How do you ask your boss in a pleasant, non-confrontational way and with 100% no risk of any consequences for a promotion? Here’s the secret: you don’t.
If you are performing above your job description, it’s time to be bumped up and you shouldn’t be shy about pointing that out.
You are less likely to get a promotion if you’re waiting for it to fall in your lap and never point out your wanting for it. Asking right out about your time to promotion will ensure your manager knows you’re gunning for it and forces your manager to give you some kind of answer. It will likely be “We’ll see at your review”, “You’re doing a good job” or “We don’t reveal that information”.
Honestly, all these answers suck. They are all ways of saying “I don’t want to tell you.” If they did give you some kind of time frame, then they would be committed to it. Most managers won’t be very exact which is understandable considering the risk of it back firing. However you should push your manager to give you feedback on your progress. No feedback means you have no idea where you stand. If they don’t volunteer it, ask for it.
Getting a Review
Then there comes a time for a review. You will get reviews as a college hire or as a 20 year veteran and usually this will be the "you got promoted!" or "Not yet sucka!"
Aside from promotion announcements, a review will be a recap of the last review period. Note that a review shouldn’t be your boss telling you what you’ve done over the course of the year. You should already know that, so don't let the discussion digress down this road. Instead you should drive the conversation to be about how close you are to the next career stage and how you can achieve your future career goals.
Be prepared for “constructive feedback” as well, which is manager speak for “you should do this better”. Take negative feedback as things you can improve upon, not personal criticism. No one does everything perfect; you will always get constructive feedback. And if you don’t, ask for it.
Really? Ask for “constructive feedback”!? If you know the areas your boss thinks you could do better in, you know exactly what you need to do to impress him. If he doesn’t give you this information, you’re in the dark.
Argue with your boss if you disagree with something during a review. “Oh, ok, I agree because no one saw me do the work means it didn’t happen.” Shennanigans! You wouldn’t say it out loud so don’t let it be implied. If you can show how your work a) improved the product b) helped your team and even better c) helped the bottom line, you have every right to gloat about it during a performance review.
This is the one time in life you don’t want to be modest.
Before The Review
Remember, the Internet is boring, so don’t be caught without anything to do because it gives you no leverage when getting a review. Write down all the significant things you’ve done since the last review. Even better, keep a list of important things and add to it when they happen. It’s hard to argue with a concrete list of achievements.
Have an idea of the next stage of your career if you are going for promotion. If you are prepared to point out how you are at or above all the qualities of the next stage, you are in a much stronger position to be getting a promotion. A meaty question to ask is “If I meet all the criteria, why haven’t I been promoted?” I guarentee you you will get an enlightening answer.
(Note: Orginal Posting @ http://blogs.msdn.com/coolbeans/archive/2007/05/18/give-me-a-promotion.aspx)
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