Career crisis may seem like a drastic term, but determining whether or not your career is in crisis is the first step in turning things around, or making a career change.
Here are some steps to determine if your career is in crisis:
You Haven't Learned Any New Skills
Bigstock
Is your job exactly the same as it was five years ago, or even longer? That is a major red flag.
Everyone has a core set of responsibilities that they must meet when they start a new job. As time goes on, employees should be looking for ways to expand their current skillset or learn new skills, in an effort to become a more well-rounded employee, and exceed employer expectations.
If you've failed to do this, not only are you not growing your career, but you must ask yourself, "Why haven't I made the effort to upskill?" It's possible that you haven't made the effort because you don't have enough passion for your career.
You Haven't Been Promoted Or Given Any New Responsibilities
Bigstock
Typically, the longer you've been at a job, the more trust you build with your managers or supervisors. With this comes additional job responsibilities, and opportunities for advancement. This is because your superiors trust you and believe that you're capable of handling new challenges.
If this isn't the case for you, then unfortunately it could mean that management doesn't believe you're capable of taking on additional responsibilities.
Your Opportunities Appear Limited
As people begin to advance in their careers, they slowly start to build a reputation and personal brand. This is a lot easier now as digital platforms like LinkedIn make it a lot easier for people to track your career journey. In addition, the opportunity to share and create content on LinkedIn gives you endless ways to develop your personal brand.
With good personal branding comes the prospect of new career opportunities.
Recruiters use platforms like LinkedIn to find top talent. It's not uncommon for those who are successful in their careers to get job offers before even knowing that a job is available.
If opportunity isn't knocking for you, it could be a reflection of the current state of your career.
You Don't Have A Professional Network
Do you have a solid list of colleagues, acquaintances, or friends that would vouch for you as a professional reference or refer you to open job opportunities? If not, this is another major career obstacle.
Not having a strong professional network means that you haven't put enough effort into building strong relationships with your colleagues or others in your industry. It's also possible that you're not taking full advantage of LinkedIn and offering enough value to your network.
Don't ignore these things. You will need your network to either get your career back on track or make a career change.
Your Career Is In Crisis, What Now?
If you've determined that your career is in crisis, you have a few options.
The first step in getting back on track at your current job is to set up a meeting with your supervisor and outline some steps that you would like to take to grow at your current position. By showing your superiors that you're interested in growing your career, it may start to restore any confidence that they have lost in you over the years.
However, if your career crisis is the result of being unhappy with your job, then it's time to make a career change.
In order to make a successful career change, you'll need to determine what you may want to do next, and work on building your professional network.
Work It Daily can help you with your career change! Check out our FREE Career Change Guide!
For more comprehensive assistance, join Work It Daily today!
Work It Daily has a team of trained career support specialists that will work individually with you to come up with a specialized plan. All of our memberships offer private coaching along with unlimited networking potential, and a library of exclusive career courses. Additionally, and for no extra cost, you'll also receive unlimited resume, cover letter, and LinkedIn profile reviews by our trained specialists as part of our membership.
