Most people start their first job replete with excitement and enthusiasm. At the start it seems like there are no limits on where your career can go.
If you are in a professional or technical role you probably invest a lot of time, energy and money in becoming qualified in the hope that it will open doors to more senior level job opportunities.
The only problem is that others get the qualifications too and now you feel like you may be stuck and that your career is going nowhere. This is a pretty common problem.
Are you Treading Water?
Are you well paid and just treading water? Are you turning up at work and doing the minimum to get by? Doing nothing to improve things?
Now you might say that you don’t have the ‘power’ to do more. My question to you is do you need explicit power? Better to ask forgiveness than permission, is a common counter argument to the lack of power. Within your sphere of influence there are always going to be things that you can improve.
Lacking Visibility
Are you the best kept secret in your organisation? Perhaps it’s a British thing but people sometimes are a bit reluctant to let it be known about what they are achieving.
I’m not suggesting you go over the top. At the same time don’t be afraid to speak positively about what you are contributing.
You’re Not Promotable
I was an accountant by profession then switched to software development, then supporting technology and a slew of other roles thereafter. Trying to get qualified as an accountant was a pain and though accounting never goes away, it is not where i position myself from a career perspective.
You would be surprised how many people go through that struggle then do nothing to grow and develop themselves.
If you don’t keep growing and developing you will quickly find you are left in the dust and past your “sell by date” from the perspective of recruiters and hiring managers.
Do you lack drive?
Plenty of people talk about what they want but lack the drive to make it happen. Hard work and focused effort play a huge part in achieving anything and what you may think of as luck, sometimes is more about someone recognising that drive and giving you a break.
Questions to ask yourself
Am I really an asset to my employer?
- If yes, what else could you do to be even more of an asset
- If no, consider what you could start doing to be seen as an asset and someone worth retaining or promoting?
