First off, it’s important to do your homework. You’ll want to get familiar with your company’s process. Every company handles promotions differently, and the process may differ depending on the maturity and size of your company.
Informal promotions. In smaller companies, it’s common for the managers to have direct authority over deciding who gets promoted. The managers may meet with each other and present the candidates they feel are most deserving before coming to an agreement on who should be promoted.
Semi-formal promotions. In growth-stage startups and midsize enterprises, a semi-formal process is common. The leadership team will begin to add some structure in an effort to standardize and encourage fairness in the decision-making process. The managers may still meet together to discuss potential promotions, but the candidates are evaluated against certain criteria, rather than individual managers’ opinions.
Formal promotions. More formality is common among public companies and large established enterprises, and in some cases, it can be a very long process. Candidates are evaluated against well-defined criteria for each level of the job ladder. You’ll most likely be asked to put together a self-review and potentially gather reviews and recommendations from your peers. Your manager will also write their own review of your performance. There will often be a committee of senior engineers and engineering managers that will evaluate your reviews and recommend a promotion if they feel you meet the bar.
It’s important to understand what kind of process your company uses to promote employees so that you can prepare correctly. You’ll want to make sure you have your ducks in a row before starting the process, and knowing how you’ll be evaluated is crucial.
It’s common for companies to promote employees who are already performing at the level they’re being promoted to. The actual promotion is a recognition that your work output is exceeding expectations at your current level, and it’s a nod from the leadership team that you’re ready to consistently deliver results at the next level.
So, in order to assess yourself, you need to determine how you’re doing in regard to what your manager expects from a senior engineer. This is much easier if you’re in a company that has a clearly defined leveling framework. It’s a good idea to read through the expectations for your current level first. Take notes on each criterion in your current level and give yourself a grade for how well you think you’re meeting that expectation.
confusion In almost all cases, leadership will expect you to perform very well at your current level in order to even be considered for a promotion at all. If you’re not meeting expectations at your current level, it’s going to be very difficult to meet them at the next level. Additionally, in some places you’ll be expected to already be performing at the promotion level, not just at your current level.