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Whether you’ve been in the same role for a while and are ready for that crucial next step or you’ve been overlooked for advancement in the past, the key to securing the opportunity you want is to make yourself promotable in the eyes of your superiors. Just like during an IT job search, pursuing a promotion is about demonstrating to your employer that you have what it takes to succeed.

To help take your career to a new height, here are our top four tips for helping you achieve your next promotion in the Tech space.

Build Up a Solid Track Record

Organisations want to invest in leaders with a track record of success, so focus on where you can add value to the business and strive to be considered as an expert in your field. The ability to demonstrate tangible results makes a big difference, such as a significant reduction in system bugs. In addition to achieving targets, look at how you can demonstrate any cost savings and efficiency improvements that have resulted from your technical input. It’s a good idea to keep track of these achievements as you go, so you’re fully prepared for any opportunities that come up.

Make an effort to become the ‘go-to’ person in your current role and provide support and guidance to colleagues whenever it’s needed. When an opportunity arises and it’s appropriate, offer input into any issues or decision-making. For example, this could mean assisting someone from another department with a network issue or pitching a new software solution to streamline internal processes.

Additionally, ensure that there are people who can vouch for the outcomes you’ve achieved, and will recommend you for new opportunities.

Go Above and Beyond

It’s easy to do as instructed, but being promotable means going beyond the standard duties. Volunteering to take on additional responsibilities will demonstrate your work ethic and willingness to expand your role – a key aspect in showing you’re ready for promotion.

Seek out new projects, innovative ideas and plans to support the business, and then follow through by taking steps to put them into action. Be curious about the wider business, and take the initiative to propose new systems or technologies that could make improvements or savings. Your manager will notice. However, be careful not to take on more than you can handle, as this can do you a disservice in the end. It’s important to continue performing your current role to the best of your ability as well.

Demonstrate Leadership Potential

Managers will promote people they believe are ready for greater responsibility. The higher you move up the career ladder, the more people will be looking to you for guidance, so leadership potential is one of the most important traits of promotable employees.

Display your leadership abilities by solving problems within the team, taking ownership of IT projects, leading by example and identifying opportunities to add value.

Remember that getting promoted doesn’t always mean being the most experienced person on the team or having the strongest technical expertise. As tech roles take a broader focus within companies and require collaboration with a range of internal and external stakeholders, soft skills are becoming increasingly valuable. Consequently, demonstrating abilities such as communication and leadership potential can provide that extra edge needed to step up.

Don’t be Afraid to Ask for a Promotion

Remember that not everyone is looking for a promotion. Some people are very happy with their current level of responsibility, so if you’re aiming to step up, don’t let your employer think you’re one of them.

Communicate openly with those in management, make them aware of your ambitions and seek advice on preparing for advancement. Whilst it isn’t necessary to have a specific job title in mind, creating a solid career plan that is broken down into smaller goals will provide valuable guidance when moving forward.

Additionally, assess yourself and your performance to identify strengths and opportunities to improve. If the new role requires skills or IT knowledge that you don’t currently have, outline a plan to acquire it. Learning is a continuous process, particularly in the fast-moving IT industry, and taking the next step in your career sometimes requires looking at some additional training or qualifications.

Summary

Promotions don’t happen by chance, so don’t just wait for one to come along. By following our top tips for how to be promotable, you can ensure that when the next opportunity arises, your name is at the top of the list.

For more advice and guidance for your next IT job search, please do not hesitate to get in touch with the Sydney IT recruitment experts at Enterprise IT Resources.