At some point in your career, you’re going to be stuck in a zombie job; it’s not a bad job, but it’s just not moving your career forward. Learn how to identify the signs and how to get out alive.
In the article “Why Entrepreneurs Need Career Plans” I gave the example of Law & Order’s fictional New York City district attorney Jack McCoy who, turning down a partner opportunity at a big law firm said, “I've accepted my place in the world.” That character found his job and was happy to spend the better part of his career in it.
For many people, however, the job that is good today may not be what you want to be doing tomorrow. Even if it is, the job that you like so much today may not be the same job tomorrow; while your title and responsibilities may nominally be the same, how you actually spend your day to day may change.
It usually happens slowly, and so goes unnoticed, much like the proverbial frog in a pot (see “And You May Find Yourself Trapped Like a Frog in a Pot”). While that article is about painful jobs, sometimes a job may not be outright bad, or painful, but it may not be serving your needs. It’s neither the lively exciting job you first started, nor is it so bad that you find yourself DOA (dead on arrival) when you arrive each morning; rather, you’re in some in-between state: a zombie job. You show up and go through the motions, but like a zombie, the role is limited and not growing, with you merely going through the motions each day.
For some people it can be easy to get stuck in a zombie job. At first the job may be great; it’s a step up offering new challenges. But after a while, perhaps a few years, you’re stagnating. It’s not a bad job; the people are nice, not too much stress and you can do it easily enough. The company gives you COLA (cost of living adjustment) raises so you’re keeping up with inflation. But you’re not growing professionally, your job is dead inside (and maybe you are, too, if you’re not challenged enough).
There can be many causes. The manager grooming you for promotion left and now you're at square one with the new manager (or maybe she brought in her own person for the open role). The company has a bad year, or a big setback so the growth plans will be delayed a year or two. A global pandemic threw everything out of whack (after all, global pandemics are the leading cause of zombies in movies). It’s one thing after another and now you realize it’s been many years, and your job isn’t moving you forward.
Again, if you’re ok with that, congratulations. Not everyone wants or needs to keep climbing the ladder. But if you want to grow, you may now be stuck in this undead state, aimlessly wandering around hoping to stumble upon brains [with ideas for new opportunities].
How do you know if you have a zombie job? Consider the following questions.
You can also ask if you’re at a zombie company, even if your role is dynamic, will the company itself limit you because of its lack of vitality.
If you’re not growing and there’s not a clear path you have significant control over, you might be in a zombie job. When that happens you should return to the ship and nuke it from orbit, it’s the only way to be sure. Wait, wrong movie.
Staying holed up in your home during a zombie apocalypse doesn’t work. Zombies don’t obey conservation of energy laws and so don’t seem to decay or lose energy after weeks of running out of other humans. Zombies, and zombie jobs, don’t quit. That means if you’re sitting at home you’re eventually going to run out of food. Instead, during the zombie apocalypse you need to be proactive and find new circumstances that keep you safe in the long run. Similarly, you can’t just hide away in your current job-hoping things will get better; like those zombies, the bad situation won’t simply go away. Instead, you need to be proactive in finding a new job.
Those who survive in zombie movies typically do so by banding together with others to change their situation. Fortunately, you don’t have to search for non-zombie strangers among the ruins of civilization, you’ve already got your network. You’ve also probably have more time than those stuck in the world of the undead. Start by reaching out to three people each week for a call or coffee to catch up. Put out the word that you’re looking for a new role and ask them what trends they’re seeing in the market. You can use the email template in ”60 Seconds to Better Networking.”
Unlike zombie movies, this is not the end of the world. At some point in your career, you may find yourself in a zombie job. The key, as in a zombie movie, is to not panic and keep moving. Rally your network to find new, better job opportunities. Most importantly, know that however bad or scary the zombie movie is, however stuck you may feel in your zombie job, there will be an end; then you can go binge The Office.
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