HispanicBusiness

Many minorities work hard at a company for five to seven years and then hit a brick wall. They enter the company with unbridled enthusiasm and optimism, strive to succeed, but then see their majority counterparts move up while they stay stuck in the same job. Often in that fifth to seventh year, frustrations set in.

Why is my colleague who doesn't seem any more effective or capable than I am advancing while I'm not?

Ken Roldan, co-author of "Minority Rules: Turn Your Ethnicity into a Competitive Edge," and a managing partner at Battalia Winston, a global executive search firm, calls this "the five-to-seven-year syndrome." Many minority employees face a crossroads at that period. Do you stay in the same job because it offers security and face stagnation? Do you extricate yourself from the situation by making a move?

Some minorities depart corporate life and go into consulting to avoid having to face corporate politics and the old boy's network. Other people launch a franchise or small business where hard work will get rewarded.

Here are some tips about what to do when facing the "five-to-seven year syndrome":

#1 Perform a self-diagnostic
You're in marketing, advertising or public relations at a large firm and have been doing the same job for five years. Where do you want to be in five years? Do you want to be a vice president at the firm, or would you prefer to be in business on your own? If you possess an entrepreneurial streak, do you have enough contacts in the marketplace that can generate business and build a client base? Do you have enough capital to sustain the business while you're getting it off the ground?

If you're having a hard time answering these questions, consider hiring a professional coach. Coaches can be affordable, hired on a short-term basis, and can offer insight into the steps you need to take to make your next move.

#2 Build a name for yourself
Many minorities don't like calling attention to themselves. They work hard, help the team, but do so in an understated, unheralded way, and yet often wonder why no one recognizes them.

You can't have it both ways. One way to extricate yourself from the five-to-seven year stalemate is do something noteworthy or audacious. Take a risk. Join a networking group. Speak at a conference. Go to the conference with the expressed purpose of giving out your business card and finding your next job. Volunteer for a task force that encourages work with another division. Work on a new product or market a new item that will help differentiate you from your competitors.

In short, make a name for yourself.

#3 We're all free agents
Remember those gold watches companies bestow on employees celebrating their 25th year on the job. Few, if any, employees these days will ever get a gold watch. Just like baseball players move from the Chicago Cubs to the Detroit Tigers for higher pay, workers are free agents who move from Citigroup to J.P. Morgan Chase to Merrill Lynch and sometimes back to Citigroup.

Long-term security, as everyone knows, is an illusion when outsourcing, rightsizing and downsizing predominate. Hence, look for other opportunities. If your boss and senior management team don't consider you an all-star, find another company that provides a better fit and recognizes your strengths.

#4 Look for an opportunity to shine
In "Minority Rules," I interviewed Carlos Linares, who had a secure job in HR at AT&T, but transferred out of HR in 1997 to become a sales director for AT&T in Latin America. Why leave a job that offered stability? He knew that if he succeeded in sales it could make his career and lead him to a more senior level.

Indeed, Linares contributed to boosting Lucent Technologies' (after the merger with AT&T) sales from $185 million to $1 billion. In 1999 he was named a senior manager. "Promotion was based on performance," he said. Had he stayed in HR, he likely would not have advanced so quickly.

#5 Consider mobility
Many minorities stay in the same job because they're afraid to make a change. Their relatives and friends are in Miami, New York or Chicago, and they're reluctant to embark on their own without their security blanket. If you want to avoid the five-to-seven year crunch, you may need to consider relocating. If an opportunity arises in another city, consider taking it to boost your career.