Lower Level Positions: The Top 4 Things To Know Before You Accept

It’s not very hard to come to the assumption that by taking a lower-level job, you are stopping your career dead in its tracks. But you really need to know that this is not the case and there is actually a lot you can gain from making such a decision.

Sometimes in your career you need to take a step back before you can take a step forwards, and with that there are a number of reasons why taking a lower position makes sense.

Career Changers

A large portion of the people changing careers will be faced with the need to start at the beginning as an entry level worker. If you’re making a massive career change, like going from nursing to accounting, you need to know that opportunity will not just hit you in the face. Instead you will need to develop your skills and knowledge in order to climb to the top.

Of course having transferable skills will aid you in gaining an above entry level position.

Field of practice changers

There are a lot of people who decided they will stay in their profession, but direct their attention to another internal field, for example starting your career by writing for a business newspaper, but deciding to switch to a lifestyle magazine. However this is not always possible or easy because you still need the suitable knowledge. The approaches taken within your profession may actually be different between two fields.

Job changers

A job changer is someone who wants to change the type of company they work for as every type of organisation is different, from non-profit, to corporate, to agency, to in-house.

So even if you take a lower position, the responsibilities could vary widely depending on where you are.

For example, you might go from an agency to an in-house lower-level job. Technically you’re starting in a lower position, but you will likely end up with skills and experiences far more advanced than what you already have.

The (Extended) Unemployed Candidate

Due to a somewhat difficult economy there are now a large number of unemployed people floating around, who are educated and qualified for a number of positions. You’re wondering why these people have yet to find work, it’s simply because there are more qualified people than there are job vacancies.

In this case you may find yourself making the decision to take a lower-level position in order to:

1.   Bring home a paycheck

2.   Keep yourself relevant (if you’ve been unemployed for a long time it creates a setback as your skills and knowledge may no longer be relevant to your chosen market).

3.   Help yourself find a better job later on (employers tend to prefer people who are already employed).

Regardless of your situation there are some important questions that you should be asking yourself in order to help yourself decide whether or not taking a lower-level position is right for you.

1.   Does this job fit into my long-term goal? Will it get me where I want to be later on?

2.   If I take this position, will I be able to explain to a new potential employer how my experience has helped me to grow and become prepared for this new position?

3.   Do I think that I can perform in such a way in this role that I can realistically advance within this company?

4.   Will I be happy in this position? A lot of people spend a lot of time working so it is important to be happy doing it.

If the answer to a lot of those questions was yes, then making the decision to take a lower level position can be a very rational move that will help you build your career.

However, after taking this position to need to keep in your mind the reasons why you took it. Try not to forget that this is supposed to be a long-term career plan, not a short one.