Get a promotion: Your everything guide to getting ahead

Technically, a promotion means to “raise” someone up to a higher level, a change in job title to one more advanced than their current one. But a promotion does not necessarily include a pay raise. While a raise might accompany a promotion, there are times it doesn’t; it can depend on your manager, your company, and more.

Consider what you want before you head down the path of asking for a raise and/or a promotion. Do you feel a higher-level role more accurately reflects your current job duties? Or do you simply want a pay raise, but are fine keeping your current title?

Generally speaking, when most people think about asking for a promotion, they are looking for both a raise in pay and an elevation in job title.

There are several justifiable reasons that you might deserve a promotion. Here are some top considerations:

• Increase in workload or complexity of duties. Research typical duties for similar positions at other companies. If you are doing much more than the norm for your role, you can build a case, just be sure you’re not burning yourself out, because you’ll be expected to keep that pace.
• More advanced or challenging workload. Have your projects or reporting structure changed? If you’re working on more complex, higher-stakes work, affecting the company’s bottom line more directly, or supervising more people than before, it may be time to ask for a title that matches your duties.
• Have you hit the wall? If you have achieved all you can in your current position and are consistently hitting or exceeding your goals, it may be time to take the next step. Feeling bored and ready for more is a signal you need a new challenge.

One caution: if you are frustrated, upset, and burned out, a promotion on its own won’t fix that. Sort out whether you want the growth or just an exit from the grind before you ask. When you do ask, lead with evidence. As one Analyst on Glassdoor Community put it, “Get as much data as you can that shows your competency and what you bring to the company. Metrics, KPIs, pretty much anything that shows your worth in tangible numbers.”

Strong performance is the baseline, not the differentiator. Once you’re delivering, promotion decisions tip on how visible your work is and how you show up. Focus on three things:

• Visibility. Make sure the people who decide promotions actually see your contributions, not just your direct manager.
• Cross-team relationships. The colleagues you help in other departments become the voices who vouch for you when your name comes up.
• Leadership without the title. Start acting at the next level now: mentor a teammate, own a problem end-to-end, and speak up in the rooms where decisions get made.

The soft skills matter more than most people admit. As one Chemist on Glassdoor Community put it, “Technical knowledge and skill just goes without saying. That’s the baseline. What will help set someone up for promotion is just being personable.”

Timing is key. If any of the considerations above apply to you, you’re in a good position to ask for more. But there’s more to consider than your work. You should also think about:

• Company performance. Is the company doing well financially, with a generally good climate and positive prospects? If it’s struggling, it might not be the right time. Also consider the fiscal year timing as it relates to bonus payouts and the typical timing of promotions and raises.
• Would a promotion help your manager? Your boss is a worker just like you, with goals and performance expectations. Think about how a promotion might fit into your manager’s development plan and help further their goals.
• Consider the timeline. If a promotion might be premature, say you got new duties recently and haven’t yet proven you can do the job, you may want to wait. Document your progress and successes along the way so you can demonstrate that you deserve the promotion when the right time comes.

Whether you work from home part-time or full-time, your performance should be measured the same as someone who goes to the office every day. If you’ve been getting more done by working remotely, you may have put yourself in a strong position to ask. That said, standing out as a remote employee can be harder than being an in-person worker. Out of sight can mean out of mind. Be prepared to describe ways you’ve built strong relationships even while working remotely, and to point to the skills that earn a promotion, such as your self-discipline, your communication, and your understanding of the daily workings of the business.

You don’t have to wait for one big meeting, either. Raise it early and often. As one Data Analyst in the Glassdoor Community put it, “Ask in 1-on-1s at the end how you can expand your scope. Make it a recurring question.”

Knowing how to ask for a promotion starts with creating a situation in which your manager will likely say yes. This involves some prep on your part. Here’s how to create the business case for your promotion:

• Prepare. This is an important, professional meeting. Bring documentation for your supervisor to review, keep a copy for yourself so you can go over the points in order, and rehearse what you’ll say so you can discuss each point in detail.
• Track your accomplishments for the company. Describe projects you completed and positive feedback you received, including comments from your performance reviews. Frame your work around how it benefited the department and company, not boxes you checked off.
• Outline the impact of your role. Document how your work has changed, particularly the ways it positively affects the business. Leave personal reasons out of it, as these aren’t relevant arguments for why you deserve to level up.
• Explain why this is the right time. Present a business case for why now is the best moment to move you forward and how your new role can support your manager’s and department’s goals.

Need an opening line you can adapt? Try this:

“Thank you for making time. Over the past year I’ve [specific accomplishment with a metric], and I’ve taken on [expanded responsibility]. I’d like to talk about moving into [target role] and what you’d need to see from me to make that happen.”

One common pitfall: Make the case about business impact, not personal need, so don’t lead with “I need more money.”

Rejection is hard for anyone to take, but you should prepare yourself just in case you hear “no.” No matter how uncomfortable you feel, keep your cool. How you handle yourself at this critical moment may be key to whether or not you will be granted a promotion in the future.

If you’re turned down for a promotion:

• Stay calm. Take a deep breath and keep your composure. Try not to take the denial personally, and instead, find out why your promotion has been denied. It may be out of your manager’s hands, so try not to jump to conclusions or react negatively.
• Ask why. Politely ask why your request can’t be accommodated, and take notes. For reasons you can control, build an action plan and ask again once you’ve checked those boxes. If the reason is budget, ask when the next planning cycle is so you can time your next ask. If your manager cites company performance and you have evidence otherwise, ask for clarification (without becoming argumentative, of course).
• Ask for a timeline. Work with your manager on when the time is right to push again. If they are reluctant to set a date, create a project plan for yourself around the must-dos that get you to the next level.
• Be flexible. If a promotion is off the table, consider negotiating a raise instead, or ask to have one baked into next year’s budget with a written commitment from your manager. Other things worth negotiating include more paid time off, a spot or performance bonus, or a restructuring of your duties.
• Be honest with yourself. If there is no hope for advancement or it’s clear that you’ll never get a promotion, you have to decide if you’re content to stay, or if you should start looking elsewhere. As one KPMG employee in the Glassdoor Community put it, “It’s important to recognize and accept when your personal development is outpacing your current role. Your options are to either stay and hope something opens soon, or find a new job that is a step up.” Don’t threaten to quit because your request wasn’t granted. Keep it professional, thank them for their time, and politely end the meeting.

Go into the process with an open mind. It costs a company a lot when someone leaves and a new person has to be trained, so you might be surprised at the mountains a manager will move to retain a valuable employee. Retention is a key focus at many companies now, and turnover reflects poorly on managers, so they are more likely to do what they can to keep you.