In Today’s Market, Don’t Stick Around In a Dead-End Job

By Hal Lancaster

Brian Silverstein arrived at a crossroads in his career. Four years ago, Mr. Silverstein, just out of college, joined a major benefits consulting firm as an actuary. He was placed on a highly visible team working with a large client and did well enough to earn a promotion to another team developing a new product. But a year later, the product hasn’t sold and team members have bickered over the crumbs of work available. His salary increases have lagged along with the business, and no relief is in sight, despite several discussions with management. “Looking back on the past year,” he says, “I realize that I have gained little or no experience.” To him, the signs are unmistakable: It’s time to move on.

Sometimes, despite our best intentions and efforts, jobs don’t work out. In the shaky job market of recent years, many people decided to grin and bear it. But now, advises Kate Wendleton, founder of the Five O’Clock Club, a career-guidance organization, there’s no reason to suffer. “This is a terrific job market,” she says. “People who haven’t had a significant pay raise in a decade are going after their dream jobs.”

Which brings us to this week’s burning question: What are the signs that it’s time to move on to a new phase in your career? Some are obvious. If you’re getting average performance reviews that you honestly feel you don’t deserve, miserly raises and no promotions, you’ve obviously been shifted from the fast track to a rural route.

Other signs of career decay: You’re not in the major memo-and-meeting loop, positions you aspire to are being filled by outside hires, your opinion isn’t sought on major decisions, and important assignments or increases in responsibility are going to others in your group.

Some people are staying in jobs where they know they’re not appreciated. In such cases, beware if your boss suddenly isn’t on your case any more, Ms. Wendleton says. “It often means they’ve given up,” she says. “If they’re on you, it at least means they still care, they’re still trying to coach you.”

Many times, however, the need to move isn’t prompted by your performance, or your bosses’ perception of same, but by organizational infirmities. A merger can create an instant rival for your job. Management gridlock may be blocking your path, or a change in corporate strategy has shifted resources to other divisions. Perhaps thecompany has fallen behind the competition.

“You could have a terrific assignment, your bosses and peers could like you, but if the company’s going nowhere, you’re going nowhere, and you’d better pick another horse to ride,” Ms. Wendleton says.

The laggard business in the new product line and the political fallout it created prompted Mr. Silverstein to ponder the next stop in his career. After all, as the team’s junior member, he had no real authority. The project’s managers were parceling out information on a miserly, need-to-know basis, and his superiors weren’t stepping in to fix the problems. “You realize you’re being conditioned to not take initiative because it’s too much of a headache to fight team members,” he says.

Michael Farrow knows what it’s like to have your job change shape under you. He fears his job as manager of finance for Warner Bros. International Television is slipping from the company’s mainstream “A dead giveaway that it is time to on to a new position is when you have no voice mails and your inbox is empty,” he says. “If things are quiet, you must not be doing anything that is seen as important to someone else in the company.”

Mr. Farrow’s job once dealt with critical, revenue-generating issues but now is focused on the less-cherished expense side. “You want to be involved in things that people care about,” he says.

You can also grow stagnant by staying in one place too long. At the small company where Elizabeth Alvarez works, employees have come and gone so frequently she wonders if she has stayed too long “Granted, I do have added responsibilities,” she writes, “but I feel like I’m missing out on opportunities of getting a better job.”

Whether to leave in a case like this depends on whether you’re learning new skills that will increase your marketability, or just serving your company’s needs.

Ron Krannich, publisher and author of career-related books, say many people decide to move on because their interests change. “That’s a particular problem for people at midcareer; they just want to do something else with their lives,” he says. Often, they start their own businesses or move into the nonprofit world.

But don’t be too quick to jump ship, he says. Maybe you can reenergize your career with some additional training, some new goals or another job within the company.

When a new president started replacing top managers at the U.S. Committee for Unicef, Ed Mills thought he was a goner. Instead, he spotted a neglected part of the operation - direct marketing - that intrigued him and put together a proposal that earned him a transfer instead of a pink slip.

Alas, Mr. Mills is also proof that nothing lasts forever. A year ago, he left the committee to start his own consulting firm after another management change. “There was really no more experience I could gain from the organization,” he says. “It was definitely time to move on.

This article appeared in The Wall Street Journal.