6 Signs That Your Career Has Stagnated

By Perminus Wainaina

How you feel on Monday morning when you are getting ready for work can tell you a lot about your career. Are you excited at the start of a new week with new challenges, or do you constantly have the Monday morning blues? If the latter is true, you need to take a long hard look at your situation because your career may just have stagnated. So what are some of the signs of a stagnant career?

1. Lack of Growth Opportunities

If you have been at the same position doing the same work for a number of years, your career has stagnated. While you may actually enjoy your job, you need to evaluate why you are not getting promoted. Chances are you have gotten comfortable and are not actively pursuing a promotion. Either that or the company you are working for has little room for upward mobility.

2. Your Skills Are Underutilized

Do you feel like you have the capacity and skills to do more than your current job allows? When your skills are not adequately utilized, you are likely to get bored at work. It also affects your journey up the career ladder because your next job depends on what you are doing now.

3. There are no Learning Opportunities

If you are working at a job where you do routine work from January to December, your career is in trouble. Spending an entire year without learning anything new in your field might seem like your idea of a stress free job. In reality, it is setting you up for career stagnation because in order to move to the next level you have to bring something new to the table.

4. Your Performance Reviews are Average

If you come across terms such as ‘adequate’ or ‘satisfactory’ or even ‘consistent’ in your performance appraisals, you should be alarmed. These words mean your work meets the minimum standards required. In other words, you are a mediocre employee. The company has no motivation to promote you, or even give you that raise.

5. Your Opinion Is Not Valued

Are you at the point where the phone is not ringing anymore, you get fewer emails and get invited to fewer meetings? These are indications that your opinions or advice are not valued by your colleagues or boss. Decisions can be made easily without your input. Basically, in that company, you might as well not exist.

6. You Are Always Complaining About Work

This should be the most obvious indicator that your job no longer excites or motivates you. Every Monday morning you swear that one of these days you are going to get a new job. Your friends and colleagues are also tired of hearing complaints about how much you hate the job and are only there for the salary.

What To Do About Your Stagnating Career

The truth is, as much as others may sympathize with you being stuck in a rut, only you can take action to change things. Some of the things you could do to get unstuck include:

• Talk to your Supervisor/Manager: Find out why your colleague got the promotion despite you having worked there longer. Ask for an honest evaluation of your strengths and weaknesses and a checklist to ensure you get the next promotion or salary raise.
• Acquire some new skills: It doesn’t have to be the MBA you still can’t afford. It could be something as simple as improving your public speaking skills, or learning leadership and management skills. Adding some relevant work skills can earn you a senior position or even a new job.
• Take Initiative: Most life changing opportunities are self-made. So don’t sit there whining about how your boss ignores you. Step up to the plate and offer to take on a few more responsibilities; or pitch a new system of doing things more efficiently. When you position yourself as a key player in the company’s success, people begin to take notice.
• Get A New Job: Sometimes, quite honestly, the best thing is to move on. If the company is not growing, your career won’t either. If you’ve repeatedly talked to your boss about giving you more responsibilities to increase your skills to no avail, you need a new job. Spruce up that CV and apply somewhere your skills, opinions and efforts are valued and nurtured.

To sum it up, you should regularly check the pulse on your career. Are you still on track with your long term goals? If not, explore your options and work towards having a career you can be proud of.

Perminus Wainaina is the C.E.O and Managing Partner at Corporate Staffing Services, a leading HR & Recruitment consultancy firm based in Westlands. Through personalized career coaching he assists mid-level and senior professionals get solutions to complex and challenging career issues that they are facing. Click here for more on career coaching.