Stuck In A Dead End Job? Here's A Way Out
My friend Melinda called me at 10:30 p.m., so I knew something big was up.
“I’m sorry to call so late,” she said. “I need your advice. I painted myself into a corner and now I’m stuck.”
“What do you mean?” I asked her.
“I hate my job, and I stayed in it too long. I thought moving into a different role in my department would help my boredom and burnout, but it didn’t."
It’s Not Getting Better
“Three months into the new job, it’s the same old, same old. I’m just over this place, and these people to be honest. Every morning I have to force myself to go to work.
“It’s a dead-end job. There’s no growth in this job for me.”
“Are you planning to start a job search?” I asked Melinda.
“I guess I have to, but I don’t want to,” she said. “I’m tired of working full-time. If I could earn anywhere close to my current salary without the nonsense I put up with, I’d do it.”
The Nonsense is the Worst Part
“What nonsense in particular?” I asked.
“KPIs and daily metrics,” she said. “A boss who doesn’t value me, but takes credit for my ideas. A Director who calls 8 am meetings in the office downtown knowing I live an hour and ten minutes away from the office, and then uses the meeting time to talk about nothing.
“Getting beat up for proposing plans that aren’t 100% solutions to our problems, because we don’t have the staff or the budget to fix any problem the right way.
“It’s a lot of things. I’m so over it! And here’s another thing – I might get laid off.”
No Job Security
“What do you mean?” I asked her.
“I heard there’s going to be another round of layoffs, and my job could easily be eliminated.”
“So you’re working harder than ever, pushing a rock uphill, and also worrying about whether you’ll still have a job this summer?”
“You got it,” said Melinda. “Bad situation, right?”
“Have you ever thought about working for yourself?” I asked.
“I think about it all the time,” Melinda said. “My brother has his own business, doing marketing for small businesses.
“He tells me, ‘I wake up unemployed every morning and I love it.’ He’s happier and healthier than I am!”
“Could you see yourself doing the same thing – working as an independent consultant?”
“Yes, I could,” said Melinda. “I could see it. I would LOVE not having to deal with politics or bosses who get insecure when anyone but them has a good idea. I know I’d be good at it, too.”
I’d Be A Good Consultant, But How Do I Start?
“I’m about to teach my course Take Charge Consulting, in a new LIVE Edition for 2023,” I said. “In that course I’ll teach you how to plan and launch your business, step by step, from how to decide what kind of consulting to do to how to get clients and get paid. You should join us!”
“Oh my gosh, the timing is perfect,” Melinda said. “If I get laid off, I’ll consult. If I don’t get laid off, I’ll start consulting part-time while I figure out my next move.
“The only thing is, honestly Liz, I’ve never consulted before.”
Am I A Consultant Already?
“I doubt that’s true!” I said. “You consult every day. Consulting means solving other people’s problems. You do that in this job, and you’ve done it in every job you’ve had. You help people relieve their pain points.”
“I do,” said Melinda. “That’s exactly what I do. I solve problems for my company, my boss and our customers.”
“That’s why you’ll be an amazing consultant,” I said. “Here’s to you, Melinda!”
Is it time to launch or grow your own consulting business?
I open the doors to my flagship program ‘Take Charge Consulting’ once a year.
Registration for the next class opens on Thursday, May 18th.
As part of the pre-launch, I’ve put together a free 6-part video series that teaches you the ins and outs of starting your own consulting businesses in 2023.
领英推荐
You can watch the first video here!
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Your work is important, but your life comes first.
Ten Reasons to Become a Career Coach with My Help
Here are ten reasons to become a Human Workplace career coach with my help:
1.????To use skills and expertise you can’t always use in your current job.
2.????To help clients get jobs that deserve their talents.
3.????To create a side business that can grow into a full-time career.
4.????To see the impact of your work on real people, every day.
5.????To grow your thought leadership flame and platform.
6.????To have a second “oar in the water,” a source of income apart from your full-time job.
7.????To share the wisdom you’ve accumulated throughout your life and career.
8.????To give back.
9.????To launch a business that belongs to you.
10.?To step into your power as a coach and mentor.
If you’d like to learn more about becoming a career coach with my help, jump here to fill out our career coaching questionnaire and schedule a call to talk about it:
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Work Related Podcast
How to Motivate Your Team
In Episode 17 of the Work Related Podcast, Liz explains how to motivate your team – and why it’s easier than you think!
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Distinguished Professor - Rushmore University - Online MBA in Entrepreneurship
1 年Another alternative is to develop your personal brand so that you can market yourself more effectively in the new world of work.
I develop HR strategy for SMEs that minimise risk, protect profits and add value .............. speaker | author | HR business strategist
1 年Thank you for sharing this, Liz Ryan!
Oil & Gas Commercial and Engineering Expert | Helping organisations globally improve the efficiency of their operations
1 年Thanks for sharing, it's also important to recognize the potential risks and challenges associated with AI, such as job displacement and privacy concerns. It's important to use AI responsibly and with awareness of its potential impact.
We give the true color of life!
1 年Dear Liz, if you are burnout of your full time job you take a breake for minimum 1 year and take care of yourself or you cange the job... With small business is hard to work.You not do consulting just like that:) you need experience and a portfolio, investments and a team to work for.If she can not deal a new position ?n her year's job she is unable to evaluate people and objectives? How you can do projections for small business if you can not project yourself in your year's job?!?It is hard to do work with 3-4 people? How is to work today, with 10 people? So, she has problems in dealing with people and getting a job.She is burnout and poor skiled.Yes, she is stuck.She can recover herself in 1 year with apropiate coaching and training.The problem is that in the place she is working they do not offer suport for burnout and for people.They do not do training for people.This is a huge problem on today H.R and management.I did a lot of sensitivity study for big and small busininess; they do not skill peole... In your place, with your experience I'll support her to negociate in getting what she can get from the actual job and find a new job.
Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist
1 年Xoliswa Khumalo see the similarity....just a perfect description of my life.