Get Promoted Out Of Entry-Level – And Make More Money
You feel like you’re doing everything “right” but you’re still getting overlooked when it comes to promotions.
You want more - more responsibility, more strategic work, and yes, more money. But instead, you’re stuck doing low-impact, entry-level tasks that don’t reflect what you’re actually capable of.
But breaking out of the entry-level in a SaaS organization can be tricky. It’s not enough to work harder - in fact that can get you more stuck.
To get out of entry level work, you have to start showing up differently, communicating like you’re already in the next level, and creating confidence in others that you’re their next right decision.
And chances are, no one has shown you how to actually do any of that. No one showed me either.
But once you’re able to make that shift, everything changes.
You start getting tapped for bigger projects. You’re included in more meaningful conversations. Your earning potential opens up and your career starts to really move forward.
In this post, I’ll walk you through three steps to help position yourself for that next promotion, so you can step out of entry-level and into bigger opportunities and higher pay. The same steps I used to increase my income by $40k in less than a year.
Let’s get into it!
Step #1: Learn How to Speak Like a Leader
Right now, the way you’re communicating might be giving “junior employee” - even if your skills say otherwise.
This can sound like over-explaining, second-guessing, or softening your ideas before you even say them. And while it may feel safe, it doesn’t inspire confidence in your leadership potential.
Speaking like a leader means being clear, direct, and grounded in what you’re saying. It means trusting your ideas enough to share them without shrinking them down, and knowing how to navigate not having all of the answers.
This is where building a strong foundation in public speaking becomes essential.
That looks like:
Practicing clear and concise messaging - knowing how to say exactly what you mean in the most effective way
Learning how to structure your thoughts before you speak - presenting your thoughts in a logical order that makes it easy for others to digest
Getting comfortable speaking on the fly in meetings - going beyond scripted presentations to maintain your speaking presence under any circumstance
Because when you can communicate your thoughts with clarity and confidence, you naturally start to shift how people see you from “needs more time to develop” to “ready to take on bigger opportunities”.
Step #2: Craft Your Personal Pitch
If you can’t clearly explain your value, you can’t guarantee others will understand it.
It’s not enough to do good work. You have to be able to explain the impact of your work in the language that your team uses, and through the framing of what’s most meaningful to the business.
The 101 version of this looks like understanding:
What you’re great at
The results you create
The impact that could mean for your team or company
But the 201, the real needle-moving information, is:
How your specific skills fill an existing gap in the organization and the business goals that could be achieved by implementing your expertise as the solution to the problem
Once you have your 201 skills outlined, you can turn this information into a personal pitch—a simple, confident way of communicating what you bring to the table and why it matters.
Think of this as your own “sales message.” You’re helping others understand why investing in your growth (through a promotion or raise) is a smart move.
But here’s the catch: it’s not enough to have a pitch. You have to be able to deliver it in a way that feels natural and believable.
That’s why practice matters.
This is one of the hardest things for my Director-Level Communication clients, so it’s something we spend a lot of time working on. You’ll leverage your friends, family, and coworkers to get clear on your strengths (hint: it’s a bigger list than you’ll make on your own). And you’ll practice talking your sh*t until it becomes a list of truths you know in your bones, not just a thing you say.
Step #3: Start Positioning Yourself
You can’t get promoted in a vacuum.
If the right people don’t know who you are, what you want, and what you’re capable of—you’re going to stay overlooked.
Positioning yourself means intentionally building relationships with people who can advocate for you.
In other words:
Building relationships with leaders, mentors, and peers - Your immediate team is often the fastest pathway to growth because the work falls into your current realm. But opportunities can pop up anywhere in SaaS organizations, so expanding your network beyond your immediate team is crucial. Plus, cross-functional connections can help make you more visible and be a strong selling point if your growth opportunity requires working with another team, as most of them do.
Sharing your goals openly: Don’t be shy about it! The more people in your network who know what kind of opportunity you’re looking for, the more likely you are to end up connected to it. This doesn’t have to feel like a pitch, either. Phrases like “something I’ve been thinking about lately” and “one question that keeps coming to mind is” can help your ideas become an natural part of the conversations you’re already having.
Making your personal pitch: This is an art, not a science. You should be pitching yourself if you’re asked directly or if the person you’re talking to has an active (or upcoming) opportunity that you want to put your hat in the ring for. Outside of these scenarios, use your best judgment. Does it fit organically in the conversation? Would you have to force this into your coffee chat? Reading the room is key, but chances are, you’re doing this less that you could be.
