The Professional Woman's Guide to Getting Promoted

Ruth, Wahidah, and Marisa work in the same office. They all want to be promoted to the same position. Ruth does exactly what her job description dictates: nothing more, nothing less. Wahidah completes all her assigned tasks, actively looks for additional problems to solve, and routinely mentors other members of the team. Like Wahidah, Marisa is always finding ways to add value to the company. However, Marisa goes one step further. At the end of each week, she sends her manager a brief summary of her accomplishments along with a request for feedback and direction on any other projects or responsibilities her manager might need her to tackle. When it's time to make a promotion decision, who do you think the boss will choose?

Simply doing your job and doing it well is not enough to get you promoted. Unfortunately for Ruth, a promotion isn't a reward for doing the job you are paid to do. A promotion is an investment by the company in a person that provides exceptional value to the organization. Companies invest in those who go above and beyond their basic job requirements by finding innovative solutions to problems, helping others excel, and demonstrating valuable skills related to the company's vision and strategic objectives. The following questions are often asked when you are considered for a promotion:

If you can't easily answer these questions, chances are, you aren't doing anything extraordinary enough to convince your boss that you deserve a promotion. However, don't despair! Chapter 2, Be Promotable, is packed with suggestions for making yourself more promotable.

Having a million answers to these questions doesn't automatically mean you'll impress your boss either. Letting your boss know about your achievements is critical when seeking a promotion. A study by Catalyst, a nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding opportunities for women, found that professional women who proactively communicate their accomplishments advance faster and achieve greater compensation growth than women who are less focused on pointing out their contributions. In our example, Wahidah is proactive about adding value to the company, but she isn't proactive about making her contributions known to her supervisors. The promotion will go to Marisa, the employee who goes the extra mile and communicates with her boss about her activities.

When was the last time you updated your boss on your activities and accomplishments? Chapter 3, Promote Yourself, will help you make your achievements known throughout your organization.

Taking initiative is a necessary step toward impressing your boss and putting you on the path to promotion. In the preceding example, both Wahidah and Marisa anticipate their manager's needs and perform necessary tasks without being told. While Marisa is more strategic than Wahidah about making sure their boss is aware of her contributions, it's possible that Wahidah's extraordinary contributions will be noticed by her manager regardless of whether she sends weekly updates. Ruth, however, will never get promoted by doing only those things in her job description and always waiting to be given additional instructions.

Do you anticipate what needs to be done before your boss has to ask? Is your manager consistently giving you detailed instructions and micromanaging you? Micromanaging may be a failure of your manager, but it could also signify a lack of trust in your abilities. If your boss does not see you as capable of handling tasks on your own, your boss certainly doesn't view you as promotable.

Promotions typically involve increased management responsibilities. Therefore, it is important your boss knows you are capable of mentoring, training, motivating, and supervising others. In the preceding example, Wahidah and Marisa exhibit leadership skills when they mentor others and encourage them to be even more productive members of the team. Ruth, on the other hand, doesn't have much interaction with her co-workers. She keeps to herself as she checks tasks off her job responsibilities list.

Are you more like Wahidah and Marisa, or more like Ruth? Do co-workers turn to you for professional advice and help with projects, or are you the one who frequently needs help meeting deadlines and getting basic tasks done? Do you keep to yourself, accomplishing your duties with little to no interaction with other team members? Do you get along well with others, or do you tend to have conflicts in your workplace?

A strong leader doesn't need help from others to meet their job requirements. Nor does a leader always go it alone. A leader finds opportunities to empower others, bringing out strengths, addressing weaknesses, and enabling team members to add even more value to the organization.

Let's assume for a moment that you've impressed your boss, taken initiative, and demonstrated leadership skills. What could possibly be another reason you haven't been promoted?

On paper, Wahidah and Marisa are nearly identical candidates for a promotion, but they present themselves differently in person. Marisa takes her clothing cues from senior management, opting to dress more formally even on "dress-down Fridays". She exudes professionalism in the way she speaks, works, and interacts with colleagues. Wahidah, on the other hand, is much more casual. She wears jeans most days, enjoys chummy relationships with her co-workers, and prefers to work from a reclining position with her feet up on her desk. Who do you think will get the promotion?

