How To Grow Your Career When You’re Stuck In A Dead-End Job

Your Career Questions Answered is written by Caroline Ceniza-Levine, founder of the DreamCareerClub.com and Senior Contributor to Forbes Leadership. Check out the Jumpstart Strategy Session – 2 hours, 1:1 to get you unstuck and moving towards your dream career.

I am stuck at a dead-end job. The company I work for rarely promotes and the only way to advance is either by applying to an opening after someone left or taking over a position that someone left.? I want a better career so I have been applying for new jobs but given how markets change I feel out of date. How do I adapt and compete in the current market? - Hassan

Kudos to Hassan for looking at ways to keep his skills fresh and competitive as markets change. While it would be ideal if your current job was enough to maintain your market value, that’s your ultimate responsibility. You can advance your career with your own initiative , whether or not your current job is cooperating.

Opportunity is available in multiple ways that you can fashion to your situation and goals. Here are four questions to jumpstart a plan to take advantage of these opportunities:

1 - Why are you looking to advance (i.e., what are your immediate and long-term career goals)?

If you don’t have a compelling enough why, you’re going to give up at the slightest obstacle. Furthermore, if your why isn’t clear or measurable (e.g., managing a bigger team than what you have today, owning a budget, or X amount of dollars in raise) then it’s impossible to plan an appropriate strategy to hit those goals. Finally, some goals take longer than others (e.g., reach the C-suite v. advance one title up) so you’ll want to distinguish between the next year’s goal v. your ultimate goal, so you don’t expect too much too soon and burn yourself out or get discouraged by unrealistic expectations.

2 - Which skills, expertise and experience do you need to develop?

If advancement means reaching the C-suite , then you need to cultivate the vision, executive presence and bottom line impact commensurate with that level. Some roles might require specific degrees or certification, but not every role requires additional training. Sometimes it’s the soft skills you may need – e.g., relating to others, active listening, communicating persuasively. Since limitations are referred to “blind spots” because we often can’t see them ourselves, it helps to have an objective outsider assess your performance and capacity. It also helps to have a knowledgeable expert (e.g., coach, mentor, executive recruiter) recommend a development plan that will actually lead to the role you want.

3 - How can your current job help your long-term career?

Even a “dead-end” job supports career advancement. Your next job will largely be won on the responsibilities and results from this current job, so regardless of how you feel about your current employment situation, you need to outperform right where you are. In addition, one of the universal requirements for most any role is the ability to persuade and negotiate for what you want. A dead-end job that you know you’re leaving is a great opportunity to negotiate with abandon. What do you have to lose if you’re leaving anyway?

4 - When will you schedule career advancement activities?

If you’re going after different results, then you’ll need to do different things, and therefore you’ll need to schedule these different activities. What stays and what goes within your schedule? (Here are three time management tips to help you stay on track for your career goals specifically.) One helpful brainstorming exercise is to envision how you would accomplish your current role in 10% less time (that’s approximately four hours less on a 40-hour week). Then, do the same for 20% time savings and then 50%. Yes, this means you’ll have to cut things out entirely and change your process – the point is to stretch your mind as to what is possible. You can also do this time-savings exercise for your personal commitments to get clear on what stays, goes and changes to accommodate your career advancement activities.

It’s not a question of career opportunity, but of will

The scheduling question is where your theoretical commitment meets real life. If you can’t find the time to pursue the advancement you say is so important, then revert back to the first question on Why you’re looking to advance to ensure you have selected a compelling enough goal. There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to career. You don’t need to be in management to have a fulfilling career .

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