Promoting to a new employer

Introduction

Getting ready

You have decided you want a promotion and you want it at another employer. That's great. There are times in your career when it is necessary to make a - small - step up the ladder.

It is not always possible to promote at your current employer, and if you really want, need or have earned that promotion there is little else to do but change employers.

But before you quit your current job, or, if you have already done so, you need to have things in order. There is a logical method of working towards a promotion and it is a good time to sit down and consider the facts.

The next is a short list of necessities to have ready before you start looking for that new and better job.

• A career assessment

• A resume or CV

• The right qualifications

• Information about wages and benefits

• Other promotional possibilities

• Work environment

• Travel

We will go through each of the above steps one by one. At the end you should be able to assess whether you are ready to submit your resume and start applying for that better job.

I've changed my mind and I want to look for promotional possibilities at my current employer.

Career Assessment

Before you dive headlong into job databases you need to take a closer look at your career goals and make a proper assessment of where you are coming from and where you want to go with your career. What is the underlying reason for wanting a promotion? Consider the following possibilities:

• I have been at my current employer for years but there are no promotional possibilities here, and I really deserve one.

• I have been at this job for years but other people get promoted instead of me and now it's my turn.

• My employer has made it clear that he wants me where I am and that he is not going to promote me.

• I have increased my skills and education and I cannot promote where I am. I have spoken to my employer and they have no openings.

Whatever your reason, promotion could mean:

• More job responsibility.

• Responsibility over other people or needing to manage other people.

• More money.

• The same pay but a more challenging job.

• More hours at the job and less at home.

• More travel.

• A higher level of knowledge.

Many people underestimate what a promotion means. They just think they get more pay and that they can now be boss over other people, for example. It's not that simple. Consider the above points and decide for yourself whether any or all have been considered and which ones are okay and which ones are unacceptable.

Promotions may mean more money but they also mean spending more. If you move into a managerial position you may need to change or expand on your wardrobe, for example. You may be required to pick up the lunch tab, but this time at a restaurant rather than a sandwich shop.

So to make a good career assessment, you need to make sure you are ready for that promotion, especially when it involves managing other people.

Resume or CV

An important document to have ready is the right resume or curriculum vitae. This important document not only gives your prospective employer an overview of your career life and goals, but the way the document is made can also give a positive or negative insight to how you are and how you handle situations.

A good resume or CV can get you the job over someone who is even higher qualified but has a badly written one. And a bad resume or CV won't get you even invited to the interview. The sad thing about resumes or CV's is that you only know you have a good one when you get invited to an interview. You hardly ever get feedback that it was your resume which was the reason you weren't invited. So make sure!

Take a sidestep to our Resume or CV section and compare your enthusiastically but non-essential resume or CV to a professionally constructed one. For free, if you want to.

	I want to see if my resume is a killer or a blank.
	I want to know more about job interviews.

The right qualifications

This essential subject will keep coming back throughout our web site. It is important that you have the skills to do a job right. And even if you don't have all the qualifications necessary, many jobs are learned on the job and not before.

But it is very important that you are aware of your knowledge and skills. You may find out you know much more than you thought. Or less. But in the search for a promotion it is advantageous to have the right skills and knowledge before you apply.

Promotions are often dependent on skills, certification and experience. Preferably you have all three and are willing to learn more.

	I want to see if my qualifications are good enough for the promotion I want.
	I want to have a look at some job databases to see if my qualifications are good enough for the promotion I am seeking.

More pay, more responsibility

Not happy with the pay or benefits you get for the work you do? An excellent reason to seek promotion elsewhere.  So make sure your new job has all the pay and benefits you want, or, at least, has a short term view to your goals.

If your future employer only mentions more pay somewhere in the future, get it written in your new employment contract. You may never see it otherwise. Promises are easily made, hard to keep.

I want to know more about pay scales and benefits so I know what to bargain for when I promote.

Lateral promotions and work environments

A lateral promotion? What's that? Simple. A lateral promotion, also known as a horizontal promotion, is where you get more pay and responsibility but you do not promote to a managerial position.

Not everyone is made out to be a manager or a boss. The difference between being the boss and acting like one is often misunderstood. In its basics it's very simple:

• When you are the boss you don't have to be bossy
• Being bossy doesn't make you a boss.

Now that is simple, isn't it? Very. Too many people think that because they are the boss or manager that they need to know everything better than the people they manage.

This is wrong. Managing people has to do with the knowledge of managing people foremost and the skills that these people hold is secondary to this. Yes, it is good to have been at the position of some of your "underlings" but a good understanding of the subject matter is enough. They are best at what they do, you be best at helping them be their best.

So when you want a promotion but are not comfortable in having to handle people, and not everyone is suited for this so do not be ashamed of saying so, there is the lateral promotion.

The lateral promotion is where, because of your increased knowledge, skills or experience, you earn more pay but do not get a managerial position. Many companies have realised over the past decade that one way to keep their personnel happy is not to make them supervisor, manager, partner or vice president, but to pay them better for being good at what they do. It's a simple way of rewarding - and keeping - valuable employees without putting extra strain or a new life on them.

So if this is what you're really looking for, remember to mention it in your resume or curriculum vitae.

Travel issues

Traveling is an important part of work happiness. Often the lack of having to travel to work provides more happiness. Commuting is as old as civilisation with entertainment and office - administration - workers usually having to travel the furthest. Artisans and tradesmen often lived in or near their place of work.

It is no different today except that commuters now number in the hundreds of millions worldwide and mass transit is necessary to get us all to our place of work.

If travel is an issue, whether you want to travel less or that you want more travel in your new job, make sure that you are aware of the travel involved in getting there or that extra - business - travel is needed.

I am concerned about travel issues, the cost of travel and who is to pay, and about work environments.

At this point you should be aware of the possible issues involved in making a promotion to a new employer. For more and similar information, please read the page on Changing Jobs To A New Employer, which covers certain subjects discussed here in more detail.

Final word

Make it clear in your actions, your discussions, in your resume and especially in during your interviews, that it is a promotion you are seeking, an improvement over your "old" job, and not a replacement!

Be geared toward getting yourself a better job, whether it is pay, position, location or environment you're after. Be focused and it will work.