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Brazen careerist
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I'm an administrative assistant who has begun to manage projects. I asked for a promotion but it's slow coming due to budgetary constraints. Do I wait for the promotion? Do I accept more responsibility or turn it down until I'm promoted?
12.12.08
It's wonderful that you're doing good work, and assuming you want to stay at your current firm, I encourage you to leverage what you're doing in three ways ...
(1) Think like a business
Think strategically, with a business mindset. Calculate the value of the additional services you are offering. How much impact are these efforts making to the company's bottom line? Think about how you are decreasing costs, increasing revenues, or enhancing productivity. Get an estimate (even a very rough one) of the benefits you're adding. Base your desired pay increase on the financial contribution you're creating, and demonstrate how the added cost of any salary increase is offset by the positive business impact of your efforts.
(2) Watch out for yourself
These days, you're all always "on the market," 24/7. That's especially with websites like LinkedIn, where potential employers can find you at any moment. So, instead of deciding whether to continue to buck for promotion OR look for another employer, I suggest you do BOTH simultaneously. Secure a job offer from another company. With that in hand, you'll be able to tell your current employer that you're faced with a choice. If you genuinely prefer your current employer over a new one, you'll have strong negotiating power when they find out you could be snatched (assuming your current company truly values your work).
(3) Don't turn down work
In this economy, getting more money could be tough, and you might look like a whiner if you refuse additional work. Two thoughts: First, get creative about non-monetary compensation. Bargain for something like paid time off, the chance to telecommute, or some other perk that your firm can supply, like products or services. Once, as a form of compensation, I received an old laptop that I was able to re-sell. Not a huge perk, but I turned it into cash. Second thought: If you're already acting with more responsibility, mentally give yourself the title, even if your employers won't give it to you. You're the one who needs to value your work. You're colleagues are probably already recognizing your additional abilities. Something I learned in consulting: You're more likely to get promoted when you're already acting at the next level.
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Comments
I can relate to this situation. As a young woman I almost consider advising other young women not to take administrative assistant jobs because you get stuck! It took my five years but I finally got a promotion to assistant director in my small non profit. Though I was doing more than assigned, I eventually put some of the extra projects on my resume in a "special projects / consulting section". What was really hard was the mental toll on self confidence - your advice to start giving yourself the title before you have it is good.
@Emilyf - Congrats on working your way up to promotion. Sounds like you saw your value and promoted yourself into the new role.
As I see it, in ANY job, you ought to ask yourself:
"How can I make the most of the work I'm engaged in?" and
"How can I grow and develop my skills, talents, abilities, and knowledge in this position?"
I learned a very hard lesson on a consulting project. The work was way too simple, and I was not learning much. My colleague, who was at the same level as me, found ways to make the project more fun, and found ways to keep senior management's eyes on him. Me? I kept pointing out how this job ought to be done by someone much more junior. I didn't get promoted. My colleague did.
I asked him his secret. He told me that he always looked for ways to be more valuable, and he'd find out about the work that more senior consultants were doing, and he'd add that to his assigned work. He gave himself his own reasons to grow and develop. And, he promoted himself before others promoted him.
So, to me, that came to mean giving myself the title and "acting as if" I already had it. Always boosted my confidence, from the inside out.
Personally, I'd wait till I've successfully managed a couple of projects before I asked for a promotion. A record of accomplishment goes a long ways. In the meantime, I think she should be absorbing all she can about project management from her mentors.
Another thing that might help would be to seek a PMP (Project Management Professional) certification.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Management_Professional
@jrandom42 Great suggestions! Mentors can be very helpful when you're learning new skills. And the PMP designation can also be a stepping stone to new directions, including those beyond the current company.
My way of handling this is to look at it like "you're always being paid for the last position you had". Accept more responsibility and an on-paper promotion (hopefully along with compensation) will follow, whether in the same organization/dept or elsewhere in the same company, or in your next position. You are always building the base from which you proceed to the next level.
I've just been promoted to "Manager, Administrative Support", and will be managing three (3) Sr. Administrative Assistants. I would appreciate tips on how to be a good manager.
Thank you,
Congratulations on your promotion!
To manage people well, you need to keep in mind and balance three things:
(1) The business objectives
(2) Your staff's needs
(3) Your own needs.
Be sure to know the strategic direction of your organization, and align your three assistants to make these organizational objectives possible.
Also, take the time to understand your staff's developmental needs. What do they want from work? To rise up in the ranks? To learn new skills? To have flexibility? Take the time to get to know their aspirations, and help them find projects that allow them to achieve those goals.
Finally, be sure to know your own needs. Getting a promotion is stressful to most people and can take a toll on mental and physical health (http://lin.cr/i3z). This is a time to be gracious to yourself and practice good self-care.
Wishing you well in your new role,
Susan
Dr. Susan Bernstein
Coach, Author & Speaker
www.WorkFromWithin.com
I've been promoted 3 times in 2 years and it's basically because i'm good at my job, I'm totally committed and go the extra mile, management dont want to loose me and that's why they always have something in the pipeline because they know i could easily get work elsewhere (not that i'd want to leave but they dont need to know that!). I'm only 19 and i know that i've got good things ahead and that keeps me motivated. the key is to make them see (think) that your indespensible and be one step ahead - take on work that is of a promoted nature and do it well!..also. get as much training/certificates/qualifications as you can and leave subtle hints that you are looking for another job, i.e. take time off for interviews, leave a jobsearch site on your computer screen etc.
good luck
As an Administrative Assistant myself, I was trying hard to find a way to get a well deserved promotion while the company was suffering from its own economic troubles. Some things that I have tried included taking on additional assignments without complaint, learning how to do aspects of another person's job that was recently laid off, and putting in additional hours without compensation. But an additional certification that I earned at SCI Texas was eventually the final factor that helped me land the big promotion.