Graduate Development Programs

Get Promoted: When to Make Your Move

It won’t be long into your Graduate Program before you begin to think about your first promotion. It’s just in your nature and let’s be honest, it is also part of the reason you made it through the graduate recruitment process. Career ambition is great but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Having unrealistic expectations about your promotion horizon can lead to unnecessary frustration.

Many companies have policies regarding the minimum tenure in a role before you are able to obtain a promotion, though almost always have waivers if you are able to obtain a certain level of sign-off. This may range from 1-3 years, depending on the nature of the organisation.

Some take it a step further and distinguish between the different types of roles, such as customer interfacing roles (eg 2 year minimum) and non-customer interfacing roles (eg 1 year minimum). There are some very good reasons for having such policies in place. For example, if you were a business client of a bank, you would not appreciate having to change relationship managers every 12 months. It is also quite difficult to actually achieve something in most roles in less than 12 months.

The promotion life-cycle looks something like this:

1-6 months – learning more than performing
7-15 months –performing more than learning
16-20 months – looking for your next role
21-24 months - notice period.

If you look at it from an investment perspective, the first 6 months is an investment by the company in your potential, the second 6 month period is where you pay back that investment with performance and the 3rd period is the investment return. Then there are notice periods that can be anything from 1-3 months before you can move onto your next role.

Whilst it is entirely possible to get promoted off the Graduate Program within a year in some organisations due to circumstance, it should not be expected. It just isn’t what happens in most instances, so don’t set yourself up for frustration and disappointment. 18-24 months is a perfectly acceptable and normal timeframe for promotion, though many will get promoted not much after the 12 month period. Remember, that not only do you have to be ready for promotion, having earned your reward, but there has to be a position vacant for you to step into. Companies have their structure and pay scales to which they must adhere to if they are to control their costs and hit financial targets. Unfortunately for you, it might mean a delay in getting a promotion, even when your performance and tenure warrants one. Sometimes opportunity doesn’t coincide with your readiness. So it may take a little longer. That is not necessarily a reflection upon you.

Some companies have graduates on a rotation roster of 3 or 6 months in different parts of the business and this is a great way of learning more about where you would like to work. However, if you do get an opportunity after 6 months to take up a permanent role in a team that appeals to you, then jump at the chance. The sooner you get yourself into a role with responsibilities, the sooner the promotion clock will start ticking and you will still get to enjoy the fun aspects of the wider graduate program activities.

Allow me to share some of the best advice I received early on: if you are not moving up, move out.

If you have served 12 months and cannot see a position you would like or there does not appear to be any prospect of an opening, either look for opportunities in other departments or other organisations. I would recommend the former in preference to the latter, simply because the time you have invested in creating a network of contacts at your existing place of employment is too valuable to throw away without due consideration.

Give it your best shot, put your best foot forward, and explore all possible opportunities in the company. However, in the end don’t be afraid to change companies. It can be a wonderfully liberating experience.

In the next post, we will be looking at the issue of Motivation. Be sure you don’t miss out! Remember to subscribe by clicking here.