How to Land a Promotion

This week, Jeff and I are diving into a topic that can feel like a high-stakes waiting game… promotions! It’s incredibly frustrating to feel like you’re crushing your current role only to be passed over, or worse, to feel pressured into a new position that you aren't even sure you want. We want to take the mystery out of moving up and help you feel confident in advocating for the career progression you’ve earned.

This week, Jeff and I talk about:

• What actually counts as a promotion
• The four key pillars leaders look for when promoting
• How to handle internal competition with colleagues
• A clever resume trick for fast-tracked promotions
• What to do when you’re "too good" to be moved out of your current role
• Knowing when it’s time to stop waiting and start your exit strategy
• Why you should never apply for a promotion you don't actually want

Listen in to help us, help you give yourself the best chance of landing your Next Job… NOW :)

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the podcast. I'm Greg Langstaff. I'm a certified resume strategist. I've written over 2,000 resumes, and I love helping people get new jobs.

SPEAKER_02 0:10

And I'm Jeff, and I have a lot of questions about job searching.

SPEAKER_00 0:13

He does.

SPEAKER_02 0:14

Together, we're going to talk about everything you need to know about landing your next role. In this episode, we're going to talk about getting you promoted. Yeah. We're going to talk about types of promotions, how to earn one, what to do if you don't want it, and what if it never comes. Welcome to Next Job Now, the podcast where we help you get your next job right now. So let's talk about promotion. What is a promotion? Is that more money? Does it always come with more money? Does it always come with more responsibility? Is it a new title change? Is it a whole new role? What counts as a promotion?

SPEAKER_00 1:04

Oh, it could be any one of those things. Like it's a better job at the same company. Like I wouldn't classify just a raise as a promotion if your title and responsibilities stay the same. But like, yeah, there should be an elevation of So a raise is one thing.

SPEAKER_02 1:20

Yeah. Which we talked about last week. So if you're interested in getting some more money while doing the same job you currently do, go back and listen to last week's episode.

SPEAKER_00 1:27

Yes, please.

SPEAKER_02 1:28

But that's not the same. You can get a raise that's not a promotion.

SPEAKER_00 1:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:32

Promotion comes with additional probably responsibilities or maybe even just a title change? A proper promotion, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:40

So a title, like a title elevation should happen for it to be a promotion. Um could be just from like account manager to senior account manager, something simple like that. And it will either come with um new responsibilities or broader, larger responsibilities, or you could be just doing more important versions of the same thing or more of the same thing. Or a promotion also will sometimes happen when you are being acknowledged for the extra work you already were doing.

SPEAKER_02 2:16

Now, if I want to earn a promotion, how do I set myself up for that? Oh, that's what are leaders looking for?

SPEAKER_00 2:24

That's a great question. Um, okay, so there's like four things we always want to be like building up in our in our tool belt if we're looking to move up into like leadership roles, into executive roles. So uh the four things are uh strategy. We want to be contributing to high-level strategic conversations. So, like, what should we be doing with our budget? What new programs should we be pursuing? What where can we cut costs or improve efficiencies? Strategy. Um the second thing is people leadership. So just like managing direct reports if you can. If you don't have that opportunity, how are we managing like cross-functional project teams? How are we supporting and and uplifting other people who are we are working with and and mentoring and coaching them? Um the third thing is like a deep, deep expertise in whatever your subject matter is. That we just illustrate through doing a great job at our work. And the fourth thing is results. Like people who get promoted are the people who deliver. So make sure that your work is leading to undeniable success.

SPEAKER_02 3:37

And am I being tapped for a promotion or do I go for that promotion? Similar to uh asking for a raise to say your six-month strategy of yeah, I'm really interested in uh progressing in my career, I would love to become a director one day. What does that what's that roadmap look like? Is that the same conversation you're having, but about a promotion? Or are you just doing a good job hoping that they're gonna tap your shoulder?

