Often, when you’re working hard in your job you hope a promotion and pay raise will come in time. You figure once the team sees your contributions, naturally, they would want to reward you. That’s logical thinking but rarely does it go that way. Few companies are that proactively generous.
In order to get that promotion and hopefully a decent pay raise with it, you need to strongly advocate for yourself and create a plan to achieve your goals. This means doing a good job but also creating visibility of yourself and the work you do. And It means networking within your org to build relationships and hopefully strong advocates. Let your reputation precede you.
How to position for promotion from day one
The best time to tee up this request for promotion is at the offer negotiation stage. At that time, you have the most leverage because you recently (and effectively!) sold your value and they are eager to bring you on board.
One thing you could say is, “As part of the onboarding, I would like to understand what is expected to get to a more senior role for this position. I would like to plan a performance review in 6 months so a promotion can be a consideration at one year if not earlier.”
While some may consider this aggressive, it is showing that you are both eager to grow and add meaningful value. Your hiring manager should be more pleased than defensive with such a request.
How to pitch for a promotion the right way
Regardless of when this conversation about promotion eligibility happens, the most important part is to approach the conversation the right way.
It’s important to get a clear understanding of what is expected of a more senior role. Ask your boss to give examples. Tie them down to metrics if possible. The point here is that you are being objective about what will be expected to reach this goal. And with understanding those expectations, the goal will be much easier to measure and prove. By doing this, you’re also signaling to your boss that achieving your goals is a priority to you and you’re willing to do the work to succeed.
If your objective is to move into another area, the conversation can follow the same pattern. Ask questions to figure out the gap between your current skills or experience and the skill required to qualify for the desired position. Document your findings and together with the manager come up with a plan to close the gap.
Get creative on how you can get across the skills gap for your target role. It could be formal training, obtaining certifications, job shadowing, or a job share for a period of time. Keep pressing the manager on HOW you can practically qualify for this new role.
Pin down a promotion timeline with your manager
Once you’ve figured out what needs to be done with the proof of performance, turn to the timeline. Together determine a reasonable timeline to achieve these goals. Consider an incremental plan to show progression and growth of skills. Put this plan in writing so you both can revisit it later. Share a copy too with HR. Then plan a series of quarterly check-ins to both discuss what you have accomplished and gather feedback on your efforts. Refine the plan as needed but reiterate the date you both agreed to.
Research pay ranges before you negotiate your promotion
While it’s unlikely that the manager will commit to a dollar amount with your promotion, you can do some early research. I think it’s fair to ask your manager and/or HR what the pay range is for the desired role. They may have different brackets for senior levels. Then do some research to determine if their range reflects market value.
Here are some aggregate data sources:
- Levels.fyi – For tech and SaaS roles; detailed by company, level, and location.
- Glassdoor – Crowdsourced salary reports; may be outdated or skewed.
- Payscale – Self-reported salaries with filters (industry, experience, location).
- Salary.com – Good for HR and finance-aligned benchmarks.
- Comparably – Crowdsourced comp data + employer culture insights.
- Indeed Salaries – Aggregated from postings and employee input.
You should supplement these sources with government data like the Bureau of Labor Statistics (in the US), professional organizations (like PMI), industry recruiters, and published job postings for states that must report pay ranges. For this last option adjust the pay range up or down based on your company location. For example a salary range in New York City will differ from a range in Iowa.
But besides these sources, the most reliable source of accurate salary range is through networking. Ask current or recent employees or peers in the profession their assessment of pay ranges. For instance during informational interviews say: “Can you give me a sense of the typical salary ranges for this role or level?”
Create contingency plans if you don’t get company support
As you approach the agreed upon date, reflect on if you’re getting the support from the company that you were hoping for or expecting. Sometimes the company may not follow through on its commitments and may defer your advancement or deflect the conversation. Often the excuses are just excuses. “Sorry no budget right now.” Or “it’s just bad timing.”
If you face this at any part through your promotion attempts, consider contingency plans. This means considering roles outside the company or in other departments. It’s better to start the job search process sooner than later to give you back-up plans and possibly leverage. Rely principally on your network connections opposed to job applications which tend to result in repeated rejection (only 1-2% of applications yield an interview). Keep exploring what other options you have because your current one is not the only one.
Wrap-up
If you do good work, you should be rewarded for it. Not only with a promotion but with pay to match. You get promoted not by waiting for it but by advocating for it. Create a plan with your manager and drive the agenda. If you don’t get the buy-in that you hoped for, take your ambitions, hard work, and future successes elsewhere. There are plenty of companies out there that will gladly receive you.