Answer extracted from the Ordinary To Badass podcast — listen to the full episode below.
What should a promotion candidate do in the six to twelve months before a promotion opens?
Start closing your qualification gaps now, not when the promotion window opens. In the six to twelve months before you expect an opportunity, identify missing skills, pursue training through platforms like LinkedIn Learning, volunteer for high-visibility projects that demonstrate leadership capacity, and build relationships with mentors who have already been promoted. The goal is to become the obvious choice before you ever submit an application.
The Cost of Waiting Until the Last Minute
Most candidates begin preparing only when they hear about an opening or announcement—which is already too late. By that point, you cannot close meaningful skill gaps or build credibility in time. The promotion window may close before you've even demonstrated the competencies the role requires.
This delay reflects a broader pattern in how candidates approach opportunity. As Marie Sonneman explores in the podcast, men typically apply for promotions when they feel approximately 60% ready, while women wait until they feel 80 to 90% ready. Early preparation closes this confidence gap and ensures you meet the role's actual requirements, not just feel ready enough to apply.
The Four Pillars of Pre-Promotion Strategy
A concrete six-to-twelve-month timeline includes four parallel actions. First, audit your current qualifications against the role you're targeting—read job postings, identify required knowledge and skills, and list what you're missing. Second, pursue structured training: online certifications, software courses like Microsoft Office, or industry-specific credentials that close documented gaps.
Third, volunteer for visible projects that put you in front of decision-makers and let you demonstrate the leadership behaviors the promotion requires. Fourth, develop mentor relationships with people who have already been promoted in your organization—they understand the unwritten expectations and can guide your preparation and help you navigate the promotion process itself.
According to the Badass Promotion Blueprint discussed in this episode, this methodical approach—getting your "ducks in a row," as the host puts it—makes you the obvious choice when the promotion window opens. You're not scrambling to learn; you're ready to execute.
"If you spend this whole time getting all your ducks in a row and getting ready and talking to mentors and getting this training that you need, that is what makes you the obvious choice for a promotion."
Marie Sonneman — Leadership Coach & Law Enforcement Lieutenant, host of Ordinary To Badass. Sonneman draws on her law enforcement background and coaching expertise to guide professionals through leadership development and career advancement, with particular insight into the structural barriers women face in promotion cycles.
The episode also covers a systematic method for evaluating which qualifications you truly need to develop—a framework detailed further in the full conversation—that transforms a vague sense of "not being ready" into a concrete action plan.
See also
At what percentage of readiness do men versus women typically apply for promotions?
Men typically apply for a promotion when they feel approximately 60% ready, while women tend to wait until they feel 80 to 90% ready. This gap has direct implications for how early you should begin preparing.
What is the H-P-B method for evaluating promotion readiness?
The H-P-B method involves reviewing each knowledge, skill, and ability listed in a job announcement and marking it with an H if you have it, a P if you can learn it, or a B if you need to build it—a simple framework for prioritizing your preparation efforts.
How should candidates use a job announcement to prepare for a promotion?
Candidates should read the full job announcement to identify qualifications, preferred experience, required knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs), and use these as a roadmap for targeted preparation throughout your six-to-twelve-month window.
Key takeaways
- Begin preparation six to twelve months before a promotion is expected to open, not after the announcement.
- Identify missing skills using job postings, then close gaps through structured training and certifications.
- Volunteer for high-visibility projects that demonstrate the leadership behaviors required for the role.
- Build mentor relationships with people already in the role you're targeting to guide your preparation and navigation of the promotion process.