Do you feel like you have hit a wall in your career? Do you worry you have gotten as high as you can go on your career ladder? It’s true that with the pandemic and economic crisis, many professionals feel stuck in their career progression or that they have slid back due to the pandemic. However, even before COVID, consider that for some of you perhaps a traditional career progression wasn’t always practical anyway. How can you evaluate your “career ladder” or career progression effectively? We work with professionals every day to help them evaluate their career progression and want to share some of our top tips with you.
Research your current industry and organization. How has your current industry been affected by COVID? Is your organization working as usual or have things slowed down? What attitude do superiors emulate? Are they confident or do they seem concerned for their own jobs? You can converse discreetly with coworkers and look up your industry and organization online. This will help you determine how high up your career ladder can go.
Conduct informational interviews. Another helpful resource for determining how high you can go in your career is by conducting informational interviews. This could be someone in your current organization or in your industry who has the position you would like to have in the long term. Ask them about current industry trends and how easy or difficult it might be in the next few years to achieve that position. Their answers will help you determine if your career ladder will go as high as you would like it to.
Does your current path still provide you with fulfillment? If you are feeling stuck in your career, could it possibly be because you no longer feel fulfillment and happiness in what you do at work? While all professionals can experience burnout, especially now due to working remotely, your career should honor your career values. Values can change over time, so take some time to evaluate them. Does your career regularly honor your values?
Your ladder doesn’t only go up. If you have determined that your career ladder will not go as high as you would like it to, don’t stay stuck. Simply move the ladder. You can walk across your ladder to transfer to a new industry or company. You may find it helpful to work with a career coach to help you determine what industry or company would suit you best. We also recommend that you identify your transferable skills. This will help you identify job options that would be a good fit for you and your career ladder.
Don’t look back in six months and wonder where the time went. It is possible to find fulfillment and happiness in what you do at work. Talk to us to find out more: schedule a free consult.
