How To Overcome Roadblocks To Your Career

No career will be completely smooth sailing, and every single entrepreneur or business-minded individual will face roadblocks to their prospects, whether that be a personal injury or a lack of opportunity. However, while barriers to your career may be inevitable, they don’t have to signal an end to your opportunities. Rather, not only can you work to overcome blocks that prevent you from succeeding, but you can also use them as learning opportunities to help you to grow in the future.

Personal and Workplace Injuries

Personal and workplace injuries are unexpected events that can hinder your job opportunities by forcing you to take an extended period of time off work to recover. Injuries can also have a damaging long-term effect on your health, which can leave you unable to resume normal life after you have healed, affecting not only your career prospects but your relationships and your lifestyle, too. Even if you are physically able, many people will not feel comfortable returning to their workplace after extensive court cases or insurance battles. To ensure that you are able to recover fully from your injuries while being supported financially, consider seeking the aid of a personal injury lawyer, such as Steven Schwartzapfel, who can help you get the help that you need throughout your recovery.

Education Barriers

Education barriers are one of the most common reasons that people cannot progress their careers, with many senior job roles reserved for candidates that have particular qualifications, such as college degrees or industry-specific training. Luckily, education barriers can be defeated in a number of ways, all without compromising your current position, ensuring that you can learn while continuing to progress on a professional level. If you’ve identified that a lack of education is holding you back, you should consider taking an online degree or training course, as this will help boost your skillset and specific knowledge according to your own schedule. You should also consider watching webinars, asking your manager about the training courses that your company offers, and attending night classes in your local area.

A Lack of Opportunities for Promotion

If you are unable to advance in your chosen job role, you may end up feeling dejected and dissatisfied with your position, especially if you are unable to take on the responsibility or leadership that you believe would challenge you. In fact, 32% of employees say that they have left a job in order to look for better career advancement opportunities. If advancement opportunities are important to you, look at job search websites and the websites of your dream employers to see what kind of step-up might be available to you. You should also not be scared to speak to your manager about potential promotion opportunities, citing your reasons why you believe you would be a great candidate for the position. They may be able to help you to arrange goals that you are able to work towards with the aim of being eligible for a promotion. You should also consider writing a career plan, plotting your long-term course of action, and the proactive steps you need to take in order to achieve your goals.

Failed Job Searches

Job searches can be one of the most difficult elements of your career, with tricky interviews and rejected applications causing huge roadblocks to your future, not to mention blows to your confidence. However, there are many steps you can take to ensure that your job searches go smoothly. For instance, if you are unable to find a job on an online search engine, you should consider connecting with potential employers through networking events or by contacting them on LinkedIn. You could also consider contacting brands that you are interested in before jobs are posted online or hiring a career coach who can help to clarify your career path and optimize your resume in the hopes of increasing the success of your search. You could also find alternative ways to get into the job of your dreams, such as going freelance or becoming self-employed, which are both excellent ways to start your career without waiting for an employer to see your potential.

Lay-Offs

Even if you believe that your job is secure, lay-offs are always possible, especially during times of recession, fracturing your career trajectory and severely impacting your expectations of the future. With lay-offs up by 35% in 2019, and the number set to increase due to the current global crisis, more and more people will find themselves without work. However, getting laid off should not leave you disheartened, as it is not necessarily a reflection on you but rather a result of the times in which we live. Remember, too, that there are many ways to course-correct after a lay-off. For instance, some of the best tips for finding a new job after you have been laid off include starting your job search before you leave your position and asking for an employee letter that states that you were laid off rather than being fired. You should also consider attending a job support group, finding ways to create a personal brand, and updating your social media and resume effectively.

A Struggling Business

Finally, your career does not have to be based around working for someone else: many people have lengthy, successful careers working for themselves as owners and managers of their very own businesses. That said, there are many issues that could make your business struggle, and it’s true that only 50% of businesses survive for five years or more. The number one reason for failure is a loss of cash flow, but other reasons can include poor financial management, a small customer base, a non-profitable pricing structure, high expenditure, small marketing campaigns, a difficult location, and a lack of skilled employees.

However, rather than let these problems defeat you and your dream of entrepreneurship, you should consider hiring a business consultant to discuss your options with you, look for funding from a large business, angel investors, or the bank, review your business plan and budget, and look for ways to cut your expenditure in the short term.