{"id":49388,"date":"2018-07-25T05:00:21","date_gmt":"2018-07-25T12:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/?p=49388"},"modified":"2018-07-25T05:00:21","modified_gmt":"2018-07-25T12:00:21","slug":"creatives-think-twice-ladder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.creativecircle.com\/blog\/creatives-think-twice-ladder\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Creatives Should Think Twice About Stepping Up the Ladder"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many of us seem to be blindly scrambling for that next rung on the career ladder without giving much thought to what it entails. Our culture has conditioned us to accept an equation that says: \u201cIf you\u2019re not making moves up the ladder, you can\u2019t be a success at work; and if you\u2019re not a success at work, you\u2019re not a success at life.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s enraging, right? And not true. You might be better off embracing the rung you\u2019re currently occupying so never forget that your happiness is even more important than a job title. If you\u2019re uneasy about making the move up, here are a few reasons why you might be right.<\/p>\n

New titles don\u2019t always come with more money.<\/h2>\n

To badly paraphrase a quote from The Princess Bride<\/em>, \u201cYour fancy title does not mean what you think it means.\u201d That is, to say, gaining a new title, such as adding on a \u201cSenior\u201d or a \u201cV.P.\u201d to your current title<\/a>, doesn\u2019t always bring you any more money.<\/p>\n

Some companies bestow these titles in lieu of a raise, working under the assumption that since people move around a lot in the industry, you\u2019ll be able to cash in at your next place of employment. There may be some room for you to negotiate other perks and benefits<\/a>, but make sure you\u2019re comfortable with your new professional demands (e.g., longer hours, more client contact, required travel \u2013 all things that could impact your finances as well as your personal life).<\/p>\n

You might not like the new job that much.<\/h2>\n

Speaking on behalf of creatives, from the time most of us get our first jobs, it\u2019s implied that we should all be making strides toward the position of Creative Director, a Group Creative Director, or an Executive Creative Director. After all, those are the folks who end up with the awards, the vacation homes in Aspen, and their names on the agency marquee.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re great jobs to aspire to, but they require skillsets vastly different from what it takes to be an Art Director or a Copywriter. Besides being able to hire, fire, and motivate people, and organize departments, budgets, and design workflows, being a CD or above means selling work too, and occasionally taking flak from every direction. So even if you spend six hours a day in meetings, you still need to figure out a way to get the work done (no matter how much sleep you or your team loses).<\/p>\n

In short, this kind of life is the opposite<\/a> of everything most creatives want out of their jobs.<\/p>\n

Even for those outside the creative department, climbing higher usually requires taking on more duties related to management and operations. You\u2019ll likely work more hours, which means you\u2019ll spend a greater percentage of your life doing things that are radically different from the job you signed up for.<\/p>\n

The more entrenched you are, the harder it is to get out.<\/h2>\n

If you work in advertising, branding or design, it\u2019s really easy to get stuck in a particular category<\/a>. For example, if you\u2019ve worked on brands in automotive, healthcare, consumer packaged goods, or restaurants, you\u2019ll be seen as someone with expertise: i.e., you\u2019re the car guy, the financial writer, etc. Sure, it\u2019s easier to find similar jobs, but it\u2019s much harder to make a change. If you don\u2019t like the path you\u2019re on, don\u2019t take a more senior position unless it will give you skills that you can transfer laterally to another job.<\/p>\n

Said in a different way, if you don\u2019t like what you\u2019re doing, why would you put yourself in a situation to do more of it?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s true that you can keep your horizons broad by taking on freelance or doing volunteer work, but you have to be willing to sacrifice your personal time (which you\u2019ll probably have even less of if you make a big jump up the ladder).<\/p>\n

If you love your job, stay put.<\/h2>\n

Staying put isn\u2019t career suicide and there\u2019s a lot to be said about really owning and growing within your current role<\/a>: stability, job security, and hopefully, the chance to make the right move at the right time. Ultimately, though, you\u2019re the only person who can do the cost\/benefit analysis to figure out if you should seek or take a promotion.<\/p>\n

If you do find yourself craving change or wanting to move up, it actually is<\/span> possible to pick up some of the essential traits and skills that are outside of your current job description or comfort level. You may never be able to teach yourself to like late nights or act as a punching bag for clients, but it\u2019s easier than you think to learn the leadership skills you need if you do decide to keep climbing. Many of these skills you can start to use immediately: the faster you start applying them at your current position, the faster you\u2019ll move up into a new one.<\/p>\n

Still not sure? For your inspiration, The Muse has collected nine stories<\/a> about people who stepped away from highly paid, high-power careers and had zero regrets about it.<\/p>\n

\n

Lisa is a Creative Circle candidate and seasoned advertising copywriter who lives in Los Angeles. Her background includes both in-house and agency work on Fortune 500 and global accounts in the consumer and healthcare\/pharmaceutical fields. She excels at words, fashion, and cats. If you want to work with Lisa, contact Creative Circle Los Angeles<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many of us seem to be blindly scrambling for that next rung on the career ladder without giving much thought to what it entails. Our culture has conditioned us to accept an equation that says: \u201cIf you\u2019re not making moves up the ladder, you can\u2019t be a success at work; and if you\u2019re not a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":49386,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-creative-insights"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Creatives Should Think Twice About Stepping Up the Ladder | Creative Circle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you\u2019re uneasy about making the move up the career ladder, here's why you might be better off embracing the rung you\u2019re currently occupying.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" 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