The way you present yourself has tremendous impact on how your supervisors view your promotability. Decision-makers need to see you as "management material." Clothes or conduct that doesn't comport with expected standards, send the message that you are not professional enough, or ready for advancement. Do you dress business casual when everyone else is wearing suits. Do you have noticeable piercings or tattoos? This may not matter if you are working for an Internet start-up in San Francisco, but if you work for a financial institution in Dallas, it could be a deal-breaker. These standards aren't always written in an employee handbook, but observing upper management will give you a good idea of the behavior and attire of those who earn promotions in your organization.

You may never be told that you aren't meeting company expectations regarding professionalism, but failing to meet those expectations can have a profound effect on whether you are perceived as promotable. What do your clothes and attitude say about you? Do you look and act like people in the position you would like to have? Chapter 2, Be Promotable, provides several tips and strategies for presenting yourself as management material.

Despite all the differences between the ways Ruth, Wahidah, and Marisa perform their duties, communicate with their manager, and present themselves in the office, what would happen if Ruth was the only one to ask their manager for the promotion? Even though she is less qualified than Marisa or Wahidah, the simple act of asking might win Ruth the job. Managers aren't mind readers. In the absence of a request for promotion from Wahidah and Marisa, the manager may assume they are happy in their current position and not interested in advancement.

Occasionally, a boss will single out a hard-working and deserving employee and award a promotion on his or her own initiative. However, these types of promotions are an exception. Waiting patiently for your turn to get promoted is a recipe for being passed over time and time again. Fortunately, Chapter 5, Ask for the Promotion, of this book is entirely devoted to getting you ready to ask for the promotion you want.

Now that we've discussed several common reasons people get passed over for a promotion, it's time to consider which ones might apply to you. This Promotability Self-Assessment Quiz will help you identify areas where your promotability could use a boost.

Read each of the following statements, then rate your agreement by circling the appropriate number: 1 (strongly disagree), 2 (disagree), 3 (neither agree nor disagree), 4 (agree), 5 (strongly agree).

After you've circled your own ratings for each statement, think about the quiz from the perspective of a manager rating your performance. For example, would your boss agree or disagree that you fulfill all your assigned duties without needing help?

Do you think your manager's perception of your promotability is significantly different than your own? If so, you may want to seek additional feedback by asking a trusted colleague to rate you using this quiz. Compare their answers to your own, as well as to the answers you think your boss would give. Being objective about your own abilities and performance can be very difficult. Seeing how other people perceive you may give you valuable information about impediments to your promotion.

Anything rated 3 or below represents an area ripe for improvement. However, to really boost your fitness for a promotion, you should be aiming for a 5 on every statement.

Given your knowledge of your workplace, your boss, and the position you are seeking, what are the areas of improvement that merit the most attention? Identify the five key reasons you haven't been promoted yet and record them in the Boost My Promotability worksheet shown as follows. Transform the reasons into action statements. For example, if the reason is "I don't dress professionally", the action statement should be "Build a professional wardrobe."

Armed with these key reasons why you probably haven't been promoted yet along with the action items for addressing them, you can begin positioning yourself for a promotion today! In-depth strategies for making yourself more promotable will be discussed in Chapter 2, Be Promotable.

If you scored mostly 4s or above on the Promotability Self-assessment Quiz in the previous section, the primary reason you haven't been promoted yet may be because you don't meet the criteria for the position you are seeking. Assessing the job requirements and how you measure up will give you a clear picture of whether you are qualified or not. You need to consider each and every stated job requirement, as well as any unspoken requirements the hiring committee expects successful candidates to meet.

When trying to determine whether you meet the criteria, every requirement matters. Don't dismiss or ignore requirements you think are trivial. One extra month of experience, one extra training course, or one certification may be the exact thing standing in the way of your promotion. This section will help you identify what you need to accomplish to be qualified for the job you want, providing you with clear, achievable goals.

So how do you assess whether you have the requisite qualifications? Start by looking at the job posting or job description for the position. In larger institutions, you will likely have access to a Human Resources officer who can quickly inform you of the required qualifications and provide insight into the qualities the company honors. In smaller companies, determining the exact job requirements can be more difficult. Hopefully, there is a written job description, but your best source of information will most likely be your boss or members of senior management.

