A generation of workers can't get ahead - because aging boomers above them won't budge. Here's how to break through the gray ceiling.
(Fortune Magazine) -- Jon Ciampi had always thought of himself as a rising star. A portfolio analyst for Wells Fargo in San Francisco, he had a solid job at a big company, pulled down an enviable salary, and scored top marks on his performance reviews.
Sure, he was stuck doing some grunt work, and, yeah, working till after midnight wasn't unusual. But he was only 29! He was doing everything his bosses asked him to! How long could it be before he'd be running the place?
 | | Jon Ciampi, 33, VP of Marketing, SumTotal Systems, Mountain View, Calif. His take: "If you want to get a bigger job, you have to go where the growth is." | |
 | | Ngina Mclean, 31, Systems Engineering Manager, Lockheed Martin, Greenbelt, MD. Her take: If you find an employer that puts an "emphasis on learning," stay put. | |
 | | Kurt Knackstedt, 34, Senior Director, Worldwide Travel, Cