The Design Engineer’s Guide

to Getting a Promotion

Follow these 10 actionable steps and you’ll be

on your way to earning a promotion
How to Earn the Promotion
You Deserve

You’ve put in the time, you have a good attitude, and your boss seems
to like your output ― so why aren’t you moving up the ladder yet?
Earning a promotion often takes more than just showing up to work In this Guide
and hitting deadlines, particularly in this competitive field. Asking for a
promotion or a raise can be stressful, especially if you’re not sure how 10 effective ways to earn a promotion .................2-6
to articulate why you deserve one.

This guide will give you 10 actions you can take to help you stand out Your action plan to get started ..............................2-6
from your colleagues and other potential candidates. We’ve also
included the steps you can take to get started on each action, so it’s
Step-by-step guide on how to ask your
not so overwhelming. Plus, you’ll also learn how to prepare and what
to do before you ask your boss for a promotion or raise. boss for a promotion ..................................................7

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10 Actionable Tips to Help
You Score a Promotion
If you want your career in engineering to continue to advance,
you have to prepare and make strategic choices along the way
to reach your goal.
1 Communicate your career goals
Sharing your career goals and aspirations with your boss shouldn’t be
taboo. If your manager isn’t asking about your desired career paths,
let them know during one-on-one meetings or during your formal
reviews. If they know you’re interested in a promotion, you’ll be the
first person they think of when something opens up.
HOW TO GET STARTED
1. Connect with your manager.
2. Explain the vision you have for your career path.
3. Ask them for advice on how to get there.
40% of employees never discuss their
career path goals with their manager 1
Sources: 1 Robert Half Finance & Accounting 2 LinkedIn Influencer Survey
2 | The Design Engineer’s Guide to Getting a Promotion
2 Network with the right people
In today’s competitive landscape, the ability to build relationships with
the right people is a critical skill set you can bring with you from
organization to organization. So many of us only network when we’re
scrambling to find a new job, but having an established network can
offer so much more than that.
Replace the word “networking” with “information sources” and it takes
on a more tangible meaning. These types of contacts might not be
able to hire you, but they can be great mentors who offer third-party
perspectives when it comes to your design challenges. If you’re consis-
tently bouncing your ideas off of other engineers, it’s easier to start
thinking with a new perspective.
85% of all jobs are filled through
networking 2
HOW TO GET STARTED
1. Find an industry organization to connect with through a
LinkedIn group or in person. You can do a quick search and
find one right for you. Here are just a few:
CAD Society
Society of Women Engineers
National Society of Professional Engineers
American Design Drafting Association
American Institute of Engineers
2. Find a few people you really connect with. Your network
doesn’t have to be big, but it needs to be effective.
3. Reach out to your new contacts when you need advice or a
different perspective.
4. Networking is a two-way street. You also need to be willing
to share tips and tricks you learn along the way.
5. Stay connected. Check back in consistently, whether it’s
face-to-face or virtually.
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 3 Document your accomplishments
When the time comes to ask for a promotion or raise, you’ll need to
prove your value. Rather than trying to recall every design you’ve
made better, you should come ready with examples of what makes
you indispensable. This is one of your biggest allies in landing a
promotion.
HOW TO GET STARTED
1. Determine how you want to document your accomplishments.
It could be as simple as an email folder, a file on your desktop,
or a spreadsheet.
2. Do the best you can to sift through project trackers and emails
to find past successes — big and small.
3. Make it a habit. Keep track of everything you do that that
enhances the company’s bottom line or helps solve a problem.
Here are a few types of accomplishments you’ll want to track.
Processes you’ve streamlined
Workflows you’ve documented
New, creative approaches to challenges
Problems you’ve solved
Certifications you’ve earned
Coursework you’ve completed
Product improvements as a result of your designs
Time or money you’ve saved the company
New team members you’ve trained or onboarded
Percentage of projects completed on time (but only if it’s
noteworthy!)
3 | The Design Engineer’s Guide to Getting a Promotion
4 Create a feedback folder
Creating a feedback folder takes the documentation of your accom-
plishments one step further. Anytime you receive positive feedback
from a colleague, customer, or leader, throw it in a folder. If the feed-
back happens face-to-face, write down the positive feedback and add
it to the same folder. This will help you illustrate to your boss that you’re
a team player and you’re valued by the people around you. (As an
added bonus, you can browse through it when you’re having a bad day.)
HOW TO GET STARTED
1. Determine how you want to document the feedback you
receive. The easiest way is to create a folder in your email. It
doesn’t need to be fancy. The more complex the process, the
less likely you are to follow through with the tracking.
2. Track both written and verbal forms of feedback.
3. Give other people positive feedback and they’ll be more likely
