Unstuck: How to Break Free from Career Inertia After Decades in the Same Job
You’ve dedicated years to your work, and now you’re ready for a change. But the thought of starting over after 20+ years feels impossible. Here’s why you’re not stuck, and how to take the first steps.
“Kelly” has worked at the same clothing manufacturer for over 20 years. She started on the floor, quickly learned the ins and outs of the operations, and rose to be the first person anyone turned to when they had a problem no one else could solve. But now, as she looks around, she realizes that there is nowhere to rise to. She’s hit the ceiling.
She knows it’s time to move on. But when she even starts to imagine starting over, she gets frozen in place. Her resume has not been updated in decades. Her LinkedIn profile is barely a name and a photo. And when she can bring herself to talk with friends about what she might want to do, she has no answer.
“Kelly” isn’t the only one. I’ve talked to several people in this position in recent months. They know they’re stuck in jobs they no longer want. But not because they’re unable to do anything else. Quite the opposite. It’s the process of change itself that freezes them in place. The tools of the job search—updating, networking, interviewing—feel foreign after so many years of being focused solely on the work itself. So they stay, even though they know the role no longer fits.
Year after year, their resumes gather dust. Profiles get stale. They search for the next project or assignment within the same company, rather than the next job entirely. It’s not always procrastination. It’s what one BBC Worklife article called “career inertia.” The familiarity of a role, even one you no longer find joyful or rewarding, can feel safer than the unknown of a new one. And the very muscle of job searching itself—networking, pitching your value, sitting in an interview—becomes atrophied after years of disuse. The idea of having to re-enter the market just feels intimidating.
That’s why now, more than ever, people like “Kelly” have started to believe that they are truly stuck. But are they? Beyond the very real practical challenges, there’s the psychological one. Risk aversion. After two decades in one place, the known quantity of an unsatisfying job (or even one with no joy left at all) begins to outweigh the unknown benefits of a new direction. As the BBC piece points out, the fear of making the “wrong” choice is a powerful force.
The truth is that after 20 years, “Kelly” has not just been “doing a job.” She has been solving problems, managing projects, working with people, responding to change, training others, and becoming an expert in her field. Deep institutional knowledge and subject matter expertise, natural byproducts of long tenure, are highly valuable and highly portable.
Toss in the so-called “soft skills”: reliability, commitment, navigating office politics, conflict resolution, and attention to detail. All gold for any employer, in any industry.
But of course, this isn’t just a story for the over 55 crowd. I’ve seen the same question play out for those in their 40s, even 30s. The age shifts but the feeling remains the same.
Overcoming Career Inertia Starts with a Shift in Perspective
There is nothing intrinsically wrong with two decades of tenure in one job. On the contrary, there is great strength in consistency, adaptability, and staying power. What looks like “spending too much time in one place” to some is actually a record of showing up, navigating change, and consistently producing results. When you start to see your own history in that light, you stop apologizing for it. You start to lean into it as the strength it is.
Uncovering Your Skills: Not Just a Job, but A Trove of Value
In a world where resumes often boil down to job titles, your real value is in what those titles have represented. One helpful exercise is to create a “skill inventory.” Write down everything you’ve ever been responsible for. Big projects. Small projects. People you’ve trained. Crises you’ve averted. Important clients you’ve worked with. Then take out the skills that enabled those moments: strategic planning, budgeting, project management, people leadership, training, client management, negotiation, conflict resolution, and technical troubleshooting. The more you spell out, the more doors you can start to see.
There’s a real danger in thinking of a role as “just a job.” Because it never is. That’s where most of the disconnect is born: confusing how a title might look to someone outside an industry with what that title actually represents to someone inside it.
The Tools of the Trade: Interviewing and Networking Haven’t Changed
All it takes is one person who looked at your resume and said “no” for years to go by without ever touching your LinkedIn profile or resume. But the fact is that the basics of the job search haven’t really changed. A resume is still a record of your impact. A LinkedIn profile is still your story, in your own words. You are still expected to be able to spell out your value in plain English. And as long as you can learn and adapt to the very specific ways hiring happens today (the role of keywords, for example, or the importance of personalized outreach), most of the skills you need have been sitting right there in your back pocket the whole time.
Embrace the Long-Term View
The job search is a long-term play. But that doesn’t mean you have to dive in head first. Update one section of your resume this week. Reach out to one person next week. Send one cold email the week after that. Baby steps. But they’re steps. And when you start taking steps, inertia has no choice but to yield.
Final Thought on Making a Change and Career Inertia
I hope this is the first of many more practical pieces on navigating this space. But in the meantime, if you’ve found this helpful, know that you are not alone. And if you want to make a change but don’t know how or where to begin, the first step is the most important: deciding you are not stuck. You’ve got a toolbox full of skills, experiences, and stories that matter. It’s just a matter of using them in a new way. The question is, are you willing to do that?
If you are, I’d love to hear from you. Comment below with your thoughts on navigating career inertia—or where you are in your own process right now. Share this with someone you know who needs to read it. And if you’re hungry for more, make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss what comes next.
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