How To Get Promoted Faster Than You Ever Imagined

How long have you been at your current job? Is it about time you earned a promotion?

There are no well defined rules on how to get a promotion. You can get promoted for a wide variety or reasons – good performance reviews, strong work ethic, intelligence, enthusiasm, relationships, skills, and the list goes on and on. What it comes down to is that it takes both time and professionalism to get promoted.

Most people don’t get a promotion right away. You have to earn your way up the career ladder. There also has to be an internal position that is open and available. If you work for a cool company, these opportunities can be few and far between. When you have a chance to go for a promotion, do it.

If you want to get promoted sooner than you ever imagined, you need to bring the whole package to your employer. Promotions are more than just skill based. They look at everything you bring to the table and then you have to sell yourself.

It’s easy to rattle off a list of what you need to do to get promoted, but most of these things just make you an outstanding employee:

• Listen.
• Stay up-to-date on the company, industry, products.
• Be a team player.
• Have a long term goal.
• Always be a professional.
• Never leave the office before the boss and always arrive before him too.
• Finish what you start.
• Speak your mind if it will save money and time.
• Be a guest service superstar
• Lead, don’t follow.
• Know your competition.
• Be a people person.
• Grow your relationships.
• Develop useful skills.
• Continue your professional development.

Can you do all of that? Of course you can. That’s just the basics. The real secret to get promoted comes from The Brazen Careerist – you need to be able to improvise.

When you see the leaders in the office, the boss, or the the company’s top dogs you need to be able have a conversation with them. You can’t preplan what you will say. You have to be able to interact with them no matter what is going on. Keep it fresh. Don’t be awkward. Just have an effortless, efficient conversation with the people who will one day promote you.

These opportunities don’t come around too often. That’s why you need to be able to improvise. Here are a few tips:

• Watch – As soon as you get hired, start to watch the higher ups. Get to know them a bit before you start chatting with them.
• Adapt – Let the conversation go with the flow. If the topic switches from company profits to softball, be ready.
• Explore – Drop little hints that make them want to get to know you. It’s kind of like what you do in a cover letter.
• Focus – It’s always easy to ask questions that focus the attention on someone else. It will keep the conversation flowing and help build your relationship.

Being able to improvise a conversation with the people who are above you at the office is an invaluable skill. It’s the one secret that will help you get promoted faster than you ever imagined. Building relationships will help you get promoted faster than you thought possible. It makes you stand out and will help people remember your name.

Practice your improv conversation skills so you’re ready to chat it up with the hotshots at the office.