Your 5-month promotion plan: what you need to do now

Following on from yesterday’s post about being realistic about your promotion prospects—if you believe you're a strong candidate and are aiming for a promotion in July, your campaign starts today.

The next five months are critical for proving your readiness, building your profile, and ensuring decision-makers see you as the obvious choice. Now is the time to take control of your career and position yourself for success. Here’s how.

1. Set a clear goal and get feedback early

• Check your intranet/competency framework/speak with your supervisor, mentor, or HR team to understand the expectations for your next step.

• Ask where you stand right now—do they see you as a strong contender? If not, what do you need to work on and what they believe is the proposed timeline for promotion?

• Get feedback now, so you have time to address any gaps before decisions are made.

2. Build visibility and influence

• Position yourself to be involved in high-profile matters or complex cases that showcase your expertise.

• Contribute to firm-wide initiatives, such as training, committees, or pro bono work.

• Ensure that senior decision-makers know who you are and what you’re contributing.

3. Strengthen your client-facing role

• If you want to move up, you need to show business acumen and client-handling ability.

• Show that you are someone who can manage relationships and generate work—a key factor for promotions.

4. Demonstrate leadership

• Promotions favour those who think like leaders—even before they have the title.

• Mentor junior colleagues, take initiative in projects, and contribute beyond your core role.

• Show that you can handle more responsibility without waiting to be asked.

5. Track and communicate your value

• Don’t assume that partners automatically notice your contributions—you need to document and highlight them.

• Keep a record of wins, client successes, leadership moments and firm contributions.

• When the time comes, make a compelling case for your promotion, backed by evidence.

If you want to be promoted in July, your campaign starts now. The next five months are critical to proving your readiness, building your profile, and ensuring decision-makers see you as the obvious choice.

Take control of your career. Be strategic, be visible, and be proactive. Because when July comes around, you don’t want to be asking, “Why wasn’t I promoted?”—you want to be celebrating a well-earned step forward.