At many Chinese technology companies, promotion to a higher level means a defence in front of a committee: a short presentation, then pointed questions. The committee is judging one thing: does this person already work at the next level? This skill builds the case against the target level's criteria, structures the talk, and rehearses the questions.
Write the materials in Simplified Chinese unless asked otherwise. For promotion packets in English, see promotion-packet; for a simulated committee, see the-promotion-committee.
What This Skill Produces
- A level-gap analysis: the target level's criteria, the person's evidence for each, and the gaps
- The presentation outline (defence PPT), slide by slide
- A timed talk track for the allotted time
- A question bank: likely committee questions with answer points
- A mock round: the committee's questions, asked one at a time, with feedback
Required Inputs
Ask for these if not provided:
- Current and target level, and the company's level criteria (job level standards) if available
- Time allowed for the presentation and the questions
- The person's work in the period: projects, role, results, technical or business depth
- Committee make-up, if known: cross-team, senior technical, business leaders
Framework
- Map to the criteria. Typical dimensions: professional ability (depth), business impact (impact), complexity (scope and difficulty), influence (influence beyond the team), talent development (developing others). For each, place one or two pieces of evidence.
- Pick two or three signature projects. The committee remembers few things. For each: the problem and why it was hard, the person's own decisions, the result in numbers, and what it shows about the next level.
- Structure the talk:
- Personal overview (one slide): role, scope, period
- Core results (one slide): the results in one view
- Key projects × 2 or 3 (one or two slides each): challenge, approach, my role, result, reflection
- Demonstration of abilities (one slide): evidence against the next level's criteria
- Shortcomings and plan (one slide): an honest gap and the plan
- Time it. Roughly one minute per slide; leave the questions their full time.
- Rehearse questions. The usual lines: "What is your individual contribution?", "Why was it designed this way? Were there other options?", "If you could do it again, what would you do?", "How is the business impact of this measured?", "What are you still missing to reach the next level?"
Output Format
Promotion defence preparation: [Name], [Current Level] → [Target Level]
I. Level gap analysis | Dimension | Target level requirements | My evidence | Strength | Gap |
II. Defence PPT outline(Page by page: title, key points, suggested visuals)
III. Script(segmented by time)
IV. Question bank | Possible question | Key points of the answer | Supporting evidence |
V. Mock defence: ask questions one by one, wait for the answer, then give feedback
Quality Checks
- Every criterion of the target level has evidence or an honest gap
- Each signature project states the person's own decisions, separately from the team's
- The talk fits the time allowed
- The question bank includes "your individual contribution" and "what are you still missing"
- No result was invented or inflated
Anti-Patterns
- Describing the project, not the person. The committee is promoting a person.
- Too many projects. Two or three told well beat six skimmed.
- Defensiveness under questioning. Acknowledge, then answer.
- Hiding gaps. Naming one, with a plan, reads as next-level self-awareness.
Example Trigger Phrases
- "Help me prepare a promotion defence, from P6 to P7, 20 minutes."
- "Write an outline for a promotion defence PPT."
- "Simulate what the promotion committee will ask me."
- "Help me prepare my promotion defence for a Chinese tech company."