How to get promoted
03 May 2022
5
min read
In 2022, the Australian recruitment market is primed for job seekers. We are experiencing a “tight” jobs market, meaning there are more job advertisements posted and fewer candidates to fill vacancies. You may also be seeing work colleagues resign to pursue other opportunities, leaving roles for your organisation to fill.
Here’s some tips on how to get promoted in 2022.
62% of Australian Retirement Trust members with a QSuper account are women,1 and yet Australian women retire with on average 23% less super than men.2 Promotions generally come with more pay, which means more savings in your super for retirement.
Be proactive
A tight labour market opens opportunities internally for employees to step up, Australian Retirement Trust’s Recruitment Lead Ashleigh Mansbridge said.
“A keen internal candidate, who already knows the organisation and is willing to learn, is often more appealing to hiring leaders than hiring someone externally,” she said.
Sometimes management may not know you are interested in a new opportunity or have not thought of you as a possibility for promotion, especially if it’s outside your current department. So it can be productive to be proactive and seek out the relevant leader to let them know you are interested.
Speak to your leader
Lots of people find it awkward to speak to their manager about the possibility of their next role, particularly if it’s a role outside of their current department, or team, Ms Mansbridge said.
Let your leader know that you’re still committed to your current role, but that there are other areas you’d like to develop,” she said.
Good leaders help team members advance in their careers. They may be able to assist with helping you find opportunities or even to create opportunities for you to show your abilities.
Stand out from the crowd
Do you feel like you are working hard but your efforts are often overlooked? Sometimes being surrounded by similar high-performing colleagues makes it hard to stand out, especially if you are employed by a large organisation. Some options to help you get noticed include:
- Looking for opportunities where your knowledge and performance can be showcased, like staff meetings, the company intranet and performance reviews
- Volunteering to be involved in projects and taking on extra responsibilities
- Building relationships through informal work events and company networking opportunities.
It is also important to find people who believe in you and value what you do within your organisation.
“This might be your leader, but it may also be other colleagues that you work with,” Ms Mansbridge said.
“That way, when an opportunity comes along, you’ll have no shortage of people in your corner backing you.”
Don’t underestimate your value
If you have been successful in scoring an opportunity to step up, ask your employer how you’ll be remunerated for the additional responsibilities.
If you’ve been made an offer, you don’t have to accept on the spot. Let your employer know that you’re excited but would like to take some time to consider the offer, Ms Mansbridge said.
“All too often, women are worried that they will seem disinterested if they don’t accept an offer right away,” Ms Mansbridge said. “But it’s okay to take some time to think, and to do your research before accepting.”
Do some market research to understand what the average salary is for the position you have been offered and use this if needed to negotiate.
Adding to super
For those interested in putting more money into their super, there are several ways to do it:
How to stay on top of your super
1. Data held by Australian Retirement Trust for members with a QSuper account as at 31 March 2022.
2. Median superannuation account balances in 60-64 age group (including nil balances) in 2018-19, ATO Taxation Statistics 2018-19 – Individuals, Chart 12: Individuals – median super balance, by age and sex, ato.gov.au/About-ATO/Research-and-statistics/In-detail/Taxation-statistics/Taxation-statistics-2018-19/?page=6#Chart12Individuals, accessed 7 March 2022.
This content is provided for information purposes only, and the opinions expressed are theirs alone and should not be taken as financial product advice. You should get professional advice before making an investment decision.