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Are You Underutilized at Work? This Will Help!

by | Apr 4, 2023 | General Career Advice, Video

Do you ever feel that you’re not being truly leveraged at work? Like your talents and skills are going to waste? Like you have more to offer and more to contribute, but you’re limited by your job description?

If so, congratulations! You are totally normal!

Feeling underutilized at work is probably the most common complaint I hear from professionals across all industries and all fields.

It’s actually really easy to understand why this happens. And once you do, you can take the necessary steps to address it.

The article below summarizes the video content. 

Let’s start by talking about why we end up feeling underutilized…

Why You Feel Underutilized

Every job has parameters—a defined set of duties and responsibilities. Sure, most job descriptions also include that clever phrase, “…and other duties as assigned” but even those random, extra things generally fall within a set of reasonable boundaries.

This is true even for jobs that have a lot of diversity within the work—like administrative roles. You might have dozens of different types of tasks on your plate at any given point, but there’s still a limit. It’s not an infinite range of tasks.

And therein lies the problem.

Over time, as you gain skills in your work and as you evolve as a human, it’s only natural that the work you’re doing will require a smaller portion of your abilities. You’re growing and changing, so your work will naturally become easier. It will leave you with more “leftover” capacity. That’s where the feeling of being underutilized comes from. Even if you’re busy, you can still feel that way. It’s not about the volume of the work; it’s about the work itself.

Sometimes, this happens really quickly. Sometimes, it takes longer. But inevitably, everyone who is evolving will, ultimately, outgrow their job…. UNLESS the job is also evolving.

The Good News

Here’s the good news…

This is not a unique situation. Everything everywhere is constantly evolving….ALWAYS. It’s not just you. Your industry, your organization, your field…these things are evolving in response to changes happening within the world, the economy, the technological environment and much more.

Therefore, it only makes sense that your job should evolve too.

Any job that remains stagnant for too long will leave the person in it underutilized.

Some people don’t mind that! A job is just a paycheck. It makes no difference to them whether they’re engaged and challenged or just going through the motions.

But if you’re a career-minded professional with goals and interests and talents—and you have a drive to contribute to the world in a meaningful way with your work—feeling underutilized is not something you want to accept.

And you don’t have to. You have a choice in the matter…and a responsibility.

No one knows your job better than you do. No one is in a better position to understand how your job should evolve than you.

If you feel underutilized, you can change your situation by using your voice and your influence. And that is exactly what you’re going to learn to do in my upcoming webinar called, “Maximize Your Potential: How to Leverage Your Skills FULLY in the Workplace.”

Are You Underutilized at Work? This Will Help!

This session is taking place in April, which happens to be Administrative Appreciation Month. This topic is especially important for admins, but as we’ve already discussed, feeling under-leveraged is a challenge experienced far and wide in the professional world. You certainly don’t have to be an admin to benefit from this training.

If you’re interested in attending, here’s what you need to know.

If you’re watching this video BEFORE April 12, 2023, you can join us for the live session at NO COST. Visit EatYourCareer.com/signup to get on our newsletter list and receive registration information for this training. If you’re already on our newsletter list, there’s no need to sign up again! Check your email for the registration link in early April.

If you’re watching this video AFTER April 12, 2023, you can access the training replay in the Career Success Library. Sign up at MyCareerLibrary.com.

When you become a member, you’ll get immediate access to the replay of this training, plus our extensive on-demand library of professional development resources including more than 75 additional training sessions, more than 50 Q&A sessions, downloadable workbooks and worksheets, and more. And (of course) you can cancel your membership at any time.

The library is an engaged, supportive learning community of more than 500 career-minded professionals. And we would love for you to be a part of it.

This training session will help you identify opportunities for utilizing your skills in new and different ways and provide simple strategies to advocate for the change you want. Attendees will receive a robust handout and a Certificate of Attendance you can use for continuing education units to help you maintain your professional certifications.

I hope to see you there!

Take Your Career to the Next Level

The Career Success Library is a convenient, affordable online learning center for career advancers including administrative professionals, emerging leaders, and anyone else who wants to leverage the power of ongoing professional development. 

About the Author

Chrissy Scivicque is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and certified Professional Career Manager (PCM). She is an author, in-demand presenter and international speaker known for engaging, entertaining, educating and empowering audiences of all sizes and backgrounds. Learn more here.

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