The 4 Warning Signs That You've Hit Your 'Job Plateau'

Jobs that are OK-but-not-great have their own unique challenges. The longer you stay at these jobs, the more comfortable you may get ― even if it does feel increasingly like your career is stalling.

And that’s where you might hit the dreaded “job plateau.” It’s a period of time in a long-term job where you feel stuck, frustrated or bored by what you do.

Lisa Orbé-Austin, a licensed psychologist who focuses on helping professionals manage their careers, said she sees a lot of people who will ignore for a long time that they are in a job plateau because it’s often a job they know how to do well.

“The beginning of a plateau doesn’t feel terrible,” Orbé-Austin said. “But it’s when that… becomes kind of a feeling of ‘I’ve done this 1,000 times; what’s new about this?’ you have to kind of then think about ‘What is next for me?’” If you do not take action, you can hold yourself back from taking more fulfilling opportunities and stay stuck in a job you should have long left.

Sometimes there are warning clues and hints that will alert you to your plateau before you are fully ready to acknowledge or address the problem. Here are some of the most common ones:

1. You have hit the limit of what you can learn from your role.

If you feel you’ve done all you can in terms of skills you can develop and things that you can learn, you’re likely in a job plateau, said Nell Wulfhart, a decision coach who helps professionals get “unstuck” so they can move on.

To decide if you’ve really stopped learning useful skills, Wulfhart suggests writing down what you want your future to look like a year to 10 years from now, as well as your long-term goals.

“Maybe it’s boring at the moment, but is [the job] actually getting you the skills you need