How often should you get promoted? Ask yourself these questions

Thinking about career progression is a shared experience, and one question that often lingers in the minds of many professionals is: How often should I get a promotion? While there’s no one-size-fits-all answer, understanding what to expect can make a difference in navigating your career path.

“Career development is highly individualized and deeply influenced by the specific dynamics of each industry; the trajectory of promotions can vary significantly,” says Julie Catalano, chief people officer. “Some may find rapid advancement early in their careers, while others might spend considerable time honing critical leadership skills before stepping into more senior roles.”

We’ve asked professionals ranging from veteran HR practitioners to successful business leaders to share their thoughts on promotion frequency. For example, “There simply aren’t enough management and senior-level roles for every IC to be promoted annually,” says Kyle Elliott, founder and tech career coach. “If you’re looking to get promoted quickly and aren’t willing to wait, you might have to venture outside your department or even your current company.”

These insights aim to help you set realistic expectations and highlight the key factors influencing how often you see yourself getting promoted. Whether you’re an entry-level employee or a seasoned pro looking to take the next step in your career, consider this advice when aiming for that next promotion.

How ready are you?

In American work culture, the focus often lies on climbing the ladder, chasing bigger titles, and higher salaries. However, the most crucial factor is whether you genuinely want and are prepared for the next role.

Does it suit your needs and goals for your career and life? Will it add more than it takes away? Are you truly prepared to succeed in the new challenges? It’s tough to go back to a role you’ve been promoted from. So, assess your skills and identify any gaps before pursuing a promotion. Actively work on filling these gaps before and after stepping into a new position.

It’s not about checking every box before putting yourself forward, but you should know the boxes and be honest about where you stand.

In terms of exact timing, it varies. But this three-phase cycle is a useful framework to understand your promotion readiness:

• Phase 1 – Learning: Getting established in the role, understanding its nuances, and figuring things out.
• Phase 2 – Delivering: Driving results and meeting the expectations of your position.
• Phase 3 – Improving: Demonstrating excellence, growth, and potential by improving upon previous results.

Typically, this cycle can be visualized over two to three years, but that’s not set in stone. Some might learn and drive results within the first year while making improvements might take a full year for the business to complete a full cycle.

Another important consideration is self-advocacy. Generally, your company won’t hand you a promotion out of the kindness of its heart or gratitude for your hard work. You need to advocate for yourself. Once you’ve established yourself in the role, driven results, and feel ready for more, start talking to your supervisor about your desire for a promotion. Discuss how you can improve your results further to increase the likelihood of a promotion and strategically point your efforts in the direction indicated.

Document your progress from the moment you step into a new role. Keep track of the skills required, your achievements, and how you’ve improved over time. This record will help you determine when you’re ready for a promotion and help you make a case to the company (or a new employer).

Ultimately, don’t rush into a promotion just for a bigger title or paycheck. Ensure the next step is right for you and that you’re confident in your ability to succeed in the new role. Every promotion should be a thoughtful decision aligned with your long-term career strategy.

Phoebe Gavin, career and leadership coach, Better With Phoebe

Is the promotion aligned with your ambition?

There’s no right or wrong answer to this question. There are a lot of factors at play, but the first thing you should be clear on is how often you WANT to get promoted.

Some people would like to stay in their role and become an expert before moving, in which case two to five years is common.

Other people are highly ambitious and enjoy new challenges. In that case, one year to 18 months is common.

Either way, if getting promoted is important to you, either find a larger company that has lots of room for growth or get comfortable with changing companies.

The top factors that I see that influence the frequency of promotion are understanding your company’s goals and solving important problems for them, networking with people outside of your current job, and openness to trying new things.

Lisa Plain, founder and certified professional coach, Career Balance Coaching

Do you excel in your current role?

Career development is highly individualized and deeply influenced by the specific dynamics of each industry; the trajectory of promotions can vary significantly. Some may find rapid advancement early in their careers, while others might spend considerable time honing critical leadership skills before stepping into more senior roles.

Regardless of industry, employees must understand that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all timeline for promotions. Each path is influenced by a combination of personal performance, business needs, and market conditions. A key consideration is the individual’s ability to adapt and grow. This includes mastering current responsibilities and demonstrating a proactive approach to personal development.

For those aspiring to accelerate their career progression, here are actionable steps:

1. Excel in your current role: Ensure you are not just meeting but exceeding the expectations of your current position. Success in your current role provides a solid foundation for advancement.
2. Seek continuous feedback: Regularly engage with your supervisor, peers, and even subordinates to gather diverse perspectives on your performance. This feedback is invaluable for continuous improvement.
3. Develop a mentorship network: Building relationships outside your direct reporting line can provide broader insights and advice, helping you navigate your career path more effectively.
4. Showcase strategic learning agility: Be eager to learn and quick to adapt. This ability to absorb and apply new knowledge swiftly is often a decisive factor in being considered for promotions.

