How To Improve Your Prospects Of Getting A Promotion At Work
You started out on your accountancy career and worked hard to get professionally qualified, and at the same time hold down a demanding job. You were sure that once you were professionally qualified you would have no shortage of opportunities to start climbing the career ladder.
What you are finding however that getting promoted is a lot tougher than you thought. Maybe you are the person who does a decent job but is not on the radar in terms of the up and coming manager or leader.
The truth is that if you want to climb the career ladder you have to take control. No one is going to hand you a promotion on a plate. You are going to have to earn it.
So what can you do to improve your promotion prospects at work?
Consistently deliver what you said you would. This is often something that comes at the end of lists of suggestions. The reason I put at the top is that evidence of continually delivering what you promise is going to be have much more impact than what you might potentially do.
Be willing to take on new challenges, especially if they are going to provide a bit of a stretch and make you feel a bit anxious too. It might be really easy to go through the motions but eventually people will assume that you are not really bothered about moving upwards in your career and will forget about you.
Learn what it takes to succeed at the next level. Use this as a basis of planning your continuing professional development activities rather than just doing development randomly.
Seek feedback from others. Learn what you do well and what you need to work on to get to the next level. More importantly act on the feedback that you receive. If you don’t it is a complete waste of time asking for feedback in the first place.
Operate at the next level even if you are not being paid at the next level. When I worked in the Big 4 Accountancy firms there was a bit of an unwritten rule that you had to demonstrate that you could operate at a more senior level before you were formally promoted.
Be willing to take the lead even if you are not the most senior person on a team. In any tem people have different sills and expertise. The best person to lead is usually the person with the right skills and experience for the specific situation.
Learn how to perform well in job interviews. What I noticed is that it is often harder being interviewed when people already know you. They already have some pre-conceived ideas and opinions. They know your weak spots. In many ways you have to perform exceptionally to get that promotion within your current organisation.
Be someone who contributes to organisational success. Many people do a great job within their own function but don’t look to contribute across the wider organisation. This is where you really demonstrate your potential to the key decision makers.
Duncan Brodie helps ambitious accountants in industry, commerce and the public sector to achieve more career success. He invites you to sign up for his free report, The 7 Biggest Barriers To A Successful Career In Accountancy
About the Author Duncan Brodie
Since 2006 I’ve worked with in excess of 8,000 accountants and professionals in workshops, seminars and one to one helping them land their next jobs and become better leaders, presenters and business partners. Before that I spent 25 years in accountancy climbing the career ladder from Payments Clerk to FD. I’m a CIMA Fellow, Certified Professional Coach and Team Coach Facilitator.