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During a recent appraisal I asked my boss about promotion. He showed me he's very satisfied with my work. I have been in a junior position long enough to be promoted; now almost 3 years and in my country and profession one should usually be promoted to regular after 2-3 years of experience.

I've asked "what should I do to be promoted and how fast could it be done?" He replied "do what you do, strive further and it should be fast, September-November". That appraisal was in April and at the moment I'm still not promoted and don't have any feedback about the promotion.

I believe I've strived hard enough and a comparison between me and my colleagues shows me clearly that I shouldn't be Junior anymore (also some of them say that).

Should I ask my boss about progress of this process or wait until end of the month? What should I do if I won't be promoted until end of the month?

Edit: When it comes to my profession I'm a .NET software developer.

Arkadiusz Kałkus
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3 Answers3

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Should I ask my boss about a progress of this process or wait until end of the month? What should I do if I won't be promoted until end of the month?

5 months is a long wait, I would ask your boss about progress. And if I felt that I deserved a promotion and didn't get a firm commitment to achieving one at the end of the month, I would start looking for a new job. 3 years is plenty in a junior position as you have stated.

If your boss moves so slowly you could be in that junior position for a lot longer if you are not proactive.

Kilisi
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You should ask yourself what it is you're after with this promotion. Do you want the increased responsibility and standing that comes with the promotion or are you interested in an increase in salary and/or job perks?

If you're simply looking for the standing and responsibility, it seems your peers already consider you to be higher than your current official status, so it would be prudent to wait for management to catch on. It doesn't look like you were promised anything concrete so asking about it may come off as you feeling entitled to something, which might just make them reconsider whether you have the required maturity as a person to handle the new responsibilities.

If you're interested in an increase in salary and/or job perks, you should schedule a meeting with your boss and explain that you're not too attached to what your exact job title is, but that you currently feel like you're not getting adequately compensated for the value you are adding to the company. Don't mention time, don't mention the previous conversation where you were told that you might get promoted soon. Those things are ultimately not important, what's important is what you do for the company and what they do for you in return. You're initiating this meeting because you feel that there is a mismatch in those two. When discussing the new salary, avoid referring to your old salary, but instead refer to what others in your field earn for adding that same value. This shows your boss that not only are you no longer satisfied with your current compensation package, you've also done your research on what your compensation could be like elsewhere. This implies that if they want to keep you, they will need to take this request for an increase in compensation seriously or they will risk losing you.

Cronax
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One form of management (there are others), let's call it reactive management, gives out promotions based on what positions are available and who's currently pushing the most for a promotion.

By only pushing once a year, chances are you won't be the one pushing most for a promotion. So yes, you want to make it clear that you want a promotion. And you want to know how and when you get it. You also want to keep an open mind about getting a higher position in a different company, if only to have a bargaining chip.

Peter
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