ALT-2 Tips for Finding Happiness on a Slow Career Path
Is your career path a slow moving one? There are some jobs out there where you might not see any movement for awhile. Some jobs require a long period of training, and then you might have to prove you are ready through tests, then wait for a job opening. How do you make the best of this situation if it happens to you?
Keep in mind that no one makes it to the top overnight, so stay patient. Sure, you might want to ditch the hard grunt work and just get to the top, but everyone starts at the bottom. No one is able to simply walk into the corporate office of a company and become the CEO first. If anything, you are doing yourself a disservice if you think you don't have to start at the bottom and work your way up.
If you don't start at the bottom, or spend any real time there, you never appreciate what it takes to make it. If you don't have to spend half your career being that low guy on the totem pole, you won't appreciate it as much when you make it to the top. You will feel entitled to get everything your way without having to earn it. It won't help your career in the long run.
When you aren't the boss, there is less pressure on you in some respects. You don't have to manage others, or have to cater to the personalities of multiple people. All you have to do is your own individual job. The time you get to spend at the bottom is also time you get to learn how to do the job and even mature as a person. This can be very valuable to you.
Another advantage is that you can build relationships with people and really get to know them. If everyone is in the same boat as you, it can be easier to build those bonds. Having a core group that you work with for many years can help develop not only working relationships, but friendships as well. There is nothing like sharing your struggle with others and trying to make it as a group over the long haul.
Less pressure, more time to establish life long friendships and being able to learn while you grow. Who wouldn't be happy about the opportunity to not be thrust into a leadership position right away. It might mean you are giving up money in the short run, but your personal life will most likely be better and you won't feel as much pressure to give yourself to your job because you aren't always scrambling for a promotion.