Other excellent resources include those in the organization who have been promoted to positions similar to the one you want, as well as your immediate supervisor or other decision-makers within the company. Don't be afraid to speak with and interview these people.

Some professional women find it daunting to ask a manager or other key stakeholders about the requirements for a new position. They worry that it will make them look aggressive or perhaps unsatisfied with their current job. However, there is nothing wrong with letting your decision-makers know about your interests and your ambitions. In fact, making decision-makers aware of your long-term interest in the company and your desire to add value by taking on increased responsibility and authority is a key step in convincing them to become invested in your professional success. When talking with decision-makers about the requirements of a position, be sure to focus on the company's needs and vision instead of on your quest for promotion. This approach brings your ambition to their attention while highlighting your commitment to the best interests of the organization. Additional ways of incentivizing key stakeholders to invest in you professionally will be covered in Chapter 4, Win over Decision-makers.

To make the information-seeking process less intimidating, we've compiled a list of insightful questions to ask your mentor, manager, other decision-makers, or those who occupy a position similar to the one you'd like to have.

Getting answers to these questions will give you a good sense of the type of candidate that the company is seeking. More importantly, it helps you understand what the hiring committee will be looking for in you. For example, some companies reward loyalty by giving greater weight to candidates who have been with the company longer or want their employees to have accumulated a certain amount of time in their current role before being considered for higher positions. In a company like that, it may simply be a matter of time before you'll be considered a viable candidate for a promotion.

Let's look at another example. If ninety percent of those promoted within the company have a master's degree and the other ten percent have a bachelor's degree, you can tell that having some degree is a non-negotiable requirement. However, candidates with a master's degree are clearly preferred. Having only a bachelor's degree shouldn't prevent you from pursuing the position, but you must recognize that you will have to be an exceptional candidate in other areas to overcome the lack of a master's degree. You'll need to be ready to explain why you are the best candidate despite not having the preferred level of education. Understanding this dynamic may also mean that you will need to go back to school to further your career. You'll have to consider what steps you are willing to take in order to meet the requirements of the position.

Conversations with key decision-makers will also help you determine instances where the unwritten requirements are more stringent than those set forth in the job description. Sometimes a job description calls for five years of experience, but no one with less than 7 years of experience ever makes it to the interview stage. Seeking out this type of "inside" information will help you accurately assess your fitness for the promotion you seek. Understanding the real requirements will prevent you from getting discouraged by seemingly arbitrary decisions and enable you to successfully transform yourself into the ideal candidate for the promotion you seek.

As you uncover the job requirements, both written and unwritten, plug them into the following Job Requirement Worksheet. It is designed to help you compare your resume to the requirements of the position you want. For each requirement, indicate whether you meet it or not. Then, consider ways you could go meeting requirements you currently lack.

In the last column, record any steps you'd like to take in order to become more promotable. We'll return to those steps when we discuss the topic of becoming promotable more thoroughly in Chapter 2, Be Promotable.

While it's important to be aware of how well you fit each and every requirement, don't get discouraged if you don't perfectly meet every one. Very few job candidates are perfectly qualified for a position. Unless a requirement is non-negotiable (levels of education and required certificates and licenses are the most likely to be set in stone), employers look at candidates as a whole. If you are reasonably close to meeting the requirements, exceptional experience in one area may compensate for a lack of expertise in another. This will largely be due to a combination of what the company values most in its employees and the candidates that end up applying for the position.

For example, the job description may call for a PhD, but if no one with a PhD applies, the company may be forced to drop the requirement. If the job description calls for five years of experience with at least two years of managerial experience, the company may be willing to consider someone with four years of experience, three of which were in a management position. Or perhaps you don't have any formal management experience. Do you have other experience that demonstrates your ability to manage people? The hiring committee may be willing to accept it. As discussed earlier, conversations with decision-makers and other key stakeholders will help you develop a strong sense of which requirements are flexible and which ones are not.

Now that you know how well you match up with the requirements for the position, you can design a strategy to address any gaps in an application or interview and begin working toward meeting any requirements that are non-negotiable.