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STYLIST, December 10th 2022: ‘Have you put your job in the ‘end zone’ – and how can you break out of it?’

Feeling stuck in a career slump that you just can’t shake off? Stylist spoke to Victoria McLean, founder and CEO of award-winning career consultancy City CV, to give her advice on breaking out of the ‘end zone’ in your work life…

Below is a short excerpt.

How to tell when you need to quit your job for your mental health

“Feeling like you’re stuck in a dead end with no prospect of progression or personal development massively contributes to feelings of dissatisfaction and frustration”, adds Victoria McLean, founder and CEO of career consultancy City CV. “You end up thinking you’re going nowhere, and if this is combined with a toxic culture, that feeling can be exacerbated.”

Once you’ve slipped into the ‘end zone’, productivity tends to take a nosedive. The rationale is similar to the thought process that underlies the ‘quiet quitting’ trend: why should I go all out when I’m getting very little back? “First to go will be discretionary effort,” Warner says, “the effort an employee puts in that exceeds the general level required to do their job.” Your effort level will likely then drop to the bare minimum, Warner suggests: “Then to a level that is just less than the bare minimum but not yet little enough for a line manager to invest their own time in addressing it.” Especially if they’re struggling with motivation and a bad culture themselves.

“Feeling like you’re stuck in a dead end with no prospect of progression or personal development massively contributes to feelings of dissatisfaction and frustration”

When cynicism has started to creep into your work life, it can be hard to shake off – and it spreads fast. “Disgruntled or cynical colleagues are rarely quiet or shy about sharing their [feelings] with colleagues,” Warner notes. “And it doesn’t take long for that disgruntlement and cynicism to spread.” Just think of all those surreptitious chats in the office kitchen or the not-so-heavily coded messages on Teams.

For those who find themselves in this far-from-enviable position, is there any way of falling back in love with a job? Or is the writing on the wall? “It takes some time to get to this point, so it’s difficult to turn things around, but not impossible,” McLean says. The first thing to consider is whether you want to salvage the situation or whether it’s worth cutting your losses completely and channelling your energies into finding a new role.

The article can be read in full here.

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