Are you tired of working in your current position? No matter how much you enjoy your job, eventually, you can start to feel like you’re stagnating in your job and want more. Though working for a long period of time at a job can sometimes result in a promotion, you need to do more than just clock in hours every year to show that you’re ready for the next step in your career; you need to actively show and tell your boss that you’re ready for a promotion.
One of the best ways to do this is to make your boss’ job easier. Start taking on more tasks and responsibilities that eventually render your boss’ job obsolete; this won’t put them out of a job, so don’t worry about that. Rather, taking more off of your boss’ plate will allow them to focus on new areas of interest that their bosses have wanted (or needed) to address for a while. Doing more for your boss and letting them concentrate on these new areas will show your strong work ethic to your boss, and that will eventually go up the chain of command to someone who might be interested in giving you another position. Even if it doesn’t, doing this will get you noticed while improving the company as a whole, and that is a very good thing.
You should also take control of the projects assigned to you and own them from start to finish. Leaders are people who take on several projects and follow through on them—show your bosses that you’re leadership material by taking your own projects just as seriously. Follow through with tasks involved in the project, connect with individuals working with you on it, and take initiative. If you consistently do this with your projects, you’ll make yourself a valuable and indispensable part of the team. Eventually, this show of leadership will end in you getting a promotion.
While all of this is well and good, no one wants to work with a pessimist. Who wants to work with someone who brings the mood down during work? Positive attitudes are essential if you want to make it far in your professional career, and that means you can’t let stress get to you. That isn’t to say that you can’t be stressed—you are, after all, only human. However, you should focus on keeping your cool during these situations and act as a role model to your fellow colleagues. Keep positive as you complete your work, meet deadlines, and ensure customer satisfaction; being a positive presence in the office will ultimately work in your favour.
If all else fails, go up to your boss and outright say that you would like a promotion. Sometimes management might not even be aware that you want a promotion, especially if the position you want is outside of your department. Telling them directly that you want a promotion will put you on their radar, and often, management will even tell you what you need to do to secure the position.