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Hi, fellow High Growth Engineer! Jordan here 👋
I’m so excited to feature Steve Huynh’s second post in this guest series, where he’ll walk you through the exact promotion algorithm he’s used to get hundreds of engineers promoted.
Steve is an ex-Amazon Principal Engineer and author of the A Life Engineered Newsletter and YouTube Channel, with over 150k subscribers.
Without further ado, I’ll pass the mic 🎤 to Steve 👏
Last week, I shared the three major mistakes I made while becoming a Principal Engineer at Amazon.
Today, I'll introduce my “Tech Promotion Algorithm”—a strategy I created based on what I learned from that experience.
This approach has helped hundreds of tech professionals in my paid program accelerate their career advancement. It consists of three steps. Simply repeat the steps until you get promoted.
1) Identify Your Biggest Gaps
Find your company’s internal guidelines for roles and levels. These documents outline the specific criteria for promotion to the next level in plain terms. If your company doesn’t have such guidelines, use the job description for the next level at your company, if available. If that doesn’t exist, find a similar-sized company’s job description for the equivalent role. Use these resources to create your own set of promotion criteria.
For each criterion, create a row in a spreadsheet. Do a self-evaluation for all of the criteria in the first column. Color the cell red, yellow, or green based on whether you meet the criterion. If you have feedback from a prior promotion rejection, you can add it to the sheet and create a column for it (shown below).
During your next 1-1, ask your manager to help support you in your quest for promotion and ask them to give you feedback on your performance against this criteria in one of the columns. Ask others for feedback if you feel comfortable soliciting them for feedback, including your skip-level manager and other coworkers.
At the end of this process, you should have a spreadsheet that looks something like this:
2) Formulate A Plan By Working Backwards From Overwhelming Evidence
The next step is to create an improvement plan based on the feedback you gathered.
Focus on addressing your weaknesses, which are shown as red and yellow items in your spreadsheet. This color-coded visual makes it easy to spot problem areas, allowing you to target them specifically.
To create your plan, first envision what concrete evidence would show you’re performing at the next level for the criteria you’ve identified. Then, work backward (sometimes called right-to-left planning) from this imagined evidence to identify the specific actions needed to achieve it. This approach helps you focus on tangible outcomes and the steps required to reach them.
For example, if you’re aiming for a Senior Software Engineer position and your spreadsheet looks like the example, you may imagine that leading a major project that significantly improves system performance would prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you are operating at the senior level.
Then, work backward to create actions. If you landed this project, you would have, in reverse order:
Documented and presented the project’s impact on system performance to the team and leadership
Analyzed and reported on the implementation results
Successfully deployed the optimization solution
Managed the team throughout the implementation process
Developed a detailed implementation plan with the team
Got approval for the proposed solution from stakeholders
Designed a comprehensive solution addressing multiple bottlenecks
Proposed a system-wide optimization project to leadership
Analyzed current performance data to identify key issues
By starting at the end point, which is overwhelming evidence that you’re operating at the next level, and working backward from there, you can create an actionable plan that directly addresses the areas you need to improve.
If any step seems unclear, apply the “right-to-left method” to that specific item. For instance, if you’re unsure how to “analyze current performance data,” imagine what would prove you did an excellent job at this task. Perhaps it’s a comprehensive report praised by senior engineers. Then, work backward to determine how to create that report.
To create this report, you would have, in reverse order:
Compiled findings into a clear, concise report ready to be shared with senior engineers
Quantified the impact of performance bottlenecks you found
Identified performance bottlenecks in your system
Gathered relevant system metrics
As before, you can get started by reversing this “working backward” list.
This approach ensures a focused, actionable plan targeting your key growth areas. By starting with the end goal and reversing the process, you create a roadmap that directly addresses your improvement needs.
3) Execute While Avoiding the Promotion Donut
As you work through your plan, regularly assess your progress. Are you developing the skills and producing the results you envisioned? If not, adjust your approach as needed.
Remember, the goal isn’t just to complete tasks, but to demonstrate growth and readiness for the next level. Each action should build your expertise and prove your expanding capabilities.
Be sure to seek feedback from colleagues and mentors throughout this process. Their insights can help you refine your approach and ensure you’re on track to achieve your career goals.
By systematically working through your plan, you’re not just hoping for a promotion - you’re actively building the skills and track record that make you an obvious choice for advancement.
Execute your plan with balance in mind. While you’re focused on demonstrating next-level skills, be wary of the promotion donut trap I highlighted in Part One, where you neglect your current responsibilities in pursuit of higher-level work. Your evidence-based plan should complement, not replace, your core duties. The goal is to excel at your current level while showcasing readiness for the next.
With each cycle of the algorithm, you’ll see fewer weak points (red and yellow items) in your assessment, and your improvement targets will become more refined. By maintaining strong performance in your role while strategically demonstrating higher-level capabilities, you create a compelling case for promotion.
Remember, advancement comes from mastering your current position and clearly showing readiness for the next. Keep this balance and systematic focus, and your promotion will be a natural next step, not just an aspiration.
📖 TL;DR
Accelerate your tech career promotion by avoiding common pitfalls and following my systematic approach, “The Tech Promotion Algorithm”:
Identify your gaps using role guidelines and by requesting support from your manager
Create a plan by working backward from clear evidence of next-level performance
Execute while balancing at-level and next-level responsibilities
Repeat this process, adjusting as needed, and your next promotion is just a matter of time.
If you’d like more from me, subscribe to my Substack and YouTube channel, or follow me on LinkedIn. If you’d like personalized help for your next promotion from me and my team, check out my intimate group coaching program, Speedrun To Promotion and sign up for the waitlist. We will be accepting new clients in October of 2024.
🙏 Thank you to Steve
Thank you SO much to Steve for sharing his Tech Promotion Algorithm here and his mistakes last week in Part One of this guest post series. I highly recommend following him on all the socials he linked above. I’ve learned a ton from him.
👏 Shout-outs of the week
A Compilation of My Lifetime Performance Review Critical Feedbacks by
on — I love Gourav’s vulnerability in this post. He shares the harsh feedback he received and how he acted on them.The Secret of the Best Engineering Manager I Know by
on — Story about being a “giver” and why it can be the best thing for your growth and career, but also about the pitfallsPractical ways to show appreciation (with real-world examples) by
on — I love all the practical examples Irina shares on how to show gratitude regardless of your personality.
Thank you for your continued support and the growth to 72k+ subscribers 🙏
If you missed any past articles, check out How to Communicate With Impact, How to Say “No,” and How I Plan My Week as a Senior Engineer in Big Tech.
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