SPEAKER_00 4:03

Uh it can happen both ways. Like, well, I guess there's three ways. Because one is like, yeah, you speak up, advocate for yourself, and say, feels like I'm kind of doing a director job. I think it's time for a title change and a pave up. Uh like that would be fair. That'd be doing right by me. Um that's so that's one way. And like, yeah, go listen to last week's episode about like asking for a raise. We can integrate some of those same tactics around like asking about what a timeline might look like, what what milestones you might need to hit to qualify for that raise. Like, that can be really helpful to kind of frame the conversation as like a process as opposed to I want this now. Um you might get tapped for a raise, like or I mean a promotion that happens sometimes, especially if they need someone. Um, and then the other way is like kind of that internal competition situation, right? Where it's like, well, we've been in situations like this, like, oh, we're working in a department and a manager role opens up. Maybe it's brand new, or the manager left, and like a bunch of people internally are going to apply to that job, and you know, you might be fighting it out among your friends and colleagues or even external people.

SPEAKER_02 5:13

Should you apply in that situation? Like if there's an opportunity of a manager, like is it good to just put your name in the hat even if you don't want the job?

SPEAKER_01 5:22

No.

SPEAKER_02 5:22

Don't don't apply if you don't want it.

SPEAKER_00 5:24

Don't apply to a job you don't want.

SPEAKER_02 5:26

You kidding me? Um, if you were to interview for a more senior role inside your company, that's a promotion, or are you just getting a new job?

SPEAKER_00 5:34

I think it's a promotion. Like, let's say you were like coordinator of social media, and then like you're at a big company, and this like manager of mailroom operations comes up, and you're like, I think I do that job well. I like the people, like I have good relationships with the people who work in the mailroom. Um, and like I want I just want a management job to get that management experience. And you apply, and maybe they love you. Maybe you had like a personal passion for mail, maybe that's why you got into email marketing. I don't know. But like, if you got that, that's a promotion. And like in your resume, when you describe like each role, we always want to say like how you got into the position. Hired by you know, hired into this role, recruited into this role, contracted into this role, promoted into this role looks great. And that one definitely counts.

SPEAKER_02 6:26

And I know that uh resume trick that you do sometimes is if you had a quick promotion that you'll say initially hired as manager and promoted to senior manager within six months.

SPEAKER_00 6:39

Yeah, and then we don't have to list those as two separate jobs on the experience, but we're still transparent that it was one thing and we were quickly promoted. Yeah, it looks better and it's easier to read. That's a win-win, no-brainer.

SPEAKER_02 6:51

So, what other kinds of promotions are there? Like if you are taking a position, like a lateral move move, but you were asked to do like a secondment.

SPEAKER_00 7:00

Oh, yeah. Like a temporary promotion?

SPEAKER_02 7:03

Yeah, is that like a temporary promotion? Uh whether that's like interim leadership or same level but different responsibilities? Would you say that's promoted or assigned?

SPEAKER_00 7:15

I don't know how I don't know like how much that matters. Aside from like, yeah, if you wanted to like brag about it on your resume, I'd think it'd have to be a level up, like, in some way to count as a promotion, even if it's temporary.

SPEAKER_02 7:30

And that's usually that level up of title change or more responsibility.

SPEAKER_00 7:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:35

Higher stakes, potentially.

SPEAKER_00 7:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:38

So what do you do in a situation where the company is nudging you towards a promotion that you don't want?

SPEAKER_00 7:44

What did you do?

SPEAKER_02 7:46

I took the job.

SPEAKER_00 7:47

You did.

SPEAKER_02 7:48

I did. And I regretted it.

SPEAKER_00 7:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:52

It was too soon for me. Like I was being nudged towards a position that was going to start leading a team. And I was currently in a role where I was project managing, so I was using my leadership skills, but I didn't have anyone accountable actually to me.

SPEAKER_00 8:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:13

And I was loving that position. Interesting. I was really moving along projects, I was doing cool things, but I did a good job, and I I was encouraged to apply to the manager position. And then I got that position, and I was like, I don't think I actually want this. I think I put my name in the hat, hoping that maybe there'll be another candidate.

SPEAKER_00 8:39

It just feels so good when the person's like, we want you for this. And it feels good. And then you add on top of that the more money, and like you start to visualize like career progression, and it becomes really hard to say no.

SPEAKER_02 8:55

So uh if we are eager for promotion or to get that next position that they're about to post, how do you situate yourself and standout? What actions can you do in your current role?

