Hello, and welcome to today’s episode which is on a topic that probably ranks among the top 3 most burning issues among my clients.
And it’s all about feeling stuck in your job.
If you recognize this, it may be because you feel your career has plateaued. Maybe your duty station is saturated when it comes to relevant positions in your area. Or maybe you can’t – or won’t - move to a different duty station due to family reasons.
There can be a feeling that you don’t have a way out. Or don’t see a way forward.
You have worked hard for many years and maybe there’s also a feeling that recognition is lacking, or that you are being overlooked for opportunities - or in recruitment processes.
When you’re stuck, there’s a feeling that you don’t have options. And that’s both frustrating and demotivating.
It can feel like you’ve lost agency over your work life. And that’s a hard place to be in.
I know the feeling of “stuckness”
I’m not really sure that’s a word, but – here it is.
I know that feeling because that was me too. I went through what felt like a long period of feeling stuck in my career.
I worked with UNDP - in Human Resources - for many years, and I was very proud to be part of the UN.
For a long time, I was very excited about my job and very motivated. But over time I started feeling a bit “tired”. Needing new experiences, new challenges.
I knew it was time to start looking for new opportunities.
But my duty station was saturated when it came to positions in my area. And truth be told, I wasn’t very mobile – which is of course an issue if you want a professional career in the UN.
And work was busy, so I was struggling to find the energy and time to apply for jobs.
And in that way, months and years went by and the easier thing seemed to be to stay with what I knew. And which was a very good job, I have to say! With a nice boss and nice colleagues. And a good pay.
So, I was losing energy and momentum in terms of looking for – and noticing – options and opportunities for myself.
I was clearly in a place where I could use some help.
But unfortunately, it took me a long time before I realized that and took steps to get that help.
In the meantime, I was lingering in a place of feeling stuck, and – honestly - a feeling that “someone” ought to help me move on in my career. That “someone” being the organisation or Human Resources or my supervisor.
The way I heard about people being promoted or recommended for development opportunities in the private sector.
And guess what? That’s just not really the way things work in the UN. And I knew that of course. I was working in Human Resources myself and regularly had conversations with staff about how to take ownership of their own career development.
But I still secretly longed for that help because I felt like I’d gotten stuck myself.
Long story short - in the end, I left and started my own business. Which is certainly an effective way of getting unstuck! But today I realise that there are many things I could have done while I was still with the UN. And I’ll share some of those with you.
Time to regain your sense of power over your career development
Because you’re really the only one who can do it.
You get unstuck by pulling yourself to a place of agency, action and taking control. Maybe just one step at a time. But one step after another will lead you out of “stuckness”.
Read the full show notes at www.barbarakandersen.com/5.
Hello, and welcome to today’s episode which is on a topic that probably ranks among the top 3 most burning issues among my clients.
And it’s all about feeling stuck in your job.
If you recognize this, it may be because you feel your career has plateaued. Maybe your duty station is saturated when it comes to relevant positions in your area. Or maybe you can’t – or won’t - move to a different duty station due to family reasons.
There can be a feeling that you don’t have a way out. Or don’t see a way forward.
You have worked hard for many years and maybe there’s also a feeling that recognition is lacking, or that you are being overlooked for opportunities - or in recruitment processes.
When you’re stuck, there’s a feeling that you don’t have options. And that’s both frustrating and demotivating.
It can feel like you’ve lost agency over your work life. And that’s a hard place to be in.
I know the feeling of “stuckness”
I’m not really sure that’s a word, but – here it is.
I know that feeling because that was me too. I went through what felt like a long period of feeling stuck in my career.
I worked with UNDP - in Human Resources - for many years, and I was very proud to be part of the UN.
For a long time, I was very excited about my job and very motivated. But over time I started feeling a bit “tired”. Needing new experiences, new challenges.
I knew it was time to start looking for new opportunities.
But my duty station was saturated when it came to positions in my area. And truth be told, I wasn’t very mobile – which is of course an issue if you want a professional career in the UN.
And work was busy, so I was struggling to find the energy and time to apply for jobs.
And in that way, months and years went by and the easier thing seemed to be to stay with what I knew. And which was a very good job, I have to say! With a nice boss and nice colleagues. And a good pay.
So, I was losing energy and momentum in terms of looking for – and noticing – options and opportunities for myself.
I was clearly in a place where I could use some help.
But unfortunately, it took me a long time before I realized that and took steps to get that help.
In the meantime, I was lingering in a place of feeling stuck, and – honestly - a feeling that “someone” ought to help me move on in my career. That “someone” being the organisation or Human Resources or my supervisor.
The way I heard about people being promoted or recommended for development opportunities in the private sector.
And guess what? That’s just not really the way things work in the UN. And I knew that of course. I was working in Human Resources myself and regularly had conversations with staff about how to take ownership of their own career development.
But I still secretly longed for that help because I felt like I’d gotten stuck myself.
Long story short - in the end, I left and started my own business. Which is certainly an effective way of getting unstuck! But today I realise that there are many things I could have done while I was still with the UN. And I’ll share some of those with you.
Time to regain your sense of power over your career development
Because you’re really the only one who can do it.
You get unstuck by pulling yourself to a place of agency, action and taking control. Maybe just one step at a time. But one step after another will lead you out of “stuckness”.
Read the full show notes at www.barbarakandersen.com/5.