3 Signs That You Need A Career Change Within The Same Industry
Many professionals find themselves at a crossroads in their careers, not because they dislike their work, but because something about their current situation is no longer fulfilling. Often, the solution is not to abandon the industry altogether but to shift within it. Staying in the same industry allows individuals to leverage their expertise and experience while seeking new challenges and environments that better align with their personal and professional goals. Here are three clear signs that indicate it might be time for a career change within your industry.
You Love The Work But Dislike The Team Or Your Boss
One of the most telling signs that it's time for a change is when the work itself still excites or fulfills you, but the environment in which you're doing it has become toxic or uninspiring. If you find yourself constantly frustrated by poor communication, micromanagement, lack of support, or workplace politics, it's not necessarily a sign that you should leave the field. Instead, it suggests you need a change of scenery.
The impact of a poor team or ineffective leadership cannot be underestimated. Even the most passionate professionals can experience burnout or disengagement when they are surrounded by negativity or a lack of mutual respect. In these situations, it's important to recognize that your skills and love for the work deserve an environment that respects your contributions and promotes growth and collaboration. Moving to another company or department within the same industry can refresh your perspective and rekindle your enthusiasm.
You've Been In The Same Role For Years Without Growth
Longevity in a role can be both a strength and a weakness. On one hand, it signals loyalty, deep knowledge, and consistency. On the other, if you've been doing the same job for more than five years and there's been no progression, or no new responsibilities, promotions, and meaningful challenges, it may be time to re-evaluate your trajectory.
Stagnation often indicates that your current organization may not be the right place for your long-term development. Even if you're good at your job, staying in one place for too long without a clear pathway forward can hinder your potential. Ambitious professionals thrive when they have goals to chase, whether that's a leadership role, new certifications, or exposure to different aspects of their field. If those opportunities are not available where you are, then seeking a new position within your industry can help reignite your motivation and set you on a path toward higher achievement.
You've Mastered Your Role, But You Lost The Spark
Mastery is a double-edged sword. While becoming an expert in your field is a significant achievement, it can also lead to a sense of complacency or boredom if there's nothing left to learn or challenge you in your current role. The early excitement that came with solving complex problems or learning new systems may have faded, leaving you feeling indifferent or unfulfilled, even though you're still performing well.
This loss of zeal is not necessarily a sign that you're in the wrong career. It may just mean you've outgrown your current position or company. Many seasoned professionals feel this way after reaching a plateau where the learning curve has flattened. When that happens, the best move is often lateral rather than vertical, as there is a need to seek a new challenge within the same industry that allows you to apply your expertise in fresh ways. This could involve transitioning to a different specialization, working with a new client base, joining a startup, or taking on a consulting role.
Feeling dissatisfied at work doesn't always mean you need to start over in a different field. Often, the solution lies in making a strategic move within the same industry where one offers a healthier work environment, more room for growth, or new challenges to tackle. Changing companies, departments, or even roles can breathe new life into your career while keeping you grounded in the work you enjoy and excel at. Recognizing these signs early and acting on them can help you stay motivated, fulfilled, and successful in the long run.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
18 minutes ago
- Forbes
Tapping The Ancient Wisdom Of Hospitality To Foster Inclusivity
