canfield said.
LinkedIn focused on profiles of millions of worldwide members; about half of its membership is inside the U.S.
Land a promotion
What can workers do to land a promotion? LinkedIn recommended highlighting new skills, and letting managers know about your accomplishments.
Ford Myers, a Haverford, Penn.-based career coach, said workers should strategize to land promotions.
“It’s not random,” he said. A promotion won’t “drop in your lap,” he said. “You create an environment in which you increase your chances dramatically.”
‘Loyalty doesn’t exist anymore. Longevity doesn’t exist anymore. So it’s every man or woman for himself or herself.’ (Ford Myers, career coach)
He recommended maintaining a file of your successes. “Record all your achievements, all the goals you’ve met, all the business targets you’ve achieved, your ongoing accomplishments, ways you have contributed to the company, ways you have made your boss’s job easier,” Myers said.
Andrea Kay, a Cincinnati-based career consultant, agreed. She said workers should request promotions when they can point out how they’ve added value for the company.
“Companies don’t just give promotions,” Kay said. “They give them because it is something you have earned. Either you’ve taken on a new responsibility or you’ve increased your value.”
A list of accomplishments can be ammunition in promotion discussions, Kay said.“Point it out to an employer so that they can see it in black and white; then you’ve got a great story to tell,” Kay said. “Paint a story that illustrates your value so they can’t refute it.”
You have control
Workers have more control than they think when it comes to promotions, Myers said.
“They can facilitate the process instead of just thinking it’s random or out of their control,” Myers said. “The biggest thing you can do to get promoted is to make it very apparent to your company how valuable you are and what a strong contributor you are.”
If there’s no room for advancement, consider leaving. “I’m not saying you should jump ship instantly,” Myers said.
“If you can see there’s no real room for advancement, then you need to start transitioning out unless you are content to stay in the same job forever,” he said. “If you have ambitions, and it’s clear you are not ever going to get promoted at this company, then it’s time to move on or make plans to move on.”
Know your value
It’s a good idea to have interviews with other companies from time to time, Myers said.
“You’ll know your value in the marketplace,” Myers said. “If you don’t get promoted at your current place, you say: ‘Look, I’ve had other interviews, and I know my value.’ ”
But don’t use this tactic unless you are ready to leave your current employer, Myers said. He added that workers should let go of guilty feelings of disloyalty for looking elsewhere.
“A company will think nothing of letting you go if they can save,” Myers said. “It’s a market where people come and go. Loyalty doesn’t exist anymore. Longevity doesn’t exist anymore. So it’s every man or woman for himself or herself.”
But keep in mind: Just because the economy is improving, it doesn’t necessarily follow that you deserve a promotion, Kay said.
“Get rid of that entitlement philosophy that so many people have. You need to show your value,” Kay said. “It’s dangerous to assume that just because you haven’t gotten a promotion in three years, and things are looking up, that you will naturally get one.”
Ruth Mantell is a MarketWatch reporter based in Washington.
