The Road to Promotion: How Quickly They Forget
In my last post in this series called “The Road to Promotion,” I touched on the short-term memories of many employers. In “The Road to Promotion: A Job Search Is a Job Search Is a,” I went through some key points to consider when launching an internal promotion “campaign,” and a main point that I want to reiterate here in more detail is how to remind employers of the contributions you’ve made.
Often when the promotion process starts, there is a disconnect between candidates and their employers. The candidates think their employers already “know” them and must surely remember all the wonderful things the candidate has done during his or her tenure. The employer, on the other hand, is usually thinking less about that and thinking more about strategy (or, often, politics). Therefore, the onus is then on the candidate to shift the focus back onto 2 things:
1. What You’ve Already Done: Your Project Results and Solutions.
2. What You Still Have Left to Do: Your Innovative Ideas and Solutions.
To most effectively do these two things, hopefully you have been keeping track of your accomplishments from a Problems-Solutions-Results perspective. Also, hopefully, you have kept track of emails and other testimonials you have received from colleagues, clients, and management. Furthermore, you know you have ideas, things you see that could be improved. Here is your chance to showcase how you would go about using your new role to do that by building your own Innovation page.
All of these items can be condensed into your promotion portfolio. Yes, promotion portfolio.
Don’t just rely on performance reviews and whatever other data your current employer has on you. Don’t just submit a resume. Make sure you have your own portfolio of your work to present.
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