Turning Setbacks into Success: Strategies for Moving Forward When Passed Over for Promotion

I have been passed over for promotion seven times in my career. The first time I wasn’t promoted, I was depressed for over a month. I felt I had wasted time working to meet the promotion benchmarks. My colleagues told me that it was normal to not get promoted the first time around and I will likely get promoted the second time. When I wasn’t promoted the second time, I begin thinking about other ways to earn additional income. After the third time that I was passed over for promotion, I decided to become a self-published author. Between the third and fourth times that I was passed over, I was pursuing master’s degree in Cybersecurity Policy and Management. I was advised that completing another graduate level degree would demonstrate your commitment to professional development. In addition to pursuing the master’s degree, I began honing my public speaking skills by joining Toastmasters International.

I sought career counseling to help me identify what I needed to do to get promoted. The first  career counselor told me to leave my career since I hadn’t been promoted after so many attempts. I didn’t heed that advice but continued working while writing two other books. The second career counselor encouraged me to ask my supervisor to work on projects outside of my normal job. Then, I would apply to receive an award for any accomplishments gained from working on the projects. This idea sounded like a long shot since I had already requested to work on other projects but given sporadic work that would not be considered worthy of an award.

If I were given a chance to turn back the hands of time after not getting promoted the first time, I would not have become depressed. Instead of focusing on the outcome, I would focus on the skills I was learning to improve myself. Furthermore, I would have focused on the relationships built through networking with other colleagues while working on the projects.

Listed below are strategies for moving forward after not getting promoted.

1.      Reflect on the outcome no longer than two weeks.

Allow yourself to grieve for a week and then approach your supervisor with a clear mind to determine what you need to do to get promoted.

2.      Acquire additional skills.

Taking time to add to your skillset will give you a feeling of accomplishment and confidence.

3.      Network

Networking with your colleagues may expose you to different opportunities and ideas to improve your promotion chances or establish a business.