Promotion assessment is a big nightmare for most of us in the corporate world. We cannot avoid it some day or the other, while trying to climb the corporate ladder,
I recently got a chance to present myself for the assessment. It had happened two years back and the result was awful. I had spent a lot of time and energy preparing myself this time. Though the results are not out yet, I am feeling much relaxed. At least, I could present what I intended to.
Here are some small but useful tips which helped me. I learned them the hard way and I hope it helps you as well.
Be Serious. It matters A LOT
Promotion is directly linked to your salary. If money doesn't matter much to you, stop reading :).
Many of the times, we take promotions for granted. I worked so extremely hard, promotion should come to me automatically. When it comes to day-to-day ork activities, we do it with at most vigour.
I used to think it the best if your work speaks for yourself. It does in real life, but not during promotion assessments.
Normally, the assessments would be done by external experts. They will not know how things work in your organization, what is critical etc...
Be ready to spend some quality time while preparing the presentation and collecting proofs. I prepared the presentation during non-working hours. You have to stay focused while preparing the key slides.
SPY the Panel Members
Mostly the assessment panel would comprise of experts within the company from various teams. They may be of different skill sets and may not understand your work area in depth.
During job interviews, we know little about the interviewer. But for promotion assessments, you have a chance to learn more about the panel members. For example, if one member is an expert on Open-Source area, it will help a lot if you can present some points in that.
SPY on them :)
Google on the panel members... search in the intranet portals... try to get as much detail about their area of work. Look at their LinkedIn profiles, talk to friends of friends from their teams. Try to get as much detail in advance.
Remember, you are presenting yourself in front of them. You talk their language, you win ;)
Talk to people who are already promoted
You will definitely have a friend or friend's friend who is already playing the target role. Talk to them, understand the expectations, ask for inputs from their assessment etc.
Also discuss with each one who had attended the presentation earlier. Especially, the questions that were asked and try to avoid the same for you.
All of these must be done ahead of preparing the presentation.
Identifying your HOT CAKES and Weak Areas
We all work so hard. But there would be some Unique Selling Points for each one of us. The hot cakes need to be identified based on your assessment of the panel and your own expertise.
We know Edison for he invented BULB. But he has invented so many other things much complex. But Edison is only BULB for us.
There may be some work contribution, which did not take too much time, but may look HUGE for the panelists. Identify such points and highlight during the presentation.
Equally important to identify weak areas. Rephrase them as identified improvements and present UNLESS it sounds silly. Remember, nobody is perfect and its the best when you yourself identify your improvement areas.
Preparing your Presentation - VERY IMPORTANT
Normally, your supporting/HR teams will provide a template for presenting. My suggestion is to use your own template but covering all key points as per template.
Remember - your presentation is NOT FOR YOU, but for the panel. For them, what matters is what you have written in the presentation. So, avoid jargons, keep it in simple language. Highlight your hot cakes.
Make sure that the presentation flows easily on its own. Slide 2 has to be some continuation on previous slide. Search for "How to Make Great Presentation" on Slideshare and you get a lot of useful inputs.
Some simple tips - highlight major achievements. Do not use too many colors, too many fonts. Text should be be readable. Highlight the GOOD metrics (numbers speak). Images/Diagrams to be used effectively. Your key points should come as early in the slides. Include an Agenda slide.
If your slot is for one hour, at least half an hour must be spent on the main slides. Ensure all relevant content is present, no repetition and ensure content makes sense for the panelists.
Proofs Collection
The Panel may ask you for presenting Proofs during the presentation. Keep all key proofs handy. If required, write down in a note the important proofs to present and go through them one by one after presenting main slides.
In our case, we had to present the most complex designs we made. Remember, it is very important to present based on their knowledge levels. A technial expert may not appreciate if you explain in poor layman terms. The same goes reverse, if the panelist is from an HR background, he may not understand advanced technical terms.
You SHOULD have a proof for key points in the slides. It does not look good if you mention like "Can I share you the proof after meeting?".
Get it REVIEWED
You should be THOROUGH with your final presentation. Go through as many times as required. Look at it from the panelists' eyes.
Try to present the slides yourself before the actual meeting. This will boost your confidence.
Ready Steady GOOOO...
Be calm and composed. Take a deep breath and stay relaxed. Do not run through the presentation in hurry-bury. Give them sufficient time during each slide. Try to make it interactive and ask for their inputs whenever you feel it is required.
Question Answer time
If you are doubtful or not aware of any specific point, admit it. Nobody expects you to know each and everything. It's a good practice to ask them for answers at the end if you feel required.
Work on your weaknesses
At the end of assessment, you have identified so many weak points even after preparing that hard. Good that you realized and work towards improving them.
I am much more prepared now and learned a lot many new things through the exercise.
All said and done, I had many sleepless nights preparing for the presentation :(. I had failed it earlier and I knew at the end that I was much better this time.
Wish you all the best for the next promotion. Do not forget to share your personal experiences.
