CAREER STAGNATION

The purpose for entering any career is to advance in that career which will translate to advancement in other areas of life of an individual. Over the years it has been discovered that a lot of people are victims of stagnation in their career which has lead to frustrations and left many un-actualized. There are many things that can show that one’s career is stagnated and there many causes of career stagnation. Some people think it is caused by spiritual manipulation, others think economic factors may result to career stagnation, and some others think it sometimes happens as a result of government policies. So many people are stagnated in various careers and in various sectors even in the religious sector.

When we talk about CAREER we simply mean a job or a profession that some does for a long time or a period of time spent in a job or profession, but sometimes we may spend our life time in this profession. STAGNATION simply means to stop developing, progressing, or moving. If we combing both definitions we see that CAREER STAGNATION is simply not developing, progressing or moving forward in your profession.

SIGNS THAT SHOWS YOU’RE IN A CAREER STAGNATION

There are four signs I would love to discuss here, although they may be more that shows career stagnation which I would love you to comment on.

WHEN YOU ARE BORED WITH YOUR PROFESSION: Many reasons some people dive into a profession is because of the prestige associated with the profession, or because their parents wanted them to be in that profession, or because their friends are in that profession (peer pressure), or because they heard that that profession pays very well in the labour market. Most of these motivations are not passion incubated; therefore most of these individuals become bored along the line of their career. I was a victim of boredom when I was in secondary school; I had become a science student because all my friends were science students and only science students are that time were considered to be very intelligent. Unfortunately for a lot of us in secondary schools in Nigeria those days, there were no guardian counselors in schools, so you have to choose your own career path, academic performance notwithstanding. I had not done very well in the pre-science subjects before involving myself in the core science subjects. I struggled a lot of the time with chemistry and physics until I became bored about attending school. This also is the case with some people who went into a profession based on peer pressure or prejudice. Some others were pushed into a profession by their parents; I have seen doctors who quit medicine not minding if their relationship with their parents is broken to pursue after another career that they love, so also with others I heard that entered the university to study law and found their career path in music and another found his career path in the military, I heard of another that became bored about being Catholic Priest and left to become a professional career coach. So when you are bored in your profession no matter how much pay you receive, you’re in stagnation in your career.

WHEN YOUR ORGANISATION IS NOT ADVANCING YOU IN THE DIRECTION OF YOUR CAREER: There are a lot of people whose organization have derailed them from their career purpose and they find themselves stocked on their career path; many of these individual studied something different from what they are doing in their organization. This scenario is most common in Nigeria and a lot of these Nigerians hopelessly engage in this deviation because of the high unemployment rate, some are less concerned about it and some has accepted it as fate at least they can provide food at home but deep down psychologically they are unhappy with their jobs. I have seen electrical engineers working as cashiers in banks when they are supposed to be in the electrical department of the bank, some accountants working in the marketing department, some human resources managers working as line managers. These switches in career are done by organizations who are trying out various means to beat their completion. Another path to this is when you are in an organization that is not adding value and developing you in your career. This is most paramount with an organization that is stingy and does not want to spend money training their staff or create a platform where they can advance and grow more in knowledge in their career.

DELAYED PROMOTION: The proof of advancement in our profession is when we are changing levels, there are steps to the top in any profession, and no one gets to that top from the top. Promotion comes when we complete the requirements of a given level to move to the next phase. It has been discovered that most people especially in the public sector are stagnated at a level in their profession, some others have been working for some organization for the past 8 years or more and are yet to receive a promotion letter, some don’t even know what their position is at the moment and what their next level of position should be, what is their due right and privilege. Another part to this problem is when you have not developed yourself for the next level; this is when you have not built the needed capacity to occupy a higher level, you can remain stagnated at a level for a long time.

LOW INCOME: When your income does not match with the tenets of that profession, or working with an organization that pays you below your worth, or when your income does not increase over time, this connotes career stagnation. 

Watch this shot clip on how to Advance Your Career by Michigan Ross Business school