According to a survey by HowNow, the number of promotions received by UK workers halved during the pandemic, meaning that you have to work harder than ever to secure the next step in your career.

We share our top tips from career coaches for getting yourself promotion ready in our constantly changing world, raising the topic with your manager and avoiding common pitfalls – as shared at our recent event:

1. Be brave, don’t under-estimate your abilities or let imposter syndrome hold you back. Don’t forget to push and stretch yourself. – Jenny Garrett OBE
2. Do a SCOT analysis (strengths, challenges opportunities and threats) and look at how you could add value and the difference you could make. – Suki Collins
3. In some organisations you need to put forward a business case that clearly highlights the benefits of you being promoted. – Carol Stewart
4. Sometimes you have to move sideways so that you can become well known and visible in that part of the business before you can go for promotion. – Carol Stewart
5. Think about how you can use the right language as well as giving examples to make sure you come across well. For example, use positive action verbs such as ‘I implemented’ or ‘I initiated.’ – Carol Stewart
6. If it’s an internal promotion don’t assume that people know what you’ve done. Talk about what you’ve done even if you think they know. Treat it as an external interview and don’t assume they know about your achievements. – Jenny Garrett OBE
7. Ask other people for feedback and use their words. It can be easier to use their language to describe yourself. – Jenny Garrett OBE
8. People often think that their work will speak for itself and you will get recognition and be rewarded for it (known as tiara syndrome). A lot of the time you need to be visible, demonstrate your ability and skills to perform at a higher level. – Carol Stewart
9. Getting a sponsor is a good way to position yourself for promotion – someone who is very senior or influential in an organisation who can become your cheerleader or champion and talks about you to other senior leaders and bring you under the radar of key people. – Carol Stewart
10. Don’t exclude yourself if you don’t have one of the criteria for a role. It’s unlikely that anyone will have everything, so don’t exclude yourself, make as good a case as you can and demonstrate how you can build that skill. – Joseph Ogbonna