Getting ahead
Ask for a level check when your job grows
A micro exercise to check that your title and level have kept up with the work you actually do
When your job has clearly grown, compare what you do now with how levels are described where you work, then ask your manager whether your title and level still match.
- About 15 minutes
- You and your manager
- When your job has grown
- Conversation
Why this can work
Titles and levels tend to lag behind the work, and they often don't catch up on their own. Asking for a check, rather than a promotion, gives your manager a question they can answer honestly today. Either answer is useful: a level that's catching up, or a clear list of what's still missing.
Read moreHow to ask for a level check at work
You’ll come away with an honest read, shared with your manager, of where your work sits against your level.
- Find how levels are described where you work.
Look for a career ladder, a leveling guide, or job descriptions for your role and the one above. If nothing is written down, ask your manager or HR how levels are defined.
Tip: If there's truly nothing, job postings for the level above yours at similar companies are a decent stand-in.
- Write down what you do now that you didn't a year ago.
Be specific: what you own, who you lead or support, what decisions you make, how big the problems are. For example: a year ago you ran one client account; now you run five and train the two newest people on the team.
- Compare it honestly.
Hold your list against the next level's description. Where do you clearly match, where are you partway, and where haven't you started? Partway is normal, and useful to know.
- Send your manager a short note.
Send it a few days before you meet, so your manager has time to look.
To: your managerOver the past time period, my role has grown. I'm now what's new in your work, which wasn't part of the job when I started in it.
Looking at how levels are described here, some of that looks closer to the next level than to where I am now. I may be wrong about that, and I'd like to understand how you see it.
Could we find 30 minutes in the next few weeks to look at it together?
Swap the highlighted parts for your thing. Works on Slack, in email, or said out loud. - Ask where the gaps are.
Whatever your manager thinks, ask what's missing and what would close it. That's the part you can act on.
You“Where do you see my work against the next level, and what would you need to see to feel sure?”
Good times to repeat it: when your scope has clearly growna few months before promotion decisionsafter taking on work from someone who left
Making it work for you
Every workplace is different. Here’s what to think about before you start, and what might get in the way.
Things to think about
Level changes often go through a committee or a calibration process. Raising it months before those decisions gives your manager time to put it together.
What might make this harder
Ask your manager how they'd describe the difference between your role and the one above. Their answer becomes the ladder, so write it down.
Questions people ask
How do I ask for a promotion when my job has grown?
Write down how your work has changed, compare it with how the next level is described, and ask your manager whether your title and level still match. Framing it as a check invites a real answer.
What is a career ladder?
A written description of what each level in a role is expected to do, usually covering scope, skills and impact. Many companies use one to decide titles, levels and pay.
What's the difference between a title and a level?
A title is what you're called. A level is where the role sits in the company's structure, and it's often what pay is tied to. Two people with the same title can be at different levels.
What if my job has grown but I'm not ready for the next level?
Ask what's missing and how to close it. Being partway there is common, and knowing the gaps turns growth into a plan.
Why this works, and where it comes from
Jobs grow in small steps. You pick up the project nobody owned, cover for someone who left, start training the new people. Each step feels too small to mention, so nobody does, and a year later the job looks quite different from the one your title describes. Companies tend to pay and promote for work already happening at the next level, so a job that has grown is your evidence, as long as someone looks at it.
The honest part comes first. It's easy to count everything you now do as next-level work, and some of it probably isn't. Doing more of the same work is scope. Doing a different kind of work, bigger decisions, broader influence, more ambiguity, is what levels usually measure. Holding your list against the real description of the level above, and admitting where you're only partway, makes your case stronger, not weaker. Your manager will make that comparison anyway, and doing it first shows judgment.
The note follows a simple shape: here's what I've seen, here's what I think it means, here's what I'd like to do about it. It gives your manager your reasoning, not just your conclusion, and leaves room for them to see it differently. That room matters. You may be closer than you think, or they may already know about a change in motion.
If your job grew because two colleagues left and nobody replaced them, the real conversation may be about workload, not level. Asking for a new title for a job that's too big for one person can lock the problem in. Start with whether the load is sustainable, and come back to level once it is.
Other simple things to consider
What to do next
More in Getting ahead
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An exercise written by Truest, based on our experience. Last updated September 25, 2026. We sell a career membership; where that’s relevant above, we say so.