26F - Pivotal Point in My Career?
Mentors, have you ever felt like you hit a point where it’s truly only up or down from there?
I’ve worked to hard to get where I am today. But now it feels like I’m being offered complacency or potential greatness - and it’s consuming me. Obviously complacency would be the easiest or ‘comfortable’ choice. I’m more seasoned than a new graduate but not seasoned enough to be a candidate for succession planning. I don’t want to stay at a job simply because I think I will be rewarded for how long I stuck around. Being educated, young, and confident, this is probably the only time that I can ‘afford’ to take a risk in my career to differentiate myself. However, I don’t want to stay at a job simply because I think I will be rewarded for how long I stuck around or pray for them to finally notice me. But I can’t help but wonder, what happens if you break the mold of what usually or should happen?
This isn’t about wanting a handout or a free ride - I simply want to hit the ground running in a way that will truly showcase my insane work ethic and intellectual stamina.
I’ve always been this way, I literally handed out resumes a week before my 14th birthday so I had a job the second I turned 14 (that’s the legal working age where I live) then had a couple part time jobs throughout high school. Then once high school was over I never took a break before going straight to university, where I also had a part time sales job and did freelance graphic design. I like to be busy if you can’t tell haha.
Something about being an outlier or hardworker just made me want to go harder and try more difficult things that people in my life told me I couldn’t do. And to even my own surprise, I did. So after graduating university, I took a business degree with a major in marketing and turned it into a contract position with an engineering firm to document and improve their workflows and processes. This turned into a permanent job offer that pushed me into business development and project management roles. Since then, I’ve found my niche and it’s not necessarily restricted by industry. Again, I am not a woman in stem by trade, but I do have a knack for synthesizing complex systems into frameworks that comes in handy as a lifelong learner. That’s honestly the fun part for me haha.
For instance, I’ve noticed that it takes me approximately 6 months (with enough access and collaboration), to have completely conceptualized the business, services and market. Sounds pretty great, right? Well, not necessarily. I am underestimated, under-utilized and very under stimulated by the work I do.
Yes, I know that I am young and obviously things come with time and gaining experience. But despite my age, when I have showcased my skills and surprised many, this is usually a small and very secret celebration. Many rely on me but never mention me. Give me more responsibility but very little recognition. Loop me in only when they need me but not because they want to see me thrive. I take extra time out of my work day to help them because it feels like a mentorship might be blooming. But soon as they get what they want from me they roll up the ladder and I am right where I was before. But this time, I feel used and unappreciated.
Now that I’ve noticed this pattern, I can’t help but feel a little diminished BUT the silver lining is that I also feel an increase in confidence. I’m doing things that some people at the peak of their career couldn’t figure out or handle in a hectic due date driven environment. And it truly excites me to get in on the action and I won’t lie, I want more. I truly love the pressure and the complexity.
You could say that I’ve gotten a taste of the other side of the experience gap. Even clients are impressed with how I conduct myself and process complex requests. But I still get looped in with other administrators and new grads because not everyone knows or let alone understands what I am capable of.
Has anyone else been in a position like this? Did finding that one person who decided to take a chance on you change the trajectory of your career? Did you find success in a similar situation without a mentor?
I would love to hear your thoughts and perspectives.