By focusing on these areas, employees can better position themselves for advancement when opportunities arise. Remember, promotions are not only about readiness but also about alignment with your firm’s strategic goals and timing.

Julie Catalano, chief people officer, Bespoke Partners

Are you aware of how many leadership roles are available?

Many younger professionals are gunning for annual promotions. However, as you climb the ranks, you must recognize that fewer internal promotions are likely to be available, and it’s not atypical to be at the same level for multiple years. There simply aren’t enough management and senior-level roles for every IC to be promoted annually. If you’re looking to get promoted quickly and aren’t willing to wait, you might have to venture outside your department or even your current company.

Kyle Elliott, EdD, founder and tech career coach, CaffeinatedKyle.com

Do you want to manage people?

Those seeking a promotion should understand that attaining the highest levels within the organization involves managing people. If you are someone who does not like managing people and dealing with the complications associated with the dynamics of interpersonal relationships, then you might want to reconsider your promotion expectations. Building a network within your company of peers, immediate leaders, mentors, sponsors, and skip-level managers is key and important to the frequency of your promotions.

Leadership is not about direct reports. Fundamentally, leadership is about people, and your ability to be promoted is tied to your work product and the strong internal relationships you build.

Andrew Lee, HR director, Raytheon

Have you evaluated your performance?

We shouldn’t inherently be focused on how often one gets promoted, but instead focus on why and when an employee gets promoted. By focusing on frequency alone, we can inadvertently set the expectation that employees should advance in line with a set timeline, rather than focusing on, and communicating around, the core competencies required to advance in one’s role.

The conversation should then shift from when an employee will be promoted to how an employee can be promoted. Ultimately, the timing and frequency should be largely up to an employee’s performance. This isn’t to say that an organization can’t determine and communicate a typical timeframe for how quickly one can advance in an organization, but a competency-based discussion will naturally generate better alignment in expectations among all parties.

One caveat to all of this is that an organization must prioritize equity by mitigating bias in their promotion process, because if we see some groups advancing far more quickly than other groups, this could point to a systemic issue around how competencies are being measured—thus, frequency remains a critical metric to measure.

Alex Suggs, cofounder and partner, Different

Did you identify the skills, talents, and abilities you need to develop?

You will be promoted based on your skills and talents aligning with a company’s needs.

While there is no set rule on how often someone should be promoted, it’s understandable that if you are in a role for more than three to five years, something may be holding you back from that promotion.

Conducting a competency crosswalk between your current position and the position you want to be promoted to is helpful when seeking a promotion.

You should be able to obtain those competencies from your HR department, or they should be posted on your intranet. If you are not seeking an internal promotion, you can compare competencies between your current position and a job posting above your current level.

By doing this crosswalk, you’ll identify the skills, talents, and abilities you need to develop or improve to position yourself strategically for that promotion.

Lastly, this crosswalk can help fuel development conversations between you and your supervisor and identify specific professional development opportunities to help you be more prepared for that promotion.

John Neral, owner, John Neral Coaching, LLC

Did you consider team dynamics and company growth?

Look at the teammates above you. If they don’t plan to retire or leave soon and there are few opportunities for their own upward mobility, you could be settling in for a wait that could take decades. Most of the time, it’s not worth sticking around in the role unless you’re perfectly happy with the pay and job duties as you await a potential jump.

There’s one exception to this rule—a company growing quickly will need to create more roles, which could open up some new opportunities much faster than anticipated. If you see that happening in the next couple of years, it could make sense to communicate your interest to managers and wait and see what happens.

Michael Nemeroff, CEO and cofounder, Rush Order Tees

Did you consider the competition?

Getting a promotion at a company is attainable, but it is something you will have to compete for. In any organization, almost everyone wants a promotion. So, it’s important to understand that the value you bring to the company should exceed that of your coworkers.

Employees get promoted because they have skills that show they’ll do well in a more advanced role. So, if you want to become a manager, you need to show your employers that you have the skills to lead.

Getting promoted isn’t about overworking yourself; it’s about being able to bring the right skill set to the table.

If you are in a junior or midlevel position, you can expect to get promoted every three years, at most. We have witnessed our recruits move up the ranks in their companies after just a few years of joining. However, this depends not only on your performance at your job but also on the structure of your job, like how management is set up.

In companies where there are fewer layers of management, the frequency of promotions would be lower than in companies with many positions and job titles.

Pat Schirripa, CEO, People 2U

Did you request a promotion?

In my career, I changed jobs twice due to not being promoted. I was complimented on my work, and performed consistently—all the pieces were there—but I never moved up, so I sought more pay and responsibility elsewhere. But I didn’t realize something at that time: Employees who don’t ask for promotions are often not offered them. We have to make it known that we’re looking for a promotion. Learning about the role before making the jump helps as well. Don’t be too pushy, but keep that promotion in the minds of the decision-makers.

Bill Mann, privacy expert at Cyber Insider, Cyber Insider