Four Signs Your Career Is Stopping (and It’s Time to Move On)
You have been doing the same tasks for as long as you can remember. New skills? New responsibilities? I cannot name any of your thoughts. In fact, you start to feel like things have stalled a little. It’s time to pay attention to how your work affects your overall career.
This post was originally published on the Muse website .
I know. You have a good job. You work for an interesting company and you like your boss and colleagues. And I also know that sometimes maintaining the status quo is exactly what you want in your career.
But if it’s important for you to continue to grow and advance in your professional life, it’s time to pay attention to how your current job affects your future career as a whole. And more importantly, recognize these signs that tell you when it might stop.
1. The only way you can get promoted is if your boss resigns.
Or, you know, gets hit by a Regina George-style bus. If you work for one of those rigidly structured organizations where everyone is moving up the same ladder – and the step in front of you will not be vacated anytime soon – then a promotion or promotion is probably not on the horizon.
In this case, you can (and should) talk to your manager about your options . Could you take on at least some new responsibilities? Or, if your current department doesn’t have an opportunity for you, maybe there is another one. Of course, if you have done this and there is still no hope of movement, you have nowhere to go but to get out.
You can also avoid this dilemma in your next position by asking these questions during interviews: “How do employees grow and develop their careers here?” or “What does a typical career path look like in your company?”
2. You upgrade to a promotion more than once
Whatever the reason for this, something or someone is actually holding you back from advancing in your current organization.
Before packing, take a moment to sit down with your manager and ask why this has happened again . Perhaps this is what you are doing and unwittingly sabotaging yourself – if so, you have something to work on. But if no one explains to you why you were bypassed, chances are, little will change in the future.
3. Your company is shrinking
During the recession, there was nothing you could do about your employer tightening his belts – everyone else did the same. But now that you have a healthier economy, you have more options and you should pay attention if your company is cutting costs.
You don’t even need to see massive layoffs or wage freezes. Just look out for signs that the business isn’t really growing, such as job declines or the fact that all the big players in your industry are heading in the same direction while your business stays the same. If growth is indeed slowing down, very soon you will find yourself in that first “situation” that I mentioned.
4. Your entire industry is shrinking
Here you need to take a step back. The realization that the industry you have built your career in is slowly fading away is not good for many. But the sooner you understand this, the better it will be. Yes, this pill is difficult to swallow, but it is better to know now than to stop there.
Good news? Many change careers . You can prepare by starting to think about what (else) you would like to do in your life. What do you like about your job now? What have you always wondered about? What interesting works have you seen from friends and colleagues? Take these answers and see what other areas these skills and talents are used in.
Once you realize there is a problem, the next step is to do something about it. (Spoiler alert: This is likely to do with looking for a new job.) If you’re not quite ready for this, a good first step is to build a network to see what’s out there. Then, when you get to the point where you know you need to make changes, you can go straight to job search mode.
4 Signs Your Career Is Completely Stagnant (And It’s Time To Move On) | Muse