Doing your job - and even being particularly good at what you do - often does not lead to a promotion. Getting a promotion is about showing that you are ready to take on new, additional responsibilities.

A good starting point in positioning yourself for promotion is to identify ways that you can add more value to your team or to the wider organisation. Can you suggest ways of increasing income or reducing costs? Can you do your work more effectively, quicker or with less waste?

Understand your organisation

Ensure you are aware of the strategic goals of your organisation. How does your department or team fit into this strategy and what contribution does it make to the overall effort? Seek to understand how the organisation is trying to achieve success and look for ways that you can be pivotal to that organisational endeavour.

A lateral move into different work might be worth considering. Alternatively, can you work more in collaboration with other teams or departments? Strategies like these provide a wide span of experience while also facilitating you to build valuable alliances across the organisation.

Take on responsibility

Managers have responsibility for high-level tasks. These high-level tasks are what you want to get involved in over time. Demonstrate your competence by requiring just the minimum amount of supervision. Also, expand your skill set. Investigate what knowledge and ability is required in a more senior role and organise yourself to acquire these. Keep up to date on all legal developments and emerging matters that are relevant to your work.

Seek out opportunities

Develop your leadership skills and demonstrate your ability by taking on new projects. Offer to take on tasks that you know your boss dislikes or is weak at. This will allow you to expand your range of experience, and you will prove yourself especially useful to your boss. Put forward ideas, demonstrating your pro-activeness and ability to be creative and entrepreneurial.

Communicate your desire

Let people know what you want, and then proactively work to achieve it. Work with your boss to set performance objectives so that you can achieve the necessary skills and experience. Network within the profession and within your industry sector. Let as many people as appropriate know about what you seek and ask for advice about how to make progress. Once you believe you are ready for promotion, ask for it.

Visit the Tips and Advice section of the website for more job seeking and career management advice.