to share theirs with you, too.
4. Make it a habit and get started today!
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 5 Come to the table with a solution
If you want to stand out, don’t just bring up problems to your manager,
but also viable solutions. Become a solution-generating employee to
increase your value and show what makes you unique. You don’t
always have to have the winning solution, but showing your boss that
you’re committed to solving a problem — big or small — is a step in
the right direction. Get the ball rolling with a few suggestions and work
with your manager or colleagues to find the best answer.
HOW TO GET STARTED
1. When you come across a challenge, identify the root problem.
Don’t ignore it or assume leadership will take care of it.
Leadership often isn’t as close to the work as you are, so many
times, you are the expert.
2. Generate a list of possible solutions. Begin brainstorming as if
time, resources, and money aren’t factors.
3. Scale down your list of solutions by analyzing each one for validity.
4. If you can’t make the decision on your own, approach leaders
with your top list of solutions. They’ll take notice.
Tip: If you solve the problem but it’s not noteworthy enough to
share with your boss at the time, write it down and save it in
your accomplishments folder for later review.
4 | The Design Engineer’s Guide to Getting a Promotion
6 Drive your coworkers to make
timely decisions
Good leaders are decisive. Great leaders know how to guide others
into being decisive. So much time can be lost in organizations because
team members can’t make a decision. This is especially true in the
engineering industry where teams consistently face pressure to
reduce design cycle time and go to market faster. Strive to be the
person who helps drive decisions to keep the project moving. If you
can help colleagues and leadership make decisions, you’ll get noticed
as an effective team member.
Having too many choices makes it
nearly impossible to make a decision,
so people simply don’t make a decision
at all.
Source: The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less
HOW TO GET STARTED
1. When someone can’t make a decision, give them two options
to review. Too many options makes it more difficult to come to
a conclusion.
2. Make a recommendation. Steer them in the right direction
with facts, data, and/or historical learnings.
3. Give them a realistic deadline. If you give them all the time in
the world, they’ll quickly forget or keep putting a decision off.
The deadline will depend on the intensity of the decision, so
use your best judgement.
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 7 Solicit feedback
Getting feedback from your boss or colleagues can be the fastest
route to growth and performance improvement. You often might be
too entrenched in your everyday responsibilities to be aware of how
you’re perceived. Soliciting feedback from others is a quick way to
determine what you should keep doing and how you could improve.
HOW TO GET STARTED
1. Let your boss or colleague know you’d like feedback. Simply
ask, “Is there anything I could be doing differently moving
forward?” And don’t forget to also ask, “What am I doing that I
should keep doing?”
2. Listen without getting defensive.
3. Write down what they share with you.
4. Work on addressing the feedback.
5. Follow up with your boss or colleague to let them know you’re
working on it.
Feedback is the cheapest, most powerful
yet most underused management tool
that we have at our disposal.1
8 Leverage new technologies
From additive manufacturing to artificial intelligence, the technological
advances of the 21st century are rapidly changing what it means to
work in engineering and manufacturing. If you’re aware of what new
technologies are coming down the pipeline — and how they can be
leveraged — you’ll be one step ahead of the game.
Sources: 1 Engineers Journal 2 Gartner
5 | The Design Engineer’s Guide to Getting a Promotion
HOW TO GET STARTED
1. Start researching. You don’t have to be an expert, but you
should have some basic knowledge of new technologies.
2. While you’re researching, make sure you’re thinking about
how these technologies could be used in your organization.
Leadership loves forward thinkers.
By 2020, IoT technology is predicted
to be in 95% of electronics for new
product designs.2
9 Earn certifications
Improve your engineering design skills and show off your achievements
by earning certifications online. With the rise of eLearning, there’s no
shortage of classes you can take to help you earn certifications quickly.
It’s a great way to build your knowledge, gain experience, and stand
out from your colleagues. You can earn technical certificates on every-
thing from specific CAD softwares — like SOLIDWORKS or AutoCAD —
to engineering theories — like Design for Manufacturing (DFM) or
Finite Element Analysis (FEA).
HOW TO GET STARTED
1. Determine the certifications you want to earn and write
them down.
2. Prioritize which certifications to start with by determining
which skills you want to improve first.
3. Set a realistic goal of what you need to accomplish each day
(or week) to earn your certification.
4. Start working toward checking the tasks off your to-do list.
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 Professionals who have a degree and an Which training is right for you and your career?
industry certification have a median SolidProfessor Professional
salary that’s approximately 40% higher Features Membership Classroom No Training
(eLearning) Training
than professionals with the same
degree and no industry certifications.1 Fulfill employers’ professional
development requirements

