4 Essentials to being Promotion Ready!

4 Essentials to being Promotion Ready! – By Arnie Wohlgemut

Over my career I have reviewed hundreds of resumes, looking to find that person best suited for the position I was looking to fill.

There are many reasons why people quit or look for new employment. One reason is the desire for career advancement. In essence, a promotion.

The challenge for hiring managers is to ascertain if the potential candidate, is capable of additional responsibility and can help to move the company forward. I believe this is often easier when hiring from within. Internal candidates often have a captive audience, where they can easily prove that they are capable for advancement.

The challenge is to demonstrate that you have the ambition and potential for the new position in your resume and in the interview. Here are 4 essentials activities, when used, that can demonstrate to any hiring manager you will help their company thrive:

A. “Nail your job.” This is a term I have heard often and I have used when mentoring someone. Getting that dream job always starts with excelling at the one you have. Far to often I have seen people with potential become bored with their role and start to let their work quality and integrity slip. They go through the motions, eventually developing a poor attitude towards the role they have.

* Demonstrating your potential by laying a solid foundation that establishes your dependability, your stick-to-itiveness, and your follow-through. This is an essential skill needed by all potential leaders.

“Whatever you’ve been asked to do – whatever your role is now – do it really well and do it with integrity. Deliver results.”

Doug McMillon

B. Study to Show Yourself Approved. With additional responsibility comes new and exciting things to do! These could very well be things you have never done. In order to be successful, engage in intense, consistent study of the field or area you want to excel in. I encourage you to do what I did: Read. Assist more experienced people. Go to workshops and conferences. Watch skilled professionals at work and take note of everything they do. If you don’t understand why they did something, ask. You’ll be surprised how willing most people will be to give you a response to well thought out questions.

* Demonstrate your proven willingness to learn and excel in your current and career path.

“If you want to be healthy, study health… if you want to be wealthy, study wealth… if you want to be happy, study happiness.”

Jim Rohn

C. Be a Value Creator. This means going above and beyond what is expected of you. Being a value creator applies to your current role, and any opportunity to take on projects with more responsibility. The truth is that most managers have several new projects in mind at all times! They often delay starting one or more because the entire team is deeply involved in the whirlwind of daily activity. Offering to lead one is the quickest way to get noticed and indicates your willingness to add value to your company.

* Demonstrate this by taking on projects over and above your current position. Add value to the organization and show how this experience could add value to the position you are pursuing.

“Be assertive, be attentive and be creative. The world needs people who can add value.”

Gift Gugu Mona

D. No Discipline, No Destiny. Leadership is influence and everyone has influence. However, leadership is something to be practiced. It doesn’t just happen overnight. Part of taking on new projects should not only demonstrate your ability to deliver successfully, it is also an opportunity to develop your leadership skills. It is an opportunity to demonstrate your ability to create team synergy and influence the outcome. Do an assessment of your leadership discipline and look for areas where you are not as disciplined to be a leader as you need to be, make adjustments immediately.

* Demonstrate your ability to take on new responsibility successfully and the leadership development opportunity those provided.

“It takes constant effort and time to develop the skills, experience, and trust to become a leader and be seen as such by others.”

Andreas. Von dr Heydt

These 4 essential activities provide a win-win situation for you. If you are not successful in immediately securing a new position, the experience and knowledge you have gained will be worth it! My challenge for you is to practice them until they become a habit.