7 Strategies for Getting Promoted

1. Help to make your boss look good. Aside from the ethical obligation of loyalty - assuming your boss is ethical - if your boss is regarded as incompetent, the stain may spread to you.
2. Give 110 percent of effort before your promotion. If you plan on waiting until you've been promoted to show them what you can do, you have the proper order reversed.
3. Never badmouth a predecessor. Even people who may agree with your assessment will regard such remarks as tasteless and unprofessional.
4. Be prepared to explain why you should be selected over equally qualified competitors. If you don't know the reason, why should the promotion board know it?
5. Make sure that you are known by the key decision makers; preferably at a time when you are not thought of as a contender and are thus less likely to be viewed as having ulterior motives. A great many promotions are won months or years before the actual selection decision is made.
6. Don't assume that technical expertise will trump people skills. As you move up the ladder, technical skills become less important.
7. Refrain from making intemperate remarks if you don't get the promotion. Graciously accepting a set-back can make you a strong contender for the next vacancy.