SPEAKER_00 9:07

Wonderful question, Jeff. Thank you. Okay, so a promotion is gonna go to like a consistent high performer. So I don't mean like look busy, I don't mean be there at work early, stay late. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the person who is like solving problems, whose programs are meeting, exceeding expectations, who works well with the team, who works well with people outside the team. And you know what? Like, you do have to be kind of vocal and visual about your accomplishments. Like, so if you're gunning for a promotion, firstly, you gotta kill it. You gotta be proactive with like problem solving, proactive with like advancing things, and you have to make it clear that you're doing that.

SPEAKER_02 9:57

Yeah, you can't be modest in your workplace if you want a promotion.

SPEAKER_00 10:01

No, like a team, you know, frequent team-wide updates that are an update to tell them how great your thing went. Like, oh, I wanted to keep everyone in the loop. Uh that um we've we've generated like a 40% increase in brand awareness through this campaign, and a thank you to this person and this person who supported me in doing this. Those kinds of like updates, they're gonna make you look good. You do them frequently, and then like just like while you're getting things done, you have to be so easy to work with. People have to like you, and you just have to crush it. Like it working hard and try and trying your best, and like maybe advancing your knowledge a little bit too, like to drop into sentences with their boss, like, oh, I was listening to Manager Tools podcast the other day.

SPEAKER_01 10:50

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:51

Uh, and I learned this thing that I was thinking of trying in this situation, just like little things like that are really, really powerful for like just putting in their head, like you're you're trying to get better, because they'll love to see that.

SPEAKER_02 11:05

You said something I wanted to circle back of like it's not about crushing it at your job of like coming early, staying late, and just like doing your work. Looking busy, looking busy. I would actually, this leads to our next topic of those are the people that get looked over. That maybe you like if you're a hard worker, not the looking busy, if you're a hard worker, sometimes you get looked over because we can't afford to lose you of where you are right now. Oh, yeah, that's a tough spot to be in. Like you're so good at what you do that if you got promoted, our sales would tank.

SPEAKER_00 11:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:39

And our processes would be delayed. Like you need to stay where you are. And that is like a well, goes back to the toxic workplace, but like that's a red flag.

SPEAKER_00 11:51

I think in those situations you have to be very clear about what you want, and then that might end up if they're not gonna honor that, that might end up in you leaving. And that's exactly what happened to me. That's why we're here.

SPEAKER_02 12:07

Tell me if you're comfortable.

SPEAKER_00 12:09

Yeah, yeah, no problem. So in my last company, I in one year, I won two awards as an emerging leader, which was very nice. Thank you. Um in that same year, I applied and was a finalist for three promotions into a management role. And every of this? Three? Yeah, three different three three different departments, including our own. And each time I did not get said management role. And I so that like leaves you thinking, like, firstly, well, I thought I was an award-winning leader. That doesn't like that doesn't do anything for me, this plaque, if like the peep the very people who recognize me for my leadership aren't going to let me lead. But then, yeah, what happened from there is I was like, well, I'm not okay to just do my job anymore. Now I'm not saying they didn't pick me because they needed me to keep doing what I was doing. And like in our department, like the internal promotion, I understand. They chose someone who was absolutely awesome. Yeah. Um, and I yeah, I was comfortable kind of being a runner-up in that scenario. But like the idea is you have like two top performers gunning for the same promotion. You gotta be prepared that one of them is gonna leave. And I did. Yeah, I was and that was like the probably the first thing I said is like I don't want to do this job anymore. Because my brain also was like fully shifted.

SPEAKER_02 13:42

You're ready to move on.

SPEAKER_00 13:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:44

Once you got you have a new target, and you didn't hit that target, you can't stay where you are.

SPEAKER_00 13:49

No, and so like, as you know, I went over to like another department for a little bit. My boss was very good about like kind of hooking me up with like a transfer, knowing I might want to leave. And I did that new job for six months with the full intent of quitting uh at the end of the the little like six month placement to do this.

SPEAKER_02 14:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:11

And that was six years ago that I've now been doing this full time.

SPEAKER_02 14:17

That was six years ago?

