When It’s Time to Go: 6 Ways to Know You’ve Outgrown Your Job

You know the moment it’s over. Or you’ve experienced many moments that lead to the single thought:

I am so done with this job.

Some people wake up with the sudden employment epiphany, bound out of bed, sail into the office, quit in manic mode and an hour later, trip on a crack in the sidewalk and fall into their dream career.

That scenario is mostly a feature of TV and movie fiction. Most people go through stages where the job is good and bad: the stress comes and goes, personal time shrinks, paperwork piles up, coworkers leave for other opportunities and promotions seem to happen to other people.

Think it’s time to rethink your work strategy and status? Here are six ways to recognize employment inertia:

1. You’re unhappy coming to work every day

Defining unhappiness depends on what you do like and don’t favor the job and what you can tolerate. Compile a list of each category. If what you hate about the job outnumbers the other two categories, it’s time to stop loathing your job and either find something new in your job to motivate you or find a new opportunity.

2. People around you are moving on

Do people around you seem to be leaving left and right? Are they are getting promoted or leaving the company? Often, this feels like they’re improving their skills and receiving recognition while you’re sitting stagnant. You are capable of performing your tasks, but unable to step up and learn new things. A big part of this is also dependent on whether or not your professional environment allows you to learn new skills in order to move into a new position and even if you learn new things, is there room for you to move up? If there’s no foreseeable pathway that leads to your career transitioning up and onward, it may be time to move on.

3. You are suddenly feeling ‘out of the loop’

Dropped from meeting invites, company-wide emails, and the office lunch groups. Maybe folks don’t like you, or maybe you’re not just not as important. If you’re feeling like a simple worker bee while the executives gather to discuss pertinent information that they don’t consider you to know, you can be left feeling down in the dumps and out of the loop. This happens a lot in workplaces as time progresses. Stale and stagnant work environments where you’re often left out of the loop or out of the conversation can leave you feeling undervalued and unimportant. This is often where places fail in categories of transparency and communication. If you’re not considered part of the group and don’t see yourself getting there in the next year, it may be time to move on.

4. You avoid participation in corporate events

Whether it’s because you’re so not in the mood to see your coworkers after work hours or you’re downright annoyed by the things happening inside work, you’re more often than not looking for any excuse to avoid participating in events happening outside of work. Sometimes, the stress and exhaustion leave you wanting to find relief away from all things that remind you of work. If you start to feel detached from your company, you might need to take time off or to find new opportunities.

5. Finding yourself wanting more

If tasks become too easy at work and you’re effortlessly managing to jump several steps ahead, this can be both good and bad. In good terms, it means you’re gaining a great handle on the job you have in front of you. You can likely accomplish tasks quickly, but it can also mean that you’re unchallenged in your current position. When it seems that no new changes or challenges present themselves, you can become bored, and often resort to procrastination. This leads many to seek a higher purpose in their job and the longing to do something more.

6. You’re everyone’s go-to person, but without the title

When you gain experience in a position for several years, you become everyone else’s go-to person, especially the newbies’, about several different things. You’re often asked for advice on projects and to look over things before they go to the higher-ups. People trust you and your opinion and they respect that you know your job well. There’s only one problem: you’re constantly asked to weigh in on things that are beyond your responsibility or your job title. This is a slippery slope that leads to you performing tasks that are above your title, and pay grade, in fact.

As you move from one job into the next, a professional portrait photo, along with your resume, is your grand entrance, your announcement that you are ready for a new and challenging career. Contact Korey Howell Photography and trust us to capture your best business side and present it to prospective employers.