Career growth is the driving force and lifeline for many employees looking to move up in their current company or advance their careers. Have you ever been in the position of feeling like you are standing still—maybe even waiting for something to happen? That’s an unpleasant feeling.

Think back to earlier in your career. Do you remember how you progressed, and the roadblocks that you faced and overcame to get to where you are now? How did you pivot around those roadblocks to create new growth opportunities?

Today, employers don’t always do the best job of creating and aligning internal growth opportunities with the needs of their employees. Despite what HR may tell you, you are entirely on your own—even though your employer keeps saying that you are an investment and they have your best interests in mind!

A mismatch is created when this desired growth becomes more of a wish list, versus something that is actually tangible and within reach.

Why career growth is important
Career growth and advancement are one of the most critical elements that drive employee satisfaction within a company. Having a clear path forward is a powerful motivator, whereas a hazy path can leave one discouraged and quite a bit less productive. Employee retention depends on having a vision of what the possible futures actually look like.

We have all heard the saying, “Opportunities don’t just happen, you must create them.” As you are your own CEO and manager of your career, you will be faced with the need to build relationships, seek mentors, add or bring new value and skills to the table, and take on meaningful work or projects outside of your comfort zone.

Employees no longer work for companies their entire career, and often find themselves hitting a ceiling in their current organization. You may have your case of the déjà vu’s, where you look back on the prior years, and things feel like a blur. You may feel trapped—it’s not a good feeling when your marketable skills are not growing.

The average person holds an upwards of nearly 12 jobs during his or her career, according to a 2017 Bureau of Labor Statistics study. While there can be many reasons for changing jobs, the biggest factor seems to be every employee’s need for career advancement and growth opportunities.

Today, employees find they need to jump around to make growth happen. In fact, non-linear career paths are becoming the new norm. Fresh out of school, you may have had a clear picture in your mind that you would simply get that first job and work for a few years before a promotion and the dream job.

The common misconception is that career paths and growth opportunities are laid out in front of you, in plain sight. Going further, once you land your first gig at a biopharma company, your boss or some external force will line things up for you. Your lucky break will happen serendipitously.

In actuality, you need to take control of your own career, map out growth opportunities, and forget about leaving things to chance. Only then will you see things come together the way you want them to, as you adapt a proactive approach and growth plan.

Become the lifelong learner
Are you really good at your job? If so, your boss may want to keep you right where you are. As a workhorse, you bring a lot of value to the company. If you were to be promoted or taken out of your current role, it could leave a gap in the team. So you can see how this develops.

Just as your manager gets into a comfort zone regarding her team, you must always be looking to new horizons to be a lifelong learner and not get complacent. As it is human nature to become bored or disengaged because of repetitive work, you may find that your mind goes on autopilot at times. That’s not a good scenario for career growth. It happens to all of us. In fact, I catch myself at times in autobot mode. 

As you crave new challenges to broaden your mind and skills, consider taking steps to rise to the occasion and jump out of that comfort zone. Growth comes from being in areas of uncertainty. Ralph Waldo Emerson put it in simple terms, “What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do.”

Think of new interests, job functions, or skills that you can acquire or pursue that haven’t been communicated to your boss. Or maybe you are you looking for that next leadership opportunity, and are thinking of ways you can find and develop your inner leader. Self-reflection and having a deep understanding of your true motivation and passion will help guide you. Growth will also come from building on your existing strengths, as this will quickly shuttle you into promising areas.

When thinking of possible career stagnation, the goal here is to catch it before it even happens or drags on for too long. As with any role in a company, you need to be constantly learning to be growing.

Create your own growth: Increase your exposure
If you were to take a scientist who is curious about the areas of business, working at the bench all day simply won’t expose you to these new areas of interest. Growth needs to come by being exposed to the new work.

When you ask a director of marketing or business development how they got to where they are today, many well tell you how they fell into a role by accident. However, they still took proactive measures to create their own growth via incremental steps or transitions from one business function to the next.

Are you involved in a project that has many cross-functional relationships, functions or teams? Chances are high that if you are at a large matrix organization, you’re intertwined with numerous department and business areas. Testing the waters not only dramatically increases your visibility and marketability; it also helps you discover what you are naturally good at so you can capture growth opportunities.

Perhaps you work for a biopharma startup, and you have the opportunity to wear many different hats. What value can you add to the team that you haven’t thought of already? Growth in this regard can also come from focusing on a particular area, based on high priority business needs or big impact.

Many successful scientists grow into areas of business development, executive leadership, sales, or marketing. Their career journey of 10-plus years all launched with that first small step or transition towards growth, followed by a series of incremental steps on a non-linear path.

Dedicate your time to new areas and projects
In a world that is constantly doing business, an estimated 90% of your day is consumed by the ‘today’ or ‘daily grind’ tactical activities of your job. As this can bog down the time you dedicate to the ‘tomorrow’ activities, such as strategic planning, it is wise to spend at least one day per week focusing on these other activities. If you are only focused just on the ‘now,’ this will only stifle your chances to grow.

Identify at least one strategic skillset, leadership activity, or new area of growth per month that you would like to dive into. Work with your manager, engage cross-functional team members, and see where you can contribute value. Having someone take you under their wing and teach you the ropes can be a great way to create growth on the side, without losing the focus on your daily job responsibilities.

Lastly, step up or volunteer to take on an extra project or work assignment. It may be time to get back in the lab and learn a new lab skill or technique for high-throughput assays or new scientific platforms. Maybe you are passionate about international patent law or regulatory, for example. Whatever your motivation and passion is, always remain hungry as a lifelong learner.

Reevaluate growth and get feedback
You will fully discover your career path as you go through various stages of growth. Things may become clearer as you continue to advance and take on new cross-functional roles, or expand into new areas.

Revisit, reflect, and get feedback often. If still you feel at a standstill or your manager is not ‘enabling’ or advocating for you, then it may be time to look for new growth and advancement opportunities in different areas, or in a new company culture that promotes growth.

You will find that once you have put yourself into the lifelong learning mode and seek out new skills and challenges, you will uncover new opportunities on the horizon that will truly take your career to the next level.