How to get out of a rut

By MARK STORY

You can't wait until 10am for the morning's first coffee, you spend all day communicating (electronically) with friends, have turned web-based amusements into occupational vices, and lunch is rapidly becoming brunch. Does this sound like you?

If so, you have an appetite problem, attention disorder or it's time to admit it - your job stinks.

Employees in dead-end jobs, says career consultant Catherine McIntyre, are more likely to fall prey to today's technology-based distractions, including inappropriate internet usage or text-messaging friends instead of working. Adding insult to injury, she says much of this unacceptable behaviour often goes undetected by the boss or colleagues.

So if you do the same thing every day, get the same pay, see the same people week-in week-out - and are using these distractions to stave off boredom - you're probably in a major career rut.

Fessing-up to this reality is one thing but doing something about it requires a lot more courage, says McIntyre. While people often realise they're stuck at a career intersection they lack the confidence to do anything about it.

"People most at risk are those who don't listen to their gut feeling, don't take action and don't articulate their concerns to others," says McIntyre, a director with Career Dynamic.

With today's labour market looking so tight, she says there's no reason why good people should remain glued to jobs offering no future. What you have to honestly evaluate, McIntyre advises, is whether you can go any further within your current position either on the salary on the job-opportunity front.

"If you neither love your job nor get rewarded for your hard work, chances are you are stuck in a dead-end job," concludes McIntyre.

Unsure if you're in a dead-end job? If that's the case, McIntyre says you've got some soul searching to do. The first thing you need to ask yourself is whether it's the organisation's culture, management or purely your job that's derailing your career? It's not uncommon, adds McIntyre for a company's sales division to refuse to move good salespeople - especially hot-shot telemarketers - who contribute solidly to the bottom-line.

Based on her observations, some employers will leave a good revenue-generating salesperson in the same role as long as they can, only to "displace" them once they start complaining.

"If the boss is constantly blocking your ideas, loathed to move you to another role or division, and has no plans to offer you additional on-the-job training - you should smell a rat," says McIntyre. "You've got to ask yourself whether you've really got a future with this firm."

Once you've concluded you're in a career rut, what should you do about it? It's important, advises McIntyre, to talk to your boss before making any rash decisions. That means telling them how unfulfilled you're feeling and why. Most companies will try their best to help you. But if they offer nothing to boost your spirits, she says it's probably time to dust off your resume and start applying for jobs.

She says it's probably better to find another job before your work situation becomes unsustainable.

"People stuck in dead-end jobs eventually start displaying frustration, arrogance or even aggression. And that's when they risk being made redundant," McIntyre warns.

Instead of rashly quitting your dead-end job, she suggests sticking with it until a better offer comes along. After all, you don't want to go from the frying pan into the fire. If quitting in the heat of the moment only forces you to land another dead-end job, don't do it.

Meantime, she says, it's important to find some satisfaction in your current job by completing tasks on time, avoiding office politics and using your spare time to pursue a job search. "Research other companies doing similar things, network with others who do the same work as you within other companies, seek some independent advice or contemplate re-studying."

In a dead-end job?

Answer these 10 questions and decide for yourself:

* Where does my current job lead to from here?

* Is the company investing in my ongoing training?

* Is there an informal mentoring structure?

* Is the company going places within its industry?

* Is the industry the company is in going places?

* Am I working alone?

* What's the calibre of my colleagues like?

* Does my boss take me seriously?

* Is my pay out of whack with other colleagues?

* Are there performance indicators for my job?