Directorate of distance education master of business administration

Mid-career Crisis and Career Plateau
 
The period occurring between the mid-thirties and mid-forties 
during which people often tend to make a major reassessment of their 

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progress in relation to their original career goals and personal ambitions. 
As people reach the middle of their careers, they find that their options 
to move out of the organization is lower than before, while there are 
increasingly fewer number of positions above them to aspire for. Some 
people are likely to experience “plateau”, a condition of stagnation in 
one’s current job without any noticeable variation for a long period of 
time.  In general, junior officers of the management cadre are the ones to 
experience the most rapid growth among any type of employees. 
According to Argyris, every person in their normal course 
of living tends to move through a transition from characteristics of 
immaturity towards more mature personality characteristics.  As age 
passes, an employed person is likely to become more independent, 
develop deeper interests, reach super-ordinate positions and heighten 
his or her self-awareness.  Their perspective tends to be focused on a 
long-term rather than a short-term.  This trend is likely to continue till 
retirement.  Getting appointment to the first job, successful completion 
of the period of probation, gaining positive ratings in the appraisal could 
be described as the path breakers in an individual’s career.  However, 
promotions and transfers mark major transitional milestones in one’s 
career.  Especially, promotions during early period of one’s career are 
boons to the employee as these employees would not have to face tough 
competition later in their career lives. 
A successful career in management would result from the following key 
efforts by a career aspirant: 
1.  Judicious selection of one’s first job, wherever there is a choice. 
For example, managers who start out in departments that 
are high in power within the organizations are more likely to 
advance rapidly throughout their careers. 
2.  Good work performance is a necessary condition but not 
sufficient for managerial success. The marginal performer 
might be rewarded in the short term, but his or her weaknesses 
are bound to surface eventually and cut off career advancement.  
Good work performance is no guarantee of success, but without 
it the probability of a successful career is low. 
3.  Presenting the right image in accordance to his or her evaluation 
of an organization’s culture.

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4.  Gaining control of organizational resources that are scarce and 
sources of power. 
5.  Staying visible would help to tackle the subjectivity of the 
superior’s evaluation of one’s contribution. 
6.  Seeking early transfers, promotions or shifting jobs before it 
becomes too long to be able to signal that the person is on the 
fast track. 
7.  Right timing for switching over from first job. Accepting an early 
transfer to a new job assignment and quickly moving through 
different jobs, an employee tends to signal to recruiters that they 
are on a fast track. 
8.  Find a mentor from the organization’s power core, who could 
take the career aspirant as his protégé and as an ally. 
9.  Supporting the superior: Helping the boss succeed and being 
supportive at times of crisis could help to propel a person’s 
career progression. 
10. Willingness to move across different geographical locations and 
across functional lines within the organization and outside it 
facilitates career progression. 
11. Thinking and moving laterally to jobs that are more interesting 
and offering a wider range of experiences.