Career coach: How to land an internal promotion

Melbourne Business School Director of Careers Services John Gurskey shares the reasons why you might be getting overlooked for that internal promotion.

Do you tend to get overlooked when it comes to work promotions?

Despite regularly exceeding your targets and going above and beyond for your colleagues, it still doesn't translate into a step up the career ladder.

Meanwhile, you watch your less competent colleague scores the senior role you were sure was coming your way this time.

So, why aren’t you getting promoted?

According to Director of Careers Services at Melbourne Business School John Gurskey, there are many ingredients when it comes to getting promoted at work, and while some of them are subtle, they are critical to your career success.

Here’s his advice to help you land your next internal promotion.

Signal your intention for advancement

Don’t wait for someone to offer you a promotion.

John says the first step is to signal your interest in moving up the ladder.

He recommends starting by having proactive conversations with your manager or Human Resources leader about your aspirations.

"You must signal to the organisation that you want to move up. If no one knows, then no one can help you,” John says.

“It's about saying I have more that I can offer and greater value that I can lend to the company and letting people know.”

Signaling this to your organisation shows that you're committed to growing within the company.

“If you're an exceptionally high performer, they probably don't want to let you go. But they also don't have to create a job just for you that you really want. Ultimately, the only person that's responsible for your career is you.”

Some organisations also have formal leadership programs and John recommends applying for these or asking your organisation how you can get on the list for future programs.

Speak up about your achievements

Many high performers don’t get promoted because of a reluctance for self-promotion.

"In some cultures, particularly in Australia, there’s a fear of being seen as the 'tall poppy’ and standing out too much," John says.

However, he stresses that self-promotion is essential for promotion.

"It’s not about bragging; it’s about communicating your achievements in a way that is authentic and demonstrates your value to the organisation."

Being a high performer is crucial, but it's equally important that people within your organisation including key decision makers, know about your achievements.

He recommends building relationships across departments and leveraging internal networks to get your name known and building awareness of the value you bring.

“Finding people that are willing to be your advocate to reach levels higher than you is extremely important.”

Work out where there is a skills gap

Position yourself as someone capable of leading, not just performing.

To move up in your company, John says you need to demonstrate leadership qualities beyond technical competencies in your current role.

“As people move up in an organisation, it's not so much about having very specific technical knowledge in a functional area. It's about leadership, it's about strategy, it's about budgets, it's about influencing, and it's about having a vision,” John says.

Before applying for a promotion, he says it's important to do a "gap analysis" to understand what skills or experience you might be missing for the role you want.

John recommends then focusing on filling those gaps, whether through additional training, cross-departmental projects, or mentorship.

If you haven’t had opportunities to demonstrate your leadership, he suggests being proactive in seeking out opportunities to lead internal projects or even taking on responsibilities beyond your job description.

"For example if you're ex-military and you demonstrated leadership or you play sports outside of work,” John says.

Volunteering is another great opportunity to help solve problems and demonstrate leadership.

“There are always organisations that are looking for smart switched-on people to help them solve problems.”

Develop executive presence

Effective communication is a crucial component of moving up the ladder.

"You can be an introvert and be a leader. It's not mutually exclusive. However, when you're essentially on-stage in front of other people, you have to exhibit executive presence,” John says.

“You have to be able to speak well. You have to be able to write well. You have to be able to present well and with impact.”

John says emotional intelligence is particularly valuable when it comes to senior leadership roles.

“You have to know how to read the room. Who's really driving this conversation, what are they most concerned with, what am I going to say in this conversation and being very smart about that.”

A common concern John gets from people overlooked for promotions is that they are not ‘taken seriously.’

“The first thing I’ll say to them is why?”

John recommends looking around the room to see how other leaders dress and act for clues on how you can enhance your own executive presence within the culture of your organisation.

However, he stresses that it’s important to remain authentic to who you are, with likeability going a long way.

"If people like you, they'll probably hire you or think about promoting you over somebody that has kind of a rough demeanor and is thought of as being the guy we don't want to talk to.”

Learn how to navigate politics

Career advancement is as much about who you know as what you know.

One of the key obstacles to internal promotion is an inability to navigate, or an avoidance of, office politics.

“Sometimes people get upset because they see the person who's maybe not technically as good, but they're really good at networking and they advance their careers very, very quickly,” John says.

He says while technical skills are important, leadership in larger organisations often involves being political savvy whether we like it or not. "If you can’t identify the key players and influence them, you’ll be overlooked," he says. Building relationships with powerful individuals within the company is critical for getting ahead. 

“The higher you go, the fewer roles there are. You need people within the organisation that will back you into those roles.”

“If you can't play the political game, if you can't identify who the people are that actually hold power within an organisation and then have coffees with them, influence them around your ability to be a leader, you're going to be overlooked.”

Simply being likeable, also goes a long way.

"If people like you, they'll probably hire you or think about promoting you over somebody that has kind of a rough demeanor and is thought of as being the guy we don't want to talk to.”

If you’ve tried all of the above...

Despite our best efforts, sometimes internal promotions don’t materialise.

When this happens, John advises professionals to seriously consider whether their current organisation is the right place for them to achieve their career goals.

“If you’ve done everything you can, and you’re still not getting the promotion you want, you have to think about whether the company is the right fit," he says.

He says staying could potentially do more damage to your professional brand in the long-run.

"It could be a situation where you wake up in the morning and you're just not motivated to go to work. You can feel it at work, you're just not engaged, this then can become visible to those around you, which can now start damaging your brand,” John says.

"You really want to avoid that, if at all possible, I think that's when you have to start thinking about leaving.”

However, John cautions against simply quitting without a plan.

“Don't do that. Talk to your career coach at MBS or go talk to a career coach externally before making any drastic moves. You need to have a strategy in place, target companies where you want to work, and build a strong personal brand," he advises.

This approach ensures that if you do decide to leave, it’s for the right reasons and with a clear path forward.

“Ultimately, you have to make a decision. Is this the place that's going to help you get you where you want to be. And if it is, great, figure out what that pathway is. If it's not, it's time to start looking externally.”

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