Team members feeling safe and connected and actively listening to and learning from one another. In the past some business leaders solved the problem of employees being constantly connected to their laptops and smartphones by tapping ancient Jewish wisdom and providing digital sabbaths so employees could disconnect from their digital devices and find time to rest, reflect, and reconnect. Today business leaders can solve the problem of companies abandoning or weakening their commitment to DEI programs, even though the issues those programs sought to address persist, by adapting the ancient virtue of hospitality to make others feel welcome, connected, safe, valued, respected, and heard. Under pressure and threats from the Trump administration and certain conservative lawmakers and activists some companies have abandoned or weakened their DEI commitments as too controversial and risky. But the importance of hospitality as a virtue is recognized in Judaism, Islam, Christianity, and Hinduism. Given that widespread acceptance it seems safe to suggest that a company's public commitment to creating a culture of hospitality would be less risky than a public commitment to DEI efforts--though some companies may want to accept the risk of staying openly true to their convictions. The Benefits of An Inclusive Workplace Employees in an inclusive workplace feel that they belong, that their perspectives matter, that they are valued and respected, and that they are safe to be their authentic selves. That is good for the employees and also for their organizations. A 2025 report by the World Economic Forum found that companies that companies committed to DEI more generally experienced higher levels of performance, innovation, and employee satisfaction. And a survey by Boston Consulting Group and the Future Forum revealed that employees who feel they can be their authentic selves at work are more happy and motivated and more than two times less likely to quit. The practice of hospitality could yield similar positive results for employees and organizations and help promote not only inclusivity, but also diversity and equity. A hospitable workplace culture is more likely to attract a wider range of top talent and also to be a place where employees feel they are treated fairly. But creating a hospitable environment requires moving beyond the common understanding of that virtue. The Deeper Meaning of Hospitality In Reaching Out, Catholic spiritual writer, Henri Nouwen, suggests that we think of hospitality not narrowly as welcoming strangers into our homes but rather as the fundamental welcoming attitude we have toward other human beings. He points out that we often see strangers as a potential threat, but that we should see them as potential allies who have gifts they may share with us if we welcome them into a safe and open space in which they can be themselves and then show genuine interest in them. The goal of creating that open space is to invite others to enter it and form a new relationship with us. But people will enter that space and share their gifts fully with us only if they feel safe. Nouwen observes that people will not reveal their most precious experiences and insights with those who evoke fear in them. He also emphasizes that those offering hospitality must see and affirm that the life experiences and ideas of others are worthy of our full attention and respect. Receptivity and Openness Nouwen explains that hospitality requires both receptivity or openness and confrontation or presence. Receptivity involves welcoming others as who they are, not as who you would like them to be. A report by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law found that half of LGBT employees are not out to their direct supervisors and that one quarter of them are not out to even a single co-worker. Those employees reported not feeling safe speaking about their lives outside of work or displaying photos of their partners or families. They indicated not feeling welcome in their workplaces as who they are. Turning to what Nouwen labels 'confrontation,' hospitality requires that we welcome others as who they are while staying true to who we are. I prefer 'presence' to 'confrontation' since being present to others as who you are need not lead to confrontation. Leaders offering hospitality should be clear about their own ideas, opinions, and convictions. A hospitable workplace promotes real conversation, after all, and real conversation requires that all parties remain who they really are and say what they really think. That being the case, leaders offering hospitality should not hide what they think and believe. They should also be clear about any boundaries that employees should follow. If I have been welcomed to a home in which it is common practice to remove one's shoes before entering, for example, I should respect that boundary and remove my shoes even if I do not do so in my home. If it is part of the culture of a company I have have been welcomed to join to offer praise publicly but criticism privately then I should do that even if I would sometimes like to do otherwise. I recall a story about a senior finance executive who welcomed a new employee and told him that he had a bright future at the firm. He then added that if the new employee ever recommended a client transaction he could not defend as being in the best interest of the client, he would be fired immediately. That is an example of welcoming a newcomer and seeing and believing in that newcomer's potential while also setting a clear boundary with consequences. The Importance of Speaking Less and Listening More Nouwen stresses that listening is one of the most important