>Promotion is something different -- it's interviewing for a brand new job, by proving you're already doing that job I've worked a couple places where getting

>Promotion is something different -- it's interviewing for a brand new job, by proving you're already doing that job I've worked a couple places where getting a "meets expectations" on your annual review was expected Their review processes were calibrated such that you should [almost] never get a 5 ("always exceeds") A handful of 4s ("sometimes exceeds") was good - but not a requirement ('too many' 4s indicated you were in the wrong role, so titles/pay/etc would be adjusted) More than one 2 ("sometimes doesn't meet") was reason for extra mentoring, one-on-ones, etc There were no 1s ("fails to meet") - if you would otherwise have earned a 1 in any category, you'd've been let go already