Inside my coaching, I’ll guide you on exactly how to do this without feeling salesy or forced. You’ll understand the key indicators for when your pitch might be welcomed - and when it definitely won’t be. I’ll help you think through your existing network and other connections you may need to make to position yourself for the opportunities you’re after. You’ll know who to talk to, what to say, and how to build champions for your growth.
What if I already have a reputation…and it’s not great?
You might be wondering… can you really change how people see you?
The short answer is yes. But it takes consistency.
Most people are open to updating their perception of you when they see clear, repeated evidence of growth. When you start communicating differently, showing up with more confidence, and positioning yourself more intentionally, people notice.
And if you expand your network beyond your immediate team, you give yourself more opportunities to be seen in a new light.
Now, if you’re dealing with a true hater – someone who is completely closed off to seeing you differently – it may be worth asking whether you’re in the right environment to support your growth.
Because sometimes, the problem isn’t your potential. It’s where you’re trying to demonstrate it.
Case Study: How I Increased My Salary By $40k In Less Than A Year
Step 1 - Speaking Like a Leader
I joined a new company ($15k salary increase) as the founding member of their project management team. I was new to the industry niche, and processes were constantly shifting as the team continued to develop. This to say, there was a lot to learn and not a lot of resources to learn from.
As I navigated this uncertainty, I kept my focus on highlighting what I knew with confidence while naming where I may have more to learn. I was quick with a point of view, but just as quick to say what I didn’t know yet.
By communicating my ideas while also being transparent about my gaps, I established myself as a thought partner to the leaders on my team. Someone who could provide solutions, but also recognized where subject matter expertise that I didn’t have would be crucial for validation.
Step 2 - My Personal Pitch
As I continued my journey with this organization, I kept pointing out my strengths as new challenges and opportunities arose. I’d work these casually into conversations with my manager as often as I could.
At the time, I wanted to support internal project management initiatives. I’d become known for my personal systems and decision making precision, which lent itself well to taking on internal cross-functional projects.
We were implementing new tools and needed to develop playbooks across the broader team - the opportunities were piling up and I was spearheading as many initiatives as I could handle as each new project came to light. I made my name synonymous with “we need this internal project done.”
It put me in a place to step into a senior position on my team, lead internal project work, and it bumped my salary up another $10k.
Step 3 - Positioning Myself
I’d never had any interest in being a people manager. Until an opportunity arose to manage a team that was closely connected with mine.
The only problem? I’d told both my direct and skip-level managers that I had absolutely no interest in managing people.
If I was going to have any chance of getting this role, I needed to articulate my interest, make a compelling case for why I’d changed my (very firmly made up) mind, and position myself as the right person for the role when there were team members who would have more existing subject matter expertise than I did.
Totally casual. No big deal. 😅
I started by getting to the bottom of why I felt differently this time. Then I focused on what I knew that team needed from my relationships with its members and through my manager, who was over them at the time. Lastly, I filtered all of that through the lens of what would be most impactful for the business. I used all of that clarity to develop my new Personal Pitch.
My talking points went something like this:
I’m just as surprised as you are because this has never happened before. But when I look at the priorities for that team to continue to scale, I see a need for coaching in my own strength areas, a need for someone who can help keep some calm in all of the chaos of change, and I have existing relationships with all of the members of that team where we’ve worked closely together in a similar capacity.
Both my manager and her manager were surprised but excited that I wanted to step into this new position.
We talked about how I think about leadership, the challenges I’d face in transitioning to the role, and how we’d transition my existing work to keep things smooth for everyone involved.
I walked out of that meeting with a new title and a $15k raise, just nine months after I started at the company.
Ready To Use These 3 Steps To Get Promoted?
This powerful set of skills can help fast track your growth and move you out of the entry-level into more meaningful, strategic work.
When you work with me 1:1 inside of Director-Level Communication, I’ll help you build these skills - no matter where you’re starting from.
We’ll work together to:
Build a rock solid foundation of public speaking skills
Get clear on all of your strengths, not just the ones you can see
Craft a personal pitch that makes you sound just as awesome as you are
Practice using your pitch to position yourself until you feel like it’s second nature
Land you your next opportunity and a salary bump to match
Let’s close the gap between where you are and where you actually want to be.
→ Click here to learn more about working with me through Director-Level Communication