forms of hospitality and that to practice it well we need to develop our listening skills. He points out that hosts should create open spaces in which they can share perspectives with guests, but that some hosts prevent that from happening by speaking all the time and filling up the schedule so that none of their guests has much of a chance to speak or to interact freely with one another. Leaders who want to practice hospitality in preparing for meetings should think less about what they will say at the meeting and more about what they will ask in order to find out what their team members think and feel. And they should open by inviting the ideas of team members and only then share their own ideas. Leaders who hire talented, experienced, knowledgeable, and motivated people but then fail to give them the opportunity to share their experiences and perspectives waste their organization's most precious resources. They also miss out on learning opportunities that could leave them better-informed and wiser and help them make better decisions. To illustrate the inability of a person who cannot learn because he thinks he already has all the answers Nouwen shares the story of a Zen master who received a university professor who wanted to learn about Zen. The Zen master served tea and poured until the professor's cup was full but then kept pouring. When the perplexed professor exclaimed that the cup was full and could not hold any more water the master explained that the professor's mind, like the cup, was already so full of ideas and assumptions that it would not be able to hold more unless it was first emptied of some of those preconceptions. Leaders must not be so full of their own ideas that there is no room in their minds for the fresh ideas of their team members. The Need for More Hospitable Workplaces Persists The goal of a hospitable workplace is creating a space in which everyone feels safe and welcome as who they are and as having valuable gifts to share. But to create that space hospitable leaders need to recognize that some employees are likely to feel less welcome, valued, respected, connected, and safe than others. Full-time remote workers may well feel less connected to co-workers than those who work the office. Female employees may feel less valued and heard if they are interrupted more often, and a number of studies indicate that they are. Indeed a 2017 study indicates that male Supreme Court justices interrupted their female colleagues three times more often than they interrupted one another. Black employees who feel the need to code-switch, or alter their speech, dress or behavior, in order to fit in with the dominant culture, are less likely to feel welcome as who they are. And a 2023 survey conducted for Indeed by The Harris Poll indicated that black employees are almost three times more likely than their white counterparts to code-switch. Conservative employees may feel less connected, respected, and heard on teams that are predominantly liberal or progressive just as liberal or progressive employees may feel less connected, respected, and heard on predominantly conservative teams. And Muslim employees may feel less welcome and safe on teams in which Christians are a clear and vocal majority. The list could clearly go on but each of those illustrative instances of workplace inhospitality could be remedied by the practice of hospitality as described above. Best Practices for Offering Hospitality in the Workplace First, welcome others as who they are, recognize and affirm their gifts, and make it unambiguously clear by your words and actions that you really want to hear what they think. Second, think of the ratio of speaking to listening that you are comfortable with in your interactions with junior members of your team and then speak less than that so that they can speak more. Third, be your authentic self and communicate your experiences, insights, opinions and values to others clearly. But clarify that your perspective is not the only one that matters and you are open to modifying or changing it based on information and insights from others. Fourth, clarify that having a welcoming attitude toward all does not mean accepting all behaviors or attitudes. Be clear about the boundaries that must be observed for your team to perform at its best and insist that those boundaries are observed. Finally, move beyond the mere acceptance of experiences and perspectives that are different from your own to the positive appreciation of those different experiences and perspectives as leading to richer discussions, better decisions, stronger teams, and better business results as well. Some companies reluctantly eliminated their DEI programs and Chief Diversity Officer positions while remaining quietly committed to having a diverse workforce in which everyone feels that they belong and are treated fairly because that is good in itself and also good for business. Those companies are welcome to appoint a Chief Hospitality Officer to achieve their worthy goals.
