With the onset of a new year, there is crispness in the air, energy levels are high, and everyone is seeking out ways to make up for the mistakes committed during the past year. While it is good that you are making up for what’s lost, but wouldn’t it be even better if you could make the coming year count in an inimitable way. How about gifting yourself a promotion and salary hike?
This is that time of the year when you find yourself trying to remember what you did right and what went wrong. Before all the enthusiasm fades away into the familiar rote of your daily life, it’s appropriate time to use this energy to fast-track your career. Use the following simple steps to make way for a better future and ensure a promotion in the coming New Year:
Dress your best
Dressing well can have a dramatic effect on how people perceive your message. The clothes you wear and the way you groom yourself will subconsciously tell them whether you are compatible with them or if you are different. This will determine whether they ignore you or listen to every word of yours. A famous saying that goes like, “dress for the job you want, not the job you have” is the best thing that you can remind yourself every day if a promotion is what you want. While you might be dressing well for your current role, but if a gain in power and authority is what you seek then you should make some minor adjustments in your dressing sense accordingly.
The easiest way of doing this is to do intelligent imitation of your seniors. The changes will pleasantly surprise the management and instill faith in them that you are ready to become a part of their team.
Be Vocal
Leaders are differentiated from followers through their speech. If you are looking for a way to impress your seniors instantly is to speak up when it matters. Never cease to make the most of any opportunity to speak up, whether it is the weekly team meetings or business meetings with key business officials. Instead of just sitting and idling your time away in these meetings make your presence count by speaking on topics relevant to the subjects being discussed. Of course, it is hard, but there are no free lunches in the corporate world and if you want to get it right, you got to fight for it.
Proactive participation
Most companies have the employee initiative as one of the KRAs. This means that companies expect their employees to take proactive participation in important strategic exercises and decision making exercises. However, honestly speaking, how many of us do that in realty? But if you do engage in a significant display of initiative, it will do a lot to enhance your reputation. Doesn’t matter whether the show of initiative is small or large, it will be a great help to move up the ranks.
Ask for a promotion
For most of us asking for something as big as a promotion from our boss or even as small as a leave is not an attractive proposition. We don’t want to appear needy in front of the boss as it is simply too much to take on our ego. However, asking for something we deserve is not only perfectly OK, but also something that most of us should do more regularly. If you have got your facts right and you believe in your potential, there is no reason why your manager would find it offensive. The proper way to do the same would be to ask for an appointment, and provide concrete examples of how you have contributed to the firm’s success.
Look for a new opportunity
If nothing works out at your existing organization it would be only wise to look out for new opportunities. We all want to be counted amongst the loyal and faithful, but not at the cost of our own professional growth. Take the chance and apply to jobs and titles that are worthy enough of your skills and abilities. For every worthy candidate, there is a worthy employer out there. You only need to look at the right places. Job boards, job sites and professional social network like LinkedIn would be a great place to start. Sometimes, you might even get a better bargain than you would have got at your existing company.
About the Author: Kamlesh is a blogger and a professional career author with proven expertise in writing for topics related to jobs, job trends, different job opportunities, apply to jobs, various workplace and industry information, tips and strategies for job seekers.
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