SPEAKER_00 14:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:19

Well, congratulations on building something so amazing. Thank you. So I guess what do you do in a situation like you just said? If you didn't get the promotion, maybe you were promised the promotion and you didn't get it. Any last tips of like, okay, uh, I didn't get what I wanted? So here's my exit strategy.

unknown 14:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:41

Instead of checking out, which I think a lot of us will just check out, yeah, you need to crush it to leave.

SPEAKER_00 14:46

Yes. Yeah, I I wouldn't um like what hopefully in preparing yourself to be like the type of person to be promoted. You've been working hard, you've been upskilling yourself through courses or whatever, you've been accomplishing a lot at work, building good relationships. It's time to leverage those. And like your resume should be looking absolutely amazing. If it's not, check out our resume writing episodes of this podcast. Check out my YouTube, Greg Langstaff Career Coach, um, Instagram, TikTok, Greg Langstaff. We'll get your resume up. If you Google Greg, he's there. Yeah. Um, if you Google resume, I think I'm there. But anyway, um, yeah, like you just you might have to leave. Don't don't check out and leave if you can help it. Like, continue to do your job while you're gonna need those references, you're gonna need those last few accomplishments, probably. But like, it's yeah, it might be time to move on.

SPEAKER_02 15:44

It's now time for our unusual interview where we ask each other questions that we hope you don't get asked in an interview. Greg, you're having a dinner party.

SPEAKER_00 15:54

Nice. When?

SPEAKER_02 15:55

Uh this weekend.

SPEAKER_00 15:57

Cool.

SPEAKER_02 15:57

What will you be cooking? And you cooking.

SPEAKER_00 16:00

Me cooking.

SPEAKER_02 16:01

Yes. What are you bringing to the table?

SPEAKER_00 16:04

Good clarification, because I usually am sort of the sous-chef in the kitchen.

SPEAKER_02 16:09

No, no, no. No support.

SPEAKER_00 16:11

No support at all?

SPEAKER_02 16:13

Solo solo Greg dish. Oh man. Um And you gotta impress people.

SPEAKER_00 16:19

Oh, you just changed the rules.

SPEAKER_02 16:21

This is a dinner party!

SPEAKER_00 16:23

Well, I was gonna say um I'd be I'd be grilling burgers because I'm a great grill chef.

SPEAKER_02 16:29

That's not a dinner party, that's a barbecue, and there's a difference.

SPEAKER_00 16:32

Okay, my best dish that I can make that I would serve to people is probably this like deconstructed um sushi bowl, but I'm not gonna serve raw sushi to folks, so I would probably do a shrimp. Uh cooked shrimp. Yeah. But we get in the like rice, rice vinegar, that's very important. Yeah. Seaweed. Um, like we have these seaweed stuff, we kind of like rip up snacks? Yeah, seeded snacks. I love those seeded snacks. Yeah. Get those in there, like nice spread of veggies, avocado, shrimp, very well seasoned. A little bit of sesame oil just for fun.

SPEAKER_02 17:15

Yeah, rice vinegar and sesame oil in this.

SPEAKER_00 17:17

Yeah, and like an aioli, like spicy mayo.

unknown 17:19

Oh.

SPEAKER_02 17:21

Invite me over for a dinner.

SPEAKER_00 17:23

Okay, Jeff. We spoke about like knowing when it's time to move on.

SPEAKER_02 17:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:29

What's something in your life you're considering moving on from? Moving on from? I don't know. That's a good question. That could be a that could be a hobby. It could be a bad habit.

SPEAKER_02 17:42

I've I've currently taken a break from basketball. I have not played basketball this calendar year. Interesting. And we are almost three m full months in.

SPEAKER_00 17:53

Is that an injury-related reason?

SPEAKER_02 17:55

Yes. So it's like trying to get my body back and focus on being stronger versus Well, you've been killing it in the gym. I've been trying right now. I'm taking a break from basketball. But ball is life. I'll be back on that court soon. Nice. Once I feel better about my ankles not rolling over every time. Good call. Thank you. Thank you so much for joining this episode. Please remember to like and subscribe. Uh, and if you're looking for any free resources, visit Greg Langstaff.com. There's lots of uh templates, free resources in terms of like ebooks uh and things that will help you stand out and get the promotion that you're looking for.

SPEAKER_00 18:34

Yeah. All right. Thanks for watching. We'll see you next week.