Ask Christa! I'm Going Nowhere in My Job, How Can I Get Out of This? (S5E58)

Introduction

Hi everyone and welcome to Ask Christa! the place where you can ask questions about how to work through business challenges and workplace issues. I'm Christa Dhimo and as we begin to wrap up Season 5’s theme of Career Growth, I selected a listener question that I hear a lot in my work, and it’s also something many of us have experienced. But it’s not always easy to admit or say: that you’re in a dead-end job, cycling through the same work, the same patterns, the same everything day after day with nowhere to go—no advancement opportunities or ways to develop beyond what you do. 

Before I review the listener question, remember to go to my show's site, AskChrista.com, that’s Christa with a C-H to submit YOUR question and sign up for my weekly Sunday night newsletter, More Answers, where you get relevant insights to common workplace challenges to set you up for the work week.

Listener Question

Here’s the listener question, “A few years ago, I loved my job. I work in customer support, and it feels good to solve different problems every day, talk to different people, and start difficult calls with unhappy customers, turn it around for them, and by the time we say goodbye, they are happy. But I’ve been doing this for a while, and I’m finding it harder to keep my energy up. I feel bored, and that bothers me. I used to love my job. I don’t know what to do. I talked to two shift supervisors already, and both explained that with the way our organization is setup, there isn’t a possibility for my advancement or any kind of development like that. I'm going nowhere in my job, how can I get out of this?”

The Magic of a Good Job, and the Stress of a Stand Still Job

First, I want to acknowledge that when we start a job we love, it can feel like magic. Things… click. We feel a sense of purpose, stability, and satisfaction—even if things beyond the job aren’t necessarily stable. There’s a settling on the inside that you’ve found what you do best, and even our listener wrote in their question how much they love solving customer problems AND turning around customer calls from difficult to happy. By the way, that’s a special talent, so I hope our listener has captured that appropriately within their resume and they’ve amplified the skills it takes to transform an unhappy customer into a happy one—presumably over the phone, no less. 

But I digress…

When you love your job, you feel a feeling of stability and satisfaction because you FEEL stable and satisfied within yourself each day. Sure, you’ll have challenges and issues like we all do, but when you ENJOY your work and WHERE you work and WHAT you do… it’s a great feeling. You might even feel… COMPLETE.

So the moment ANY of that wobbles or wanes, so too do those great feelings. And it’s hard to think about a job you love as the end of the line simply because your current company does not offer advancement, development, or ways to further your career in that job—or… as it seems… at that company. 

So What Do I DO if I’m at a Standstill??

Feeling you’re at an impasse or a standstill in your career at any time can feel confusing and complicated, especially if you’ve never experienced it AND you’re in a job you used to love. Sometimes it doesn’t occur to people that they may master a job so much that they get bored and want to do more… grow… develop… but there isn’t any more to do.

Now it would be easy for me to say, “Just get another job where there’s career growth.” And sure, you can do that if the economy is good, and you know what else you want to do or where else to apply, and our listener can certainly find another job at a call center where there probably IS job growth available. They may even start as a shift supervisor right away.

But I’d much prefer our listener, and anyone who feels they’re at a standstill in their current job, to instead take this as an opportunity to learn about how to move into a new organization that offers career growth.

So, if you’re in a standstill job—a role with no possibilities for advancement, part of your next step is to look for a company that focuses on job and career growth: Does their job board have a few different levels they’re hiring for? Are they hiring for more than just one or two positions? Do they have a benefits page, and does that include information about development opportunities? Do they hire from within? 

Beyond that, look at the organization’s growth pattern: are they a one-stop outsourcing shop that does just one thing? That’s probably not an organization that offers a lot of growth. They hire primarily for one role to do one thing—and that’s OK if that’s their business model, which probably focuses on general and standard transactions. They hire people to do the role, expect and tolerate a high turnover as people want to grow, and perpetuate the transactions that support what the business does. 

Just… do your homework because now more than ever, you can learn about organizations that value job and career growth vs those that enable a languishing or stagnant environment. 

The best way to get out of a standstill situation is always to move on from it. And for our listener, it sounds like it’s time to move on.

Additional Resources

For your resources, located in the show notes, I’ve included a great article from the Indeed Editorial Team about 15 signs you might be in a stagnant job and also what to do about it. As always, there are additional resources cited and links provided in this article, and it’s a quick, relevant read as a foundational article to put you in the right mindset for your next move.

If you feel that it’s time to upskill or cross-skill to get out of a dead-end or standstill job, I’ve also included a GREAT article from Climb Hire (that’s HIRE—clever…) that not only takes you through a step by step process for getting out of your current impasse, but also points toward industries that have generally grown in good times and in bad times. Climb Hire is a nonprofit organization founded in 2019. Their focus is on helping working adults upskill and prepare for a shift into tech industries—and not just High Tech. I’m not affiliated with Climb Hire, but I’ve done MY homework, and what they’re doing and how they’re doing it seems incredibly important and timely. Check them out.

Last is a great, quick read from Psychology Today that I’m offering to make sure you’re helping out your mentals as you’re managing through a career standstill AND doing what you can to move on. It’s written by Licensed Social Worker Robert Taibbi, and although it’s from October 2015, it still holds. He writes about Sorting out your head, Exploring, then Making a Plan. Sounds like good advice ANY TIME you’re gearing up for a change.

Wrap Up & Submitting Your Questions

And there it is, Episode 58 of Season 5 focused on Career Growth! Just two more episodes and we’re in Season SIX, which is another consolidation season that addressed dozens of questions I’ve received about dealing with bad bosses—and whoooo, I’ve had a few of those, too.

You can submit YOUR question on my show’s site, AskChrista.com, that’s Christa with a C-H, where you will see all my episodes listed based on category and season. While your there—sign up for my More Answers… newsletter, where you will receive additional content on Sunday nights to set you up for the work week. 

As always, thank you for your support by sending in your questions. And remember, if you have a business challenge or a workplace issue—Ask Christa!