I remember someone telling me after an interview that the candidate we just saw did not have 5 years of experience, but 5 times 1 year of experience instead.
It was a very good point. This person kept working on small, very straightforward projects in similar phases. Because of this, they never really developed their skills and most of their years of experience didn’t really matter compared to other candidates that were exposed to a broader range of problems and challenges.
Of course, it makes sense that years spent in the industry don’t directly mean more seniority, but surprisingly it’s often assumed that people will steadily get better over time. The trick is that it’s not steady, and there is a ceiling to what one can accomplish if they remain at the same job and not try to get out of their comfort zone.
Not all roles are equal
First of all, not all jobs or projects will give you the same opportunity for growth. If you are stuck in a position where all you are asked to do is simple frontend web work on landing pages with simple design and no colleagues, there’s just so far you can go!
Every job has some kind of skill ceiling, the question is how high is it? Basically, how much can you learn if you keep doing this for years?
The skill ceiling
To talk about this, I like the idea of “skill ceiling” often used in video game and defined as the amount of skill required to master some activity. Let’s visualise what it looks like for a given job.
In this situation, you’ll learn quickly at first, reaching the maximum skill level of that position. You might be very good at doing this particular thing, but anyone could reach your level in a couple of years.
If you keep going:
- At best, you will get marginally better.
- At worst, you will stagnate or even develop bad habits and actually get worse
Raising the skill ceiling
If you recognise that you have stopped learning new things, it’s important to address it and probably make sure you get more growth opportunities. While you remain in this particular job, you’ll probably be fine. However, if you have to switch, you’ll be labeled as someone with x times 1 year of experience and you’ll struggle in your career. Worst, you might be both over qualified (too many years of experience on paper) and under qualified (lack of broader expertise)!
Ideally your company will have some way to get you to the next level. If it’s not the case, you’ll need to either ask for new opportunities, find them yourself or change jobs entirely.
The company can be helping you through this. Part of your manager’s role is to provide growth opportunities and visibility over a career path. You could also leverage colleagues to get inspired or ask for guidance regarding what to do next.
However, not all companies are perfect. So if your current job is actively trying to keep you out of growth opportunities, it’s a red flag. They could put you in a position where you lose most external opportunities and then end up entirely dependent on this particular job. This means that you are losing any negotiating power and limit your long term freedom.
The comfort zone
It’s also possible to get stuck in a skill plateau that is unrelated to your role and its ceiling. If you are not actively seeking learning opportunities and ways to improve yourself, you might find yourself in what many call the comfort zone.
By definition, it’s a comfortable place to be in! After a few years in a position, you know the job and can reach expectations easily. You understand enough to be effective, people appreciate your work, and it doesn’t require much energy anymore. You might not be learning new things, but overall it’s going well.
The comfort zone is a long term risk
In my opinion, while this is pleasant short term, you have to acknowledge the risk long term as the result will be the same as having a job with low skill ceiling. At some point you’ll just keep “repeating” the same year of experience and end up stuck in your current position.
Things are changing fast, the world is evolving and you don’t want to be in a situation where you depend too much on your current company’s health and good will. While getting out of your comfort zone and spending energy on your career is a real effort, it’ll help create freedom mid to long term. It’ll be easier to find a job matching your values and personal constraints, and it’ll probably pay more or provide better working conditions.
Doing the same thing for a long time can also be demotivating. Tasks that are familiar and pleasant, done over years and years can become dreadful and demotivating.
Breaking out of the comfort zone requires effort
I really like Cal Newport’s book, “So Good They Can’t Ignore You”, in which he talks about career capital. The way I internalised it is seeing your skills and knowledge as a form of currency you can use to get the job and life you want.
However, not all skills are equal, as Cal Newport explains in his book:
“Basic economic theory tells us that if you want something that’s both rare and valuable, you need something rare and valuable to offer in return — this is Supply and Demand 101. It follows that if you want a great job, you need something of great value to offer in return.”
I also like this quote from [Geoff Colvin])(https://geoffcolvin.com/), highlighting that breaking out of the comfort zone requires effort.
“Doing things we know how to do well is enjoyable, and that’s exactly the opposite of what deliberate practice demands… Deliberate practice is above all an effort of focus and concentration. That is what makes it “deliberate”, as distinct from the mindless playing of scales or hitting of tennis balls that most people engage in.”
This is referenced by Cal Newport and put in perspective with the concept learning plateau.
“If you show up and do what you’re told, you will reach an “acceptable level” of ability before plateauing. The good news about deliberate practice is that it will push you past this plateau and into a realm where you have little competition. The bad news is that the reason so few people accomplish this feat is exactly because of the trait Colvin warned us about: Deliberate practice is often the opposite of enjoyable.”
Sustainable skill and career growth
Growth is not linear
First let’s recognise that:
- Reaching a plateau is normal. Maybe you just have to work on the same set of tasks for a while due to business reasons… or maybe you have reached your mental capacity and simply need some time spent on straightforward topics to recharge! Reaching some form of plateau is to be expected and will happen during your career.
- Wanting to stay in your comfort zone is normal. It’s perfectly fine to want to stay in your comfort zone! You might be tired and needing to recharge. You might have external topics (health, kids, personal events…) that are taking your focus for now. This is a tradeoff between long term growth and short term comfort, and if you make it knowingly you can have a good control over your career and learning path.
Trying to always be in high growth mode is not realistic for your entire career. Life is long, you’ll have kids, fall sick, take care of aging parents, move to a different city, get married, break your leg, focus on your hobby, travel… unless you make your job your absolute priority, you’ll have moments where your professional growth will be limited and it’ll be ok.
Realistic approach
However, like we discussed, staying in that comfort zone for too long is actually very risky long term. This is why a sustainable approach is to alternate periods of plateau “in the comfort zone” and period of growth based on your professional opportunities and personal events.
Here’s how it could look over a few years:
In this chart we see someone getting a job and becoming good at it. Then they plateau but eventually get more responsibilities and grow again. They still have more growth opportunities, but they decide to focus on something else due to a personal event. After a while, they refocus on their career and continue gaining experience.
I think it’s a pretty good way to approach life, learn new skills, gain long term freedom while making space for life unexpected events and opportunities!
Since you scrolled this far, you might be interested in some other things I wrote: