What does it feel like to hit a wall at work?

12 comments

1. The job market is pretty good right now, wouldn’t hurt to explore your options.

2. Always have your résumé up-to-date and keep your feelers out there. I assure you, your employer feels not a shred of loyalty to you. Disabuse yourself of your own sense that you owe it to them.

   If you are intent on staying, now is the time to start looking for areas within the organization that offer more rewarding challenges. Keep meeting your expectations of course. But find a hole and fill it. This is what I’ve done at pretty much every employer I’ve had, and that has always been my favorite part of working there.

3. Yeah I became used to it once I started working at startups, they tend to have no structure to facilitate progress/work. I dealt with it by focusing on the few things I knew I had agency for and patiently waited while the internal processes and clarity evolved. However, I have also worked in places where you couldn’t expect any internal progress on those fronts, on those, it is better to look for new opportunities.

4. I work as a software engineer. So I actively upskill myself. I move every 4/5 years on an average but I moved in one job in 10 months.

   I think you always have to be ready for any eventuality. It can be that the work got bad, or there are rumors of people getting fired so when the worst happens at least you are in a position to change.

   I don’t know your line of work but if I was you, I’d be looking to change. There are a lot of toxic workplaces and non toxic places too. But if your job is a thing which needs continuous learning or networking, always keep doing it. It keeps me sane

5. Send your cv every weekend to any one company you mildly want to join. You do not have to answer the interview when they invite you.

   You would be grateful when one day you suddenlt feel like leaving, and there would be interviews waiting for you

6. It feels like you surfing Reddit all day and not giving a fuck. Welcome to the club.

7. You know you’ve hit the wall when you just can’t see a path to success. Nobody expects to be cuddled and humored on the job every hour of the day. But when you can’t get clear direction, you have accountability without authority, the organization fixates on minutiae instead of crises, and your job seems structured to trap you — it’s time to roll.

   One hallmark of start-ups is, workers who are competent at a certain set of tasks often get pigeonholed in place, with no ascent track offered. Chaos-based management doesn’t go good with professional growth. If you sense there’s no future for you — remember the old advice that you should never get good at any job you don’t want to keep doing over and over for the rest of your life — it’s ripcord time.

8. I mean if you’re fantasizing about leaving a job less than 6 months in and felt relieved that you got a call from a recruiter, that’s way beyond a wall IMO

   I’d pursue another job with gusto

9. You have to ask yourself what the “wall” is. Is it actually work related? Sometimes our personal lives manifest as discontent at work.
   Are you overqualified for your job & now bored?
   Are you inadequately trained & now frustrated?
   Try to figure out what is making you feel unsettled before jumping ship.
   The grass is not always greener, as they say.
   Best of luck!

10. I had a similar situation over a decade ago. I was with the job for a few minutes when then person who hired me left, and the person who took over was a nightmare. It got to the point where I would sit in my car trying to muster up the fortitude to even go inside. So I did start looking for another job and eventually found one. The pay was much better and so was the work environment (my boss was awesome!).

    So yeah, definitely start looking for something better.

11. As a former spreadsheet jockey it’s looking at everything and not wanting to do anything because nothing feels smooth. Everything is needlessly aggravating with no good systems to remedy the process so I can’t bring myself to try.

12. It honestly depends on what you are having a challenge with. Have you talked to your immediate supervisor? Have you tried all avenues to try and improve things at your new job? It’s been 6 months, if it’s a higher skilled role…I would expect 6 months before you even start getting a lay of the land and can help to contribute to improve things. So many questions I would have, as a manager, to understand – what’s going on here. I work in IT and this has been something a lot of us are dealing with since COVID kicked off and WFH went full time. My team I am trying to manage this with, so really. Depends on the support options you have before us redditors can give 2 cents to you.

    That said, the above is only applicable with supportive leadership/management. If you don’t have that, move on.