10 Steps to get promoted quickly - Copeland Automotive

Most employees in the automotive industry will have ambitions to progress their careers, but how can you speed up the process and get promoted more quickly? Here at Copeland, I’ve been helping automotive industry employees progress their careers for over 20 years. In this article I’ll share my top tips on how get promoted quickly and move up the career ladder.

The benefits of being promoted

Some people are happy to stay in the same job for many years, however most of the automotive industry employees I speak to are ambitious and keen to progress their careers. The obvious benefits of a promotion include – more money, more responsibility and potentially a more interesting or stimulating job. However before you go headlong into seeking a promotion, be aware of that promotions can also bring longer working hours and more stress. Make sure you are ready and able to take this on.

10 Steps to getting promoted quickly

So if you’ve decided that you want to be promoted at work what can you do to increase your chances and speed up the process? Here are my top 10 actionable steps you can take to progress your automotive industry career:

1. Excel in your current job

Excelling in your current job should get you noticed as a candidate for promotion. Aim to over-achieve on your goals and targets and put in maximum effort where at all possible. Managers will be looking for people who demonstrate a strong work ethic, excellent attendance records and overall have a positive attitude and demenour at work.

2. Build connections

Building good connections with people in your workplace will stand you in good stead for future promotion. This should be wider that just your immediate team and line manager. Try to get to know as many people as possible in your organisation – both on a working a social level. These people could be future ambassadors / allies for you. Participate in as many social events as you can and make the time to get to know colleagues on a personal level. Managers tend to promote people they like.

3. Take on additional responsibilities

The next level of role within an organisation will almost certainly require additional skills and experiences. So grab every opportunity to take on additional tasks. Volunteer to work on a specific project to widen your experience. Alternatively if an intern or junior joins your team – offer to be their mentor. This could be your first step to becoming a manager.

4. Provide solutions, not problems

A well recognised trait of high performers is their ability to problem solve. When considering who is suitable for promotion or to move into a management role, business leaders will be looking for people who present solutions not problems. Rather than always asking your manager for a decision, present your manager with options for potential solutions to issues, targets and challenges. Base your decisions on facts where possible and provide evidence to back this up. This will demonstrate your ability to asses issues and present solutions. By taking this approach you’ll be making your manager’s role easier. This could lead to them delegating more challenging or varied tasks to you.

5. Acquire additional knowledge and skills

If you’re lucky enough to work for an organisation that offers a good training and development programme – embrace it. Sign up for any learning opportunities that are offered. If your employer does not offer you learning opportunities – ask them if they would and what might be possible. If this fails then I’d recommend you take steps to increase your learing independently. Depending on your budget there are numerous free or inexpensive online learning opportunities – be it for improving your IT skills or public speaking or you could pay for a course. For example, the CMI (Chartered Management Institute) offer a range of management courses and qualifications for existing and aspiring managers.

6. Consider a sideways step

Many successful automotive industry professionals I speak to – who have reached senior management positions – have taken sideways steps along their career journey. Be open to opportunties your employer offers you – but also activley ask what opportunities there might be. This could be a sideways move into another department or perhaps a secondment. Either way it will be an opportunity to increase your skills and widen your experience and contacts within the organisation.

7. Be confident

You can influence the likelihood of being promoted by the way you project yourself in the workplace. Aim to come across as confident and assertive. This is not only about what your say but also about your body language. Think about your posture, handshake, eye contact and smile. Whether it be in a work meeting or social event – people will notice the way you come across.

8. Express your intent

Express your aspirations for promotion to your line manager, HR and possibly other managers within your organisation. They can provide honest feedback about your readiness, as well as suggest ways to develop your skills before applying for a promotion. They might even give you new projects or offer insight into their own experience. Don’t just ask once – regulary remind decision makers of your aspirations. Bring it up in your review meetings and ask your manager to give you a action plan to help you prepare for the next level job.

9. Ask for advice

You will not be the first person who wants to progress their career quickly. Ask for tips and advice from anyone whose opinion you value. Ask managers in your workplace how they achieved their career goals. Also ask friends, family and other colleagues. Most importantly – ask your boss for advice. This should be very useful and could have multiple benefits of reinforcing your commitment to getting promoted and flattering them!

10. Apply for promotions

When you feel ready (or almost ready) – start applying for roles that come up. You may well be unsuccessful initially. Don’t let this put you off. The very fact that you have applied shows your intent and hopefully you will be given constructive feedback on where you need to improve/develop. Be prepared to apply a number of times before you a successful.

Next steps

If you have consistently followed these steps with your current employer and have still had no joy in achieving an internal promotion do not give up. It may be that there simply have not been any suitable openings for you or that you come a close second to a colleague.

Whatever the reason, this may be the time to look for an external move that will give you the step up you seek. Interestingly, our latest Automotive Employee Survey found that last year the average salary increase for those who moved employers was 15% – compared with an average of 5% for this who stayed with the same employer.

If you decide it’s time to look for an external move to progress your automotive industry career – Copeland can help. We specialise in sales, marketing and operations jobs in the UK automotive industry. By carefully selecting the right jobs for our candidates we help them find their next move. Our focus is to help employees throughout their automotive industry career. Learn about our specialisms and how we help employees.