4 Ways to Get a Promotion in 2012

Things are looking up for the job market in 2012, but we're not out of the woods yet. If you're hoping for a promotion in the new year, be aware that it will be tough--but not impossible.

Follow these four tips to get a promotion and climb the corporate ladder even in a stagnant economy:

1. Focus on achievements. No one gets a promotion without being valuable to a company, and the best way to show your value is by focusing on your achievements. Rather than describing your day-to-day duties, focus on things you accomplished at your current position, namely, specific results.

Using numbers is a great strategy. For example, "increased profits by 40 percent" or "doubled sales in the first quarter" give tangible, measurable amounts of value you provided your company. When talking to your manager about a promotion, make sure to convey your value in the form of your achievements.

2. Ask for more. Show that you're ready to take the next step by taking on more responsibility. Ask for--and volunteer for--more tasks and projects, especially those that correspond with your desired post-promotion position. Also, take the initiative and go the extra mile on anything you're assigned. In order to get a promotion, you need to show you're not only able to handle extra responsibility, but able to produce quality work at the same time.

3. Up your skills. Show your employer that you're committed to a future at your company and to a higher position by investing in some professional development and training programs. Staying on top in the business world means keeping your skills up-to-date with the newest technology, best practices, etc.

Not sure what skills you should improve? Look into the skills necessary for the position you want. What are some skills people at that level have? More importantly, what are some skills people at that level should have but don't? If you can offer a necessary skill that's currently lacking at your desired level, you're offering your employer a great opportunity to promote.

4. Be patient. Even though hiring is expected to rise this year, companies are still bouncing back from the recession and the economy is still tough. If you've made it clear you want a promotion and have done your best to showcase your achievements, capabilities, and skills, the rest is out of your hands. It may be the case that your company isn't in a position to promote at the moment; while this is disappointing, it's a situation that will hopefully change in the future. Keep up the good work, and keep making your goals known.

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Philips' TV deal at risk, plans 4,500 job cuts

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Philips Electronics said it was considering its options should the sale of its TV business collapse as it reported plummeting third-quarter profits and little hope of a material improvement in the near term.

Philips -- the world's biggest lighting maker, a top three hospital equipment maker, and Europe's biggest consumer electronics producer -- said negotiations to sell off most of its TV business to Hong-Kong based TPV were intense and constructive and taking longer than expected.

The deal was due to close before the end of this year.

"For the eventuality that a final agreement cannot be reached, Philips will consider its alternative options," said Frans van Houten, chief executive in a statement on Monday.

Philips said it would aim to cut 4,500 jobs as part of an 800 million euros cost-cutting scheme to boost profits and meet its financial targets.

Despite reiterating the firm's 2013 financial targets of 4-6 percent sales growth, and a margin on earnings before interest, tax, and amortisation (EBITA) of 10-12 percent, Van Houten said Philips had a long way to go.

"We are not yet satisfied with our current financial performance, given the ongoing economic challenges, especially in Europe, and operational issues and risks. We do not expect to realize a material performance improvement in the near term," he said in a statement.

On Monday the firm reported third-quarter net profit of 76 million euros, down from 524 million euros a year ago on sales of 5.394 billion euros, down from 5.46 billion euros.

Analysts in a Reuters-commissioned poll had expected third-quarter net profit of 53.8 million euros on sales of 5.341 billion euros.

In the past seven months, Philips has issued two profit warnings, slashed its long-term growth targets, and been hit by the combination of rising raw material costs, sagging consumer confidence, sluggish construction markets and government budget cuts in the healthcare sector.

The Dutch firm halved its third-quarter earnings before interest, tax and amortisation to 368 million euros, from 648 million euros a year ago, due in part to higher restructuring and acquisition-related charges and lower earnings at the firm's entertainment and consumer lighting units.

Philips's share price has plunged almost 40 percent over the past year as it struggles to compete with lower-cost Asian makers of consumer electronics. Tepid consumer confidence and weak economic growth in Europe and the United States have also hit demand for products ranging from televisions and audiovisual equipment to electric toothbrushes, as well as its street and home lighting systems.

Philips competes with Samsung and LG Electronics, among others, in consumer electronics, and with General Electric and Siemens in the hospital and lighting markets.

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Start your own company (Entrepreneurship) : Create jobs instead of finding one

As you approach the final year of the college life, the career part of the mind will be busy exploring all options. A good CAT percentile leading towards an IIM-MBA loaded with moolah, or a Master’s in the US ? Or just a good campus job. And for some, just some, chasing their dreams of may be a PhD or teaching or higher education, purely as an intellectual pursuit in a chosen field of interest. In the much-pursued search how often do people actually “choose” what they want? How often do they “seek” what they want, in an area they want?

Granted, there is social respect that comes with a good job (read- good pay) in a good (read, well known and recognised) company. But still, aren’t there other options? If you can’t find a job or company that is in line with personal interests and likes, can you “make” a job yourself? Maybe you are your best Manager! This is what start-ups are all about - Chasing a dream. And not depending on anyone else or any company to realise your dreams. Create a product or a business instead of just helping build one.

Creating jobs for instead of just filling one job in a company. Creating one’s own IP (intellectual property) as opposed to just working for a larger company helping them build their IP or products. Or worse, engaged in just services for global clients, with no IP created nor retained.

For engineering and business students, the options are even better. If in the pre-final year you can think of some interesting ideas and get a basic validation, you can start working on the initial prototypes in the summer vacation. And with this experience and insight, you can tweak the plans and work on it as a final year project. Put in that extra effort, more than what may normally be needed just to fulfill academic obligations.

Basically concurrent to the final year in college, at no additional financial cost, and maybe just additional time investment one can get the first serious version of the idea or product built. And use this to get some validation from VCs, entrepreneurs and others in that domain.

Much easier to get the attention of these experts if one has a prototype to show, rather than just discuss an idea on paper or using slides. The advantage of doing this is that the decision to embark on own venture or start-up as opposed to taking up a campus job is now much more informed and with some much usable validation. Validation of the idea. Validation of the feasibility. Validation of business possibilities. And most importantly, the Validation of the team’s interest and if it stands the test of time without fading away.

At this point or closer to this point, just before graduation you can approach either the incubation centre in your college, look for e-cells in the city or even programmes like HydCubator (IIIT-H) or iAccelerator (IIM-A). All of these can help with the process to validate the idea and the prototype and help make the decision to go forward to make it a full-fledged start-up. If the prototype is good (which it will be if serious effort went into it), you can even get some initial angel funding that will help seed the effort. Maybe get a few more engineers to join the founding team. And accelerate the process to the first serious version of the idea/product and get some customer validation, which will be key to raise more angel money and eventually onto VC money.

The ecosystem is also rapidly getting in place. From start-up events to academic incubation cells to e-cells driven by organisations like NEN (National Entrepreneurship Network) to angel networks and lot of willing entrepreneurs available to mentor. It’s a great time to think about it. Go. Chase your dreams. Create something!

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