Forbes
4 hours ago
- Forbes
Be Easy To Work With: The Overlooked Career Skill That Drives Success
A group of professionals collaborating effectively "Be easy to work with." That was the most impactful piece of advice my mentor gave me early in my career. I had just stepped into a challenging stretch role that required me to grow quickly, learn new skills and make a noticeable impact. Eager to succeed, I reached out to her because she was an experienced and accomplished leader. When we met, my primary question for her was, 'How can I make the right impression and thrive in this new position?' I expected her to say things like "leverage your strengths," "work hard," or "be yourself." All solid advice, but that's not what she said. Her response was simple, practical and powerful: "Be easy to work with." That insight has stuck with me. Over the years, I have seen it hold true not only in my career but in the experiences of countless professionals and leaders I've coached and developed. Regardless of role, industry or level, being easy to work with is an underrated but essential skill that strengthens collaboration, builds trust and drives long-term success. 5 Practices to Be Easy to Work With Backed by research and practical experience, these five practices have consistently helped professionals and leaders become more collaborative, trusted and effective across diverse roles and industries. 1. Focus on We Instead of Me Do the people you interact with to get work done believe that you understand and have their best interests at heart, or do they feel you are leveraging the situation for selfish gain? Trust will remain low if others perceive you as focusing only on your interests. To build trust, you must approach working with others with a self-orientation of "we" versus "me." Taking the time to understand others' perspectives, goals and solutions is the foundation for successful collaboration. People will almost always bring varying views about any complex situation that requires collaboration for success. Asking open-ended questions to understand how others perceive the work at hand is a crucial first step in finding shared meaning for collaborative work. To establish a "We" perspective, you must regularly ask two types of questions: 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗧𝗼 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗢𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿' 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗧𝗼 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 Taking the time to ask questions does not stop you from sharing your perspectives about the situation; it just means you choose to ask questions and understand others' views before sharing your own. 2. Deliver Results Credibility is built by consistently doing what you say and delivering quality work. I often see articles and posts that focus solely on the relational aspects of being an effective employee (such as kindness, empathy, listening and understanding), but do not give equal weight to the importance of delivering results. To build relationships and gain influence, people must believe you can and will get the job done. Consistency is a crucial aspect of reliability. Be someone others can rely on to get the job done. When you deliver on your commitments, trust is built. Establishing clear responsibilities, next steps and timelines enables people to rely on each other, whether meeting deadlines or fulfilling their duties. 3. Demonstrate Emotional Competence Our brains and bodies are hardwired to react when we feel threatened. This instinctive reaction is why many well-intentioned, skilled and competent individuals make poor decisions that negatively impact themselves and others. Understanding our physical responses to negative emotions helps us recognize when it's time to pause. Pausing allows our minds to catch up with our emotions before we react out of anger, fear, fatigue or frustration. Emotionally competent people do not blame circumstances or conditions for their behavior. During challenging interactions, establishing a long-term orientation by aligning our "in the moment" intentions to our longer-term goals and values helps us to: 4. Seek Feedback Regardless of your talent or level of effectiveness, you will have flawed perspectives or sometimes make mistakes. Asking team members, stakeholders or managers for their feedback demonstrates that you value their perspectives, have a growth mindset and want to continually improve. Since giving feedback feels risky for people, we must be deliberate about creating a safe environment by actively giving permission and expressing openness and desire to receive feedback about our performance. To regularly receive honest feedback, we need to minimize potential obstacles while encouraging others by: 5. Practice Reflection Reflection is a humbling yet powerful tool that helps us improve our performance. However, it is not easy, as it requires us to look honestly at ourselves, including our strengths, weaknesses and areas that need improvement. A practice of reflection often leads to insights, learning and ideas to test future experiences. Research shows that regular practice of reflection increases our capacity to demonstrate emotional intelligence, social skills and learning agility. Rolfe et al.'s (2001) reflective model is probably one of the simplest reflective models, as it centers on asking three straightforward questions: What? So what? Now what? This practical approach to reflection provides a framework for assessing experiences, making meaning of them and determining what they mean for future action. Below are some example questions for you to use to customize your reflection process: What? So What? Now What? Why You Should Be Easy to Work With Being easy to work with is often overlooked when professionals think about skill sets for advancing their careers and that is a mistake. No matter how high your level of technical skill, experience or intelligence, it will be your ability to effectively collaborate, communicate and adapt with others that will make the difference for long-term success. If you want to grow your influence, advance your career and build lasting professional relationships, start with this: Be easy to work with.
