Approaching your boss to talk about how your career is progressing seems it could be a bit of a tall order. When exactly is the right time to approach them? And what should you say to get outcome you want?
Nevertheless, if you’re keen to progress your career, then taking the reins and actively discussing the plans, goals and aims you have with your manager is pretty much essential. Below we’ll run through how to go through these discussions, including how to set up a meeting, what to prepare and how to respond to any potential responses.
Knowing when it’s time to progress in your career
There comes a time in most people’s careers when they know that they’ve built up the skills, experience and abilities to move to the next level. Before you approach your manager, it’s well worth reflecting on where you are in your career, so you can understand your strengths and what might need developing. What successes and achievements come to mind, along with any challenges that you overcame – or might’ve struggled with that you still need to take some time to rectify.
A good way to help with this is by taking notes regularly. Anytime you’ve aced a project, met a deadline or received some feedback, jot it down. The same goes for anything that proved difficult. By recording strengths and weaknesses, you’ll have details you can point to when it comes time to discuss things with your manager over time. It might also serve as a reminder that you aren’t quite ready to move up the ladder just yet.
How do I progress my career?
A little more preparation will help your case even further. You don’t want to show your manager you haven’t done your research ahead of time – nothing is going to convince them that you’re ready to progress any less than this, unfortunately.
So before that conversation, it can be helpful to first understand your options by reviewing the company’s hierarchy and potential positions. You should also gain a better understanding of the qualifications required for the next step, and determine how many of those match with your current skills. This can help you to identify your competitive edge and improve your chances of having a positive meeting, when the time comes.
You may wish to undertake some extra training or find a mentor within the business who might be able to help you fill in any gaps in your skillset.
How to prepare for a career progression discussion
Once you’ve got the meeting in your diary, it’s time to make sure you are prepared for it! The most important thing to remember here is to be calm, professional and prepared for any outcome.
Before entering the discussion, you might wish to gather information on any successes you’ve had in your current role, examples of how you have gone above and beyond and also any training that you might have undertaken. All of this can demonstrate your readiness and commitment for the next step.
How to discuss career progression with your manager
With your research collected and career overview carried out, you’re now ready to approach having the conversation itself. Here’s what you can do.
Choose the right time
Whether you ask for your one on one in person, over Slack or by sending your boss a formal invitation email, go for a time that works for both of you.
Be sure to check your manager’s calendar if possible to see when they’re free. Likewise, avoid scheduling meetings at the end of the month when everyone has deadlines to meet or during busy periods throughout the year. And as we hinted at earlier, schedule in the meeting when things are going well for the company.
Outline an agenda
Laying out an agenda with particular talking points will help you stay focused and on topic. You should also include your planned topics in your meeting request, so your manager knows what to expect from the discussion.
Potential topics you may want to talk about include:
- Your professional short- and long-term goals
- An overview of your current skills
- How to enhance your skill set
- General feedback on your performance
Be honest with how you want to progress
In these discussions, it pays to be candid. This isn’t the time to be tentative or unclear with your aims. So be honest and let your manager know what your plans are – and ask if the company can make them a reality.
Maybe it’s a management role you’d like to move into. Or perhaps you’re looking to develop new skills so you can move into different areas of work. It could be that you’re happy in your current role, but want to strengthen your skills so you can become a real authority within the industry.
Whether it’s any of these reasons, or it’s a promotion you’re angling for, then be explicit in your request.
Set out expectations
You could internally set out some expectations for the discussion and what you expect to get out of it. While the ultimate goal is to secure that next step in your career, you might also want to consider what other information you want to glean from the meeting and topics that you want to cover. This could be anything from understanding the reasoning for different outcomes to knowing the next steps. This can help to ensure that the meeting is as productive as possible, even if you don’t necessarily get the outcome you were hoping for.
Ask the right questions
Remember, this discussion isn’t simply a list of your demands. You should go into the meeting with a list of questions of your own to ask. This way, you’ll have the opportunity to learn about things such as where you can improve or what you can do to help contribute towards business goals as a whole.
Consider asking things along the line of:
- What do you think my strengths and weaknesses are?
- Does my current role have any potential growth in this organisation?
- Are there any upcoming changes in this team that could bring opportunities my way?
- What performance objectives should I be aiming to achieve?
- In what ways can you help me with achieving my goals
Be prepared for all outcomes
There’s a chance that things might not go as you hoped. There may be a few home truths you weren’t expecting to hear, or there might not be any opportunities for you to pursue at that moment in time.
In these cases, it’s important to not be disheartened. Turn it into a positive by asking them how you can advance or improve your skills in your current role instead. If you do disagree with what they’ve said, don’t be tempted to argue or criticise the manager. By all means express your opinion, but be professional in your approach, and point to figures and evidence to back up your points with.
Next steps after a career progression meeting
If the meeting went well and you’ve come out of it with the promise of a promotion, pay rise or other opportunity, then it’s probably time to take on more responsibility in some form. This will likely be discussed with your line manager to ensure that your role reflects that next step, whether it’s participating in training or taking on more duties.
Of course, there is the possibility that you come out of the meeting with a different outcome, and this might happen for many different reasons. It’s important to consider a progression plan with your line manager and what you can do to initiate further experience or learning. In some cases, you might want to rethink your career path.
To find out more about careers at SEFE please visit our homepage.
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