How to write your promo doc

In previous posts I promoted the idea of writing your own promo doc. Many people asked me: “but how do I write a promo doc, I have never seen one…” Companies have different processes for promotion, but they tend to follow similar principles. Here are some ideas to start your promo doc. 1. Find out the company guideline of the role and level you want to be promoted to. It sounds silly when I write here but many folks don’t know where is their company’s role guideline for the next level, never read it or simply don’t know they exist. How do you get a good score in SAT if you don’t know what questions SAT will ask you? Many folks also believe as long as they keep working hard, or even harder, they should and would be promoted. That is like shooting your darts into the darkness and hope they hit a target somehow. I often ask my mentees: — Do you know what it is like to perform at the next level? — What are the requirements and expectations of that level? — How do you compare the expectations with your current performance? — What are the gaps you identified to move to the next level? If your company has no formal role guideline, you are in a tricker situation. You want to work with your manager to write down their expectations for the next level. It is important you and your manager are on the same page of the requirements. It usually also helps to ask for a sample promotion doc your organization used recently to get an idea what is the format. 2. Following your organization’s promo doc template, for each requirement of the role and level you want to be promoted to, write down the data points you believe are the right evidence that you have fullfilled that particular requirement. I would suggest you write them in narrative style - with who, when, what, how and why it matters to the readers. A common problem of the evidence paragraph is they consist of just some abstract statements and weasel words like “Tommy is a great engineer.” But great in what way, give the data and story to backup your argument. 3. Work with your manager and feedback providers to calibrate your promo doc. You don’t have to meet every requirement 100% to be promoted but it is important to identify what you are doing well and more importantly what you should improve on. Getting other people’s perspectives about youself can be an eye opening process. You may think you are a super star on ABC but your colleagues may think you are just full of yourself. Your manager should play a critical role to give you feedback and help you collect concrete and honest feedbacks from others. 4. Let the feedbacks sink in. Some of them might not be comfortable to hear but keep a growth mindset, change what you can control and leave the things you cannot to the universe, reflect the changes in your day to day behaviors consciously. If you feel pain, that is likely a sign you are growing. Will this get you promoted? Not always. But it will certainly help you grow.