I’m a big believer in creativity and thinking out of the box. I am also a realist, and making the leaps from file clerk to President or gas station attendant to CFO, are very large leaps and unlikely ones as well.
But, the small leaps from, file clerk at the auto parts store, to file clerk at the law firm, to document preparer at the law firm, legal assistant at the law firm, to paralegal at the firm, to head of the paralegal department is a path that can be pursued. Just as gas station attendant, to bank teller, to head teller, to customer service manager, to assistant branch manager to bank manager is also a path that can be pursued.
It doesn’t happen overnight, and education, either traditional or industry, to support your movement forward may be necessary, but using some creative thought to see and build a path toward your next opportunity is one of the first steps you can take to move out of your dead-end job.
The question is where do you want to end up? Some place better is too broad a target, focus on a definitive end goal and build backwards from there. Remember, you can change your goal, but starting with a definitive target, will get you moving toward it and away from the dead-end; and moving away from a dead-end is always a good thing.
Think about the steps, use some creativity to build a path, even an imaginary one and then take the first step and get moving.
Taking the small planned leaps, one by one, can get you from a dead-end job and into something better. I’d love to hear your comments on this topic. Do you agree or disagree?
(Another creative path – Gas station attendant, gas station lead, gas station manager, petroleum sales rep, district manager, regional sales manager, on to corporate and now that VP or CFO job is in sight.)