How to get promoted at work

Updated November 9, 2026

Start doing parts of the next role now, make sure the people who decide see it, and agree with your manager on what promotion requires. Promotions go to people who already look like they belong at the next level and whose results are visible to the decision makers. Doing your current job very well is required, but it is rarely enough.

What to do

1. Learn the rules. Find out who decides promotions, when, and on what criteria. Ask your manager and look for a level guide or past promotion announcements.
2. Solve your boss's problems. Ask what keeps your manager up at night and take one of those problems off their plate. That is the fastest way to earn their support.
3. Do some next-level work. Lead a meeting, own a project, train a new hire, fix a broken process. Pick work that the next role does and that leaves a visible result.
4. Make your results visible. Send a short monthly update to your manager with wins and numbers. More ideas in how to get noticed at work.
5. Build allies beyond your manager. The people in the promotion meeting should know your name. Help other teams, present your work, and ask a senior person for advice once a quarter.
6. Ask for it. Once you are doing parts of the role, ask directly, with examples, and agree on a plan with a date.

What to say

To find out what it really takes, ask your manager:

I'd like to be promoted to the next level within the next year. Can you tell me what the people who decide look for, and where you think I stand today? What's the one thing I should do in the next three months that would make the biggest difference?

Avoid

• Don't wait to be noticed; quiet hard work often goes unseen.
• Don't say yes to every extra task: pick those that look like the next role.
• Don't complain about the last person who got promoted; it makes you look like the wrong choice.

Questions