Colleagues are moving up
If you feel as though you are stagnating in your job and your boss knows you are looking for a step up but it seems like teammates are getting promoted ahead of you, even though you have the same level of experience then it may be a negative reflection of the value your company places on your contribution. If you have reached that point you probably have three options:
- Accept the situation and be prepared more of the same.
- Go to your manager and discuss how you can develop your skills in order to be considered for promotion.
- Begin looking at other opportunities either inside or outside the company.
Is it Monday already?
You begin to dread coming in to work and your bag feels heavier and heavier with every step closer to the office. You don’t so much sit in your chair as collapse into it and you fight the urge to rest your head on your keyboard. The kitchen, with its stacks of dirty cups, used teabags and encrusted cereal bowls, is driving you to homicidal fits of rage and just one more sentence from your colleagues about their holiday/wedding plans/partner/pet cat may see you battering them to death with your keyboard.
If you’re not feeling the love anymore then it may be time to make changes. There are jobs out there that you will enjoy doing, jobs that challenge you and make you feel excited about working every day, so why not think about what you want to do and start taking steps to make it happen. Really, life’s too short to confine yourself in a job that makes you scream inside.
Success comes without a challenge
If your level of competence has reached the point where you are easily meeting your targets, you are routinely winning internal competitions and coming top of the leader board pretty much every time, then it may be time to think about leaving. It sounds counterintuitive, but if your job no longer presents any challenges you may actually be damaging your career by staying in the same role.
This can happen when you have outgrown the team or the company and you may find that you need a new challenge. By staying in a job where you cannot move forward you are effectively putting a brake on your personal development. There are situations where being the biggest fish in a small pond is a good place to be. The work situation may suit you from a personal perspective or you may be at the end of your career where seeking a new challenge is not as much of a priority.
However, if you are in the early or middle stages of your career this kind of situation can actually be harmful. Why? Because ok, you are the top dog now. But remember, every industry changes and develops, as technology and work practices evolve. Remaining in an environment that does not change can cause your knowledge and skills to become obsolete over time. Therefore you may be running the risk of your experience becoming irrelevant. Far better is to change jobs at a time of your choosing when you are a high performer so that you can negotiate from a position of strength.