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Investing in eLearning is a great way to access education on-demand.
If you run into a feature you’re unfamiliar with, you can search the Technical certificates
for specialized skills**
eLearning tool and find answers fast. You can also use online tutorials
to master advanced techniques, leverage industry trends, and learn how
Unlimited access to a library of
to use software programs outside of the ones you work in every day. online engineering courses

On-demand training on
softwares, skills, and theories
HOW TO GET STARTED
$490/year or
Cost ~$1,500/class N/A
1. Do your homework and find out which training program is $49/month
right for you.
2. Purchase a cost-effective tool. *SolidProfessor provides members with free vouchers for SOLIDWORKS CSWA and CSWA
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eLearning increases the time to

competency by 35%.2

Sources: 1 US Census Bureau 2 Towards Maturity Learning Technology Benchmark

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 3. Plan out how you’ll begin the conversation. You don’t want to
walk into the conversation unprepared, so plan out how you’ll

How to Ask Your Boss for begin. Say something like, “I scheduled this meeting today to discuss
my contributions to the team, and I’d love to have a conversation

a Promotion with you about being promoted to XYZ role.”

4. State your case. Go over your biggest contributions and explain

Asking for a promotion can be stressful, but if you follow the 10 action
items in this guide, you’ll be able to build your case for a promotion or
pay raise. But what do you say when it’s time to talk to your manager?
Follow the five steps below to learn how to ask your boss for a
promotion.
5. Determine how you’ll react to their response. It’s not likely you’ll
1. Schedule a meeting. If you’ve communicated to your boss about
your desired career path during your conversations (recommenda-
tion No. 1 in this guide), this meeting should not come as a surprise.
Schedule a separate meeting outside of your regular one-on-ones so
you don’t have to rush through it to get to the rest of your agenda.
why you believe you deserve a promotion or pay increase. The data
and proof points you’ve been building based on this guide will help
write your case for you.
Tip: Be confident and quantify your value where you can.
be awarded a promotion or raise on the spot. Even if your boss is
on board, there’s a lot of paperwork and conversations with HR and
other senior leaders that will have to take place. Come prepared
with how you’ll respond if they say no, if they say not right now, or
if they say yes.

If they say no: Ask for feedback on how you could improve your
Tip: Title the meeting invite something like “Career advancement
performance to make the next step in your career with the organi-
discussion” and send it three to four days in advance. This will
zation. Then thank your boss for their time. This isn’t the end of the
give your manager time to reflect on your performance and
world. Don’t give up! Continue to make improvements in your
prepare for the conversation.
performance and approach the conversation at another time.

If they say maybe: Ask them what additional information they

2. Prepare for the meeting. Round up those accomplishments and
need to make a decision. Thank your boss for their time.
positive feedback you’ve been tracking (recommendations No. 3 and
4). You don’t have to go over each one in the initial conversation, but
If they say yes: Well then, that was easy! Tell them you’re excited
have them ready for your manager to review at his or her conve-
for the opportunity to contribute to the team in a new way. And
nience. List any certifications you’ve earned or courses you’ve taken
yes, you guessed it, thank your boss for their time.
to improve your performance (recommendations No. 9 and 10).

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About SolidProfessor

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