Career Advice Have You Ever Approached Your Boss For a Promotion?

[MicDown]

If so, how did it go?

I found a lot of planning and doing the tasks or at least demonstrating you can do the tasks for the job you are being promoted to goes A LONG WAY.

I used to take my boss's work to help him out, but I'd make it very obvious to the general manager I was doing this.

I was about a week from asking, and the general manager actually asked me to apply for an opening/promotion they had, simply because I'd done this prep work.

Share your experiences!

 

[Joey]

Yes. My advice to anyone who is seeking a promotion, who wants to ask for a promotion. Is to just ask. How much prep you’ve done to make the promotion a viable answer is up to how valuable you’ve made yourself to your employer through experience, research, and ability to follow though in whatever the new position is. If you have shown the initiative it’s more likely to happen.

Asking ahead of time what is required to be considered for a promotion is a good ahead of time question to ask too. There’s nothing wrong with having an agenda on hand that’s known to set this trajectory into place. People appreciate the loyalty and can do attitude involved in this. If they don’t, then maybe a promotion via job application elsewhere is what will make it happen.

People most often get their salary increases and promotions through changing companies actually. A first impression with a whole new set of experience and salary expectation might actually be an easier accomplishment than getting someone to move their employee base around up the ladder.

Just ask. Then you’ll know better what’s possible and what isn’t.

 

[Xorkoth]

I'm in the process of doing that. I'm doing work that deserves 6 figures and I'm making 73k. I told my boss the other day and she said she 100% agrees and so does the president of the company, and that they have to convince the CEO, who is hesitant to invest in internal development resources, even though... he wants us to develop new stuff. Earlier this year I was supposed to have a small team of developers under me and get a promotion to lead developer. My "unofficial" title is Lead Developer, except I'm the only developer. I've developed a web platform in a year that is about to go into production, all by myself. Quarter of a million lines of code, it automates one side of our business. Found out the CEO shot down the team even though I interviewed 4 people and gave my recommendations. I'm also leading the programming of products for a new, HUGE client, by far our biggest client of all time, one of the largest companies in the world with a tremendous budget. I'm the only one they trust to do the work for this company. We just got recommended by our client contact there to all of the other departments of that company (I'm not allowed to say who the client is because we have a nondisclosure agreement). It's largely due to the quality of my work. If we break into the other departments successfully like we did this one (our client said we're the best market research vendor he's ever worked with and he has been actively pushing his associates towards us), our business could quadruple.

If something doesn't happen with a big raise/promotion soon, I'm going to tell them I'm looking for another job. I'm 98% sure they will give me what I'm asking if that happens, but I have 5-year long range plans in motion with this company, I love my boss and coworkers, and the president told me to stick with it because "he brought me into the inner circle for a reason". So I'm hoping they do it without me threatening to leave. I know I could jump from job to job, but I love the company I work at, it's growing fast and I am a big part of that growth. And they fully accept me being a musician on the side and working remotely from the road, and stuff like that. If I could have exactly what I wanted, it would be to stay with this company until retirement, but if they don't pay me what I'm worth, I'm going to have to leave.

 

[crazyhairman]

They gave me a ton of awards, bonuses, and promotions and I still hate thier guts. I hate everyone on the board. I hate the owner I hate his stupid family and friends. I literally took the year off to fart around and travel, and they are so desperate to keep people they made a position for me so I can travel around and write reports that I'm sure no one even looks at.

But now I'm comfortable getting paid for nothing. We employ almost 1000 people currently. I quit trying to fix everything years ago. Now I just do as little as possible and take 30 vacations a year.

Crazy world, I guess I could believe I deserve it, all those years on the bottom. Wait, have I become what I hated, an over paid sell out?

....I need to take stock of my life .

 

[Dreamflyer]

I did a few times and I always got it, but I always waited until I was well-established in the company (at least a year of excellent service).