This begins a series to help all of you who feel trapped in a dead-end job to find an exit
Kelley worked for the same company for 18 years. She enjoyed her job, but saw no room for advancement. In addition, her salary already exceeded the maximum allowed by the company. As a result, her annual increase did not cover the increase in cost of living. They grandfathered her into their benefit-defined pension, valued at more than $1.5M. She loved the work environment, her co-workers, and the purpose of her work. Yet, she knew she worked significantly below her capacity and potential.
Growing Trend in Dead-End Jobs
You may feel trapped in a dead-end position with little room for growth. Corporations in the late 1970’s flattened levels of management from an average of 17 to 6 levels. Less layers of management changed career ladders into career stepstools. Fewer layers of management meant fewer opportunities for advancement and promotion.
In addition, you find salary increases get smaller each year as you move higher in the salary ranges. Salary schedules used by companies were designed for greater upward mobility. So, people max out their range more frequently.
Several reasons contribute to the lack of movement and advancement:
- People in the levels above you who don’t retire or move onto other jobs
- Smaller companies, departments, or divisions created smaller pools of opportunity
- Grandfathered pension plans create golden nooses binding people to the company
- People stay in great places to work and flee hostile or unfriendly workplaces
- People sacrifice upward mobility and pay raises because of other intrinsic factors
Options to Dead-End Jobs
You can pursue options to exit dead-end jobs:
- Identify your motivated skills
- Move to another company
- Transfer within the current company
- Create opportunity within the current structure
- Find outside opportunities related to your job
- Let your job pay for fulfillment unrelated to your job
- Surrender to the monotony and lack of fulfillment
We will explore each of these options as part of our series Exit a Dead-End Job.
Wednesday we explore how identifying your motivated skills can lead to more satisfaction
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