Forbes
7 hours ago
- Forbes
Why Every Leader Needs A Side Hustle Mindset
To thrive in today's volatile work environments, leaders need the agility and mindset of an ... More entrepreneur. The line between entrepreneurship and traditional leadership is becoming increasingly blurred. A 2024 study by researchers at James Cook University found that both managers and entrepreneurs require similar core abilities—dynamic capabilities, which include self-efficacy, alliance management and marketing capabilities—to excel in post-COVID, VUCA work environments (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous). Increasingly, professionals across sectors are embodying this shift. The percentage of people working both salaried and entrepreneurial jobs (i.e., side hustles) has grown from 13% in 2020 to 38% in 2025, down slightly from 44% in 2022, according to annual LendingTree surveys. While many professionals pursue side hustles for the extra income, the benefits run far deeper. Side hustles require and foster a particular mindset—and build a skill set—that can add massive value to salaried roles and shore up long-term career security. That is because these high-value dynamic capabilities (a side hustle mindset) are exactly what companies need to stay competitive and relevant in times of rapid change, tech innovation and upheaval. Why The Side Hustle Mindset Matters More Than Ever With all the economic uncertainty and instability In this job market, the invitation to all professionals is to be more adaptive, scrappy and inventive. But leaders in particular must deepen their entrepreneurial agility. Delivering excellent results is necessary, but no longer sufficient. As AI and lean teams shrink org charts, leaders must create their own value-add rooted in their distinctly human gifts and talents. For rising and established leaders alike, career longevity requires building more and more options for one's career trajectory—as opposed to clinging on to the dream of 'climbing the ladder' within the same organization. We can meet this moment with the side hustle mindset, which encompasses skills like resourcefulness, self-direction, calculated risk-taking, market-driven thinking and digital fluency. What The Side Hustle And Mindset Can Look Like At Different Career Stages For early-career professionals, side hustles can serve as self-created, self-driven apprenticeships that solidify fundamental professional skills: communication, organization and time management, client or customer service, analytical thinking and problem-solving. For those in extended job searches, side hustles can also provide structure, a sense of purpose, fulfillment and momentum. They also offer valuable work experience that can be parlayed into future salaried positions or scalable businesses. In other words, a side hustle can be the fastest way to build portfolio experience and road-test your career interests—on your own terms. For mid-career professionals and leaders, entrepreneurial throughlines in your professional branding can set you apart in a crowded and competitive job market. Review your body of work through an entrepreneurial lens and determine how to weave those elements into your career narrative and highlight them across your professional assets (LinkedIn profile, online bio, executive summary on your resume). It could be the differentiator that lands you the coveted leadership role you've been working towards. If you have a side hustle, leverage it to grow your leadership, innovate solutions and develop your risk management skills—all while building your executive presence and honing your ability to pitch ideas with confidence. A side hustle (or the mindset alone) will force you to expand your horizons and your network—all of which strengthens your 'career insurance' for when 'stable' jobs suddenly disappear. For senior leaders, you likely already have a plethora of entrepreneurial leadership examples to draw from—conduct an audit on your own or with an expert to ensure you're positioning yourself strategically and advantageously. At this stage of your career, side ventures, investment projects or advisory work can keep your entrepreneurial edge sharp. Research, vet and join appropriate peer cohorts or engage in micro-learning to stay relevant without overcommitting yourself given the demands already on your plate. How To Cultivate A Side Hustle Mindset—Even If You're Not Launching A Business No matter your career stage or specific circumstance, given how the landscape is trending, it is imperative to think like a founder in your role. Practice this by identifying root problems, creating actionable solutions and carefully studying the market. Invest in your entrepreneurial skill-building through small-scale experiments (entrepreneurial programs, pilot projects, advisory roles, partnerships) that let you fail fast and help you adapt even faster. This self-directed learning can be one of the highest-ROI investments you make in your career. Leadership isn't about waiting your turn—it never was. It's about making your own moves and strengthening your dynamic capabilities, entrepreneurial skillset and side hustle mindset. Whether or not you ever launch a formal side hustle, you will need that mindset and those dynamic capabilities to succeed in the decades ahead. And the good news is that a side hustle mindset is fully learnable and fully portable. Once you build it, no one, no organization, no downturn can take it away from you.
