You’ve been working hard and moving up in your career when you suddenly hit a lull, and it seems like there’s no clear path forward — the dreaded career plateau. Feeling stuck is disheartening, but it’s not the end of the road. With the right mindset and approach, you can move past this phase of your life and get back on track. As a career coach who helps people grow in their professions, here are my tips on how to overcome a career plateau and build a launchpad for job satisfaction.
1. Ask for more challenging projects at work
To advance in your career, you’ll need to participate in complex projects or tasks that allow you to increase your skills and competencies. Challenging work can help build your confidence, increase your career fulfillment and prepare you for advanced roles. If you desire to be a manager, ask your supervisor about taking on more challenging work, such as leading a project from initiation to completion.
When you talk with your supervisor about taking on additional tasks, make a list of the skills you want to develop and how these skills will be critical in advancing to the next level in the organization. Next, explain to your supervisor why you’re ready for more challenging projects. Be sure to share your future career goals and your passion or commitment to advancing your skill set. Lastly, highlight how the additional projects you take on can help add value to the team and organization.
2. Volunteer for more cross-department work
Participating in projects outside of your immediate team can broaden your scope of knowledge and skill set, expand your network, and also strengthen soft skills like delegation, conflict resolution and communication. If you work for a company with multiple departments and teams, consider having a conversation with your manager about how to help out with other adjacent projects.
Similar to the conversation about asking for more challenging work, you need to be able to articulate how an increased workload can build your knowledge, propel your career goals and add value to the company. You’ll also need to assess your capacity and time for participating in projects that may be outside the scope of your immediate job responsibilities.
For example, suppose you’re a social media content creator and are interested in being a marketing director. In that case, it’s a good idea to strengthen your project management, data analytics and budget management skills. If separate teams perform these functions in your organization, strategize with your boss to see how you might work with these teams to learn these skills or devote three to four hours a week to a cross-department project.
3. Invest in skill development
In today’s job market, rapid technological advancements, such as artificial intelligence, make skill development a critical part of career success. Learning new skills can also foster curiosity, increase productivity, and create more joy and fulfillment at work. To stay informed of in-demand skills, talk to industry mentors, look for recurring patterns in job descriptions and note frequently mentioned skills. After identifying gaps in your skill set, request a meeting with your manager to discuss how learning these skills can help the company and organization.
Additionally, ask your employer to see if there’s funding for continuing education programs to enhance your professional development. For instance, UW Professional and Continuing Education has certificates in in-demand fields such as data science, cybersecurity and project management that could help accelerate your career.
4. Consider a career pivot
If you’ve reached a point in your career where you need a change but don’t want to move into a different industry, shifting into a new, but related, role might be the right choice. For instance, if you’ve made a career in grant writing but find yourself a bit unfilled — consider pivoting to a related communications or writing role.
Grant writing gives you essential skills in procuring money, oral and written communication, strategic planning and networking — all of which will be relevant in adjacent careers like fundraising, copywriting or social media management. To make a career pivot, think about how your current skills and knowledge can apply to a new job, and talk to industry mentors about what jobs or careers could use your skill set.
5. Seek mentorship and expand your network
Your personal and professional network can be a valuable resource for overcoming a mid-career plateau. Finding a career mentor and networking can help you learn about new career options, discover how your current skills are transferable to new careers and access different career opportunities.
A mentor can provide guidance on overcoming feelings of boredom at work, as well as helping you assess gaps in your skills and work experience — this can be helpful as you advocate for more professional learning opportunities at work. You can find a career mentor within or outside your current organization. Try connecting with a local or national professional association in your field, as some of these groups offer mentorship opportunities.
You can also use tools like LinkedIn to introduce yourself to like-minded professionals in similar roles or roles you aspire to. Consider conducting an informational interview with them to learn about their career and how they find fulfillment at work.
Career plateaus are common — and it’s okay to feel confused or uncertain about your career aspirations. We spend a lot of our lives at work, so it’s critical to feel satisfied and fulfilled. Overcoming a career plateau doesn’t happen overnight — so be sure you figure out what is causing you to feel stuck and use one or more of these strategies to change it.