Reaching a point in your career when it feels like you can’t go any further could create a number of feelings. Some people may be satisfied with where they are, especially if there are opportunities for pay raises or new responsibilities later. But other people want to keep climbing the ranks and don’t want to feel like they’re stuck in one position, unable to advance any further. If it seems like you’ve reached a plateau in your career, you don’t have to languish there if you don’t want to. You can find ways to get unstuck and continue climbing to a place where you feel happy. But how can you get out of that rut?
Think About What You Want
Before you can develop your career further, you should think about what exactly you want from it. You might be dissatisfied with where you are now, but where do you want to be? When people feel that they have hit a plateau in their career, there can be several things that they see as the key problem. Maybe you think you’re not earning enough or that you’re undervalued at work. You might be bored with your current responsibilities or keen to move into a management or leadership position.
Defining what you want next will help you to create a plan to get there. Once you have clear goals, you can create a plan that will help you to make your next move. Work out what your priorities are and where you want to be in your career, whether it’s getting a promotion or getting more recognition for your work.
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Build Your Skills
If you feel like you’re always passed over for promotions or you can’t find any more advanced opportunities suitable for you, you need to take a look at your skills gaps. What do you need to fill in to put you in a better position to go after new opportunities. It’s important to know what you want first, so you can then assess where you might be falling short of what you need to reach those goals. Do you have any skills that you need to build or improve? Is there anything that you might be doing wrong or that you could be doing to an inadequate standard?
When you have skills that you need to work on, there could be several ways to do this. Maybe you need to build your knowledge by taking a course, which is something that you might be able to do through your employer or on your own initiative. You might even consider going back to school if you think that you need to gain a new qualification or boost your knowledge in a particular area. Perhaps you need a degree to continue moving up in your career but you don’t yet have one. You can study while continuing to work if you don’t want to go back to school full-time.
There are many different types of skills you can work on, including both hard skills and soft skills. Improving your leadership skills can be a great way to get noticed and find new opportunities. Working on your communication skills could be a way to show that you want to try taking on more at work. Or developing a specialism in your technical skills could be a way to become more valuable to your company.
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Connect with Your Manager
For those who want to stay with their current employer but find ways to get over a career plateau, connecting with your manager can be a smart move. They can give you an outside perspective, but they also know your work patterns and can offer you useful advice. They can identify the things that you’re good at and the ways that you can improve, and they can help you to look for the right opportunities for your next career move. Your manager can help to connect you with other people in your organization too, from managers and co-workers in other departments to mentors who can help you to take the next step. Schedule a meeting with your manager and ask them how they might be able to help you keep moving in your career.
Look for a New Employer
Sometimes, staying with your current employer might not be the best option. Perhaps it seems like there is a lack of opportunities or you’re unhappy in your current position, for whatever reason. Finding a new employer could be the best option for you if you’re looking for opportunities to grow. But what exactly should you be looking for if you want to get over your career plateau? You don’t want to move from one role into an identical one and still feel stuck working for a different company.
When you’re looking for a new job, keep an eye out for those that emphasize opportunities to grow. Which employers put a focus on personal development and climbing through the ranks or taking on new challenges? You might even look for a role that offers you more seniority or more responsibility and comes with a higher salary too. Even if you don’t have direct experience in a similar role, you might be able to show that you’re ready to take the next step and do more.
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Relocate to Somewhere New
Relocating could also be an excellent way to overcome a plateau in your career. It might be something that you can do with your existing employer or you might look for job opportunities with a new employer in another location. Whichever you decide to do, it could help you to give your career a kickstart and help you to get into a better position. Relocating might mean that you move to an office or location where there are more chances to advance, or where you can fill a role that isn’t available in your current location.
Relocating might seem like a lot of effort, but it could be easier than you think. Of course, it’s easier if you’re moving on your own, but it’s possible to move with your family too. Your employer might be able to support you with the move, and possibly even pay your relocation costs. With services like https://carsrelo.com/, even moving your car to a new city could be a lot simpler than you expect. If you’re organized, your whole move can go smoothly. It could bring you other benefits too, besides helping you in your career. You might enjoy an improved lifestyle, make new friends and discover somewhere you love living.
Start a Side Hustle
If you’ve ever considered starting a side gig, you might have worried that it will get in the way of your main job. However, instead of distracting you from it, it could help you to develop your career. It can help you to develop new skills and existing ones, make new connections, and grow your personal brand. Plus, you’ll be making more money on the side. Your new skills and knowledge could then be applied to your current job, or they might help you to find a new role elsewhere. Your side hustle could even end up becoming your main source of income if you decide to take the leap. Just make sure your employer doesn’t have any rules against moonlighting.
Try a Lateral Career Move
Another way to shake up your career is to consider a lateral move. Working in a different department within your company or even taking on a new project can be a way to do something beyond your usual work. You could keep an eye out for internal job openings that you might want to apply for or ask your manager if there are any new challenges that you could take on. It’s a good way for you to stay with your current employer but look for new opportunities to do something different with your career. It might not be an advancement, but it could ensure that you’re not stuck in a position that you don’t enjoy.
Create Your Own Opportunities at Work
When you can’t find the right opportunities at work, there’s also the option of creating them yourself. Rather than waiting for the right opportunity to come along, take the initiative and think about what you can do to get noticed. If you think that there is something that should change in your organization, you could take the steps needed to make it happen.
Try reaching out to people within your organization who can help you to make things happen. Maybe you want to start a new project or put together an action group dedicated to a specific issue. It could be anything from helping to make your workplace greener to implementing new trends that could grow your organization. Get yourself noticed and show that you’re enthusiastic about doing more for the company.
Getting stuck on a career plateau isn’t something that has to last forever. You can get over it if you think about what you want and how to get it.