If you’re feeling trapped in your job, but don’t know how to get out – or even where you’d want to go instead – you’re not alone.
Feeling trapped can be a particularly difficult place to be. You may know that something needs to change, but at the same time you have financial commitments, responsibilities, experience built up in your current career and no obvious idea of what you could do instead.
The good news is that feeling trapped in your job doesn’t necessarily mean you need to resign tomorrow. There are often steps you can take to create more options and start working out what you really want.
There are two things worth considering:
- You probably have more options than you can currently see. A sideways move, a different organisation, a change of responsibilities or a career pivot could all create a very different working life
- You don't have to work it all out before you start. Career changes often take time. You can explore possibilities while staying in your current role, gradually building a clearer picture of what you want and how to get there.
Ideas to feel less trapped in your job
Consider Sideways moves
If the obvious routes within your profession or industry are blocked right now, consider sideways moves. Do similar roles exist in another industry? Are your skills transferable into another line of work? For example, skills in sales, project management, developing client relationships or managing people can often be useful in a much wider range of roles than you might initially expect. A secondment or short-term contract might also help you bridge the gap into a new area of work without having to make a huge leap all at once.
Define what you're looking for instead
When you're feeling trapped in your job, it is very easy to focus entirely on what you want to escape from. But it can be more useful to spend some time thinking about what you actually want instead. What would you like more of in your working life? More autonomy? More creativity? More contact with people? More flexibility? More intellectual challenge? Perhaps you want less responsibility, a better work-life balance or simply to feel that your work has some meaning again. You don't need to identify your perfect career at this stage. Start by describing the kind of working life you would like to move towards. Try creating a Postcard from the Future to get your vision started.
Work out what motivates you
Having skills and experience is great, but what if you couldn't care less about the work? Think back to the times when you felt most engaged and ‘alive’ at work. When did the time fly by because you were so absorbed in what you were doing? Those experiences can give you useful clues about what you find satisfying. You might discover that the problem isn't necessarily that you need an entirely new career. You may simply need more of the things that motivate you and less of the things that drain you.
Work out which talents you're not using
We all have a unique set of strengths – things we're good at and, ideally, things we enjoy doing. If you're rarely able to use your strengths at work, it's not surprising if you start to feel disengaged, under-used or frustrated. Think about the things people regularly come to you for. What do you find relatively easy that other people seem to struggle with? What aspects of your work do you naturally gravitate towards? These can provide useful clues about the types of work and environments where you might be able to thrive.
Seek new experiences
If you want inspiration and new ideas, they are unlikely to arrive if you simply spend more time looking at job adverts. Try doing something different. Talk to someone who works in an area that interests you. Attend an event. Join a professional group. Take on a project outside your normal responsibilities. Try something you've been curious about for a while. The aim isn't necessarily to find your new career immediately. It is to gather information and experience so that you can start making better decisions about what might suit you.
Explore changes within your organisation
Before assuming that the only solution is to leave, consider whether there are changes you could make where you are. Are there new projects or responsibilities that would allow you to use your strengths more? Could you move into another team? Is a sideways move or secondment possible? Sometimes the feeling of being trapped comes from believing that there are only two choices: stay exactly where you are or leave completely. There may be other options in between.
Consider a career Change Gradually
If you do want to change career, you don't necessarily need to make a dramatic leap. You can start researching different types of work, talking to people who do those jobs and identifying the skills or experience you might need. You can then begin testing your ideas while you're still employed. This can make a career change feel much less risky. It also gives you an opportunity to find out whether the career you're considering is actually right for you before you commit to it.
If you’re really hating your work, but are feeling trapped in your job and unable to leave, try some of these strategies to manage the day to day more bearable – what do to if I hate my job.
What if you know you want to leave but aren't sure how?
This is often the hardest part.
You may have been thinking about leaving for months or even years, but every possible option seems to involve a pay cut, retraining, starting again or taking a risk you aren't comfortable with.
If that's where you are, it can help to step back and understand what is actually keeping you trapped.
Is it money? Confidence? Uncertainty about what you'd do instead? Fear of making the wrong decision? A lack of time? Or simply not knowing what other possibilities are available to you?
Once you can identify the real obstacle, you can start working on that rather than simply trying to force yourself to make a decision.
If you're struggling to work this out on your own, this is something I can help with through career coaching. We can look at what's happening in your current situation, what you want to change, and what realistic options you could explore without rushing into a decision.
If you feel trapped in your job, you don't have to work it out alone
Feeling trapped doesn't mean that you're stuck forever.
You don't necessarily need to quit your job, retrain completely or know exactly what your next career will be before you start doing something about it.
The first step may simply be understanding what isn't working, what you want instead and what options are available to you.
If you're considering a career change and would like some support, contact me for a conversation about your situation. We can look at what's happening for you right now, what is getting in your way and how you could start moving towards something different.
Career coaching support
Sometimes it helps to have someone outside your situation to talk things through with.
If you’re finding it difficult to see what your options are, or you know you want a change but aren’t sure what that change should be, career coaching can give you the space and support to work it out.
I’ve been helping professionals navigate career changes for over 20 years. If you’d like to explore whether coaching could help you, get in touch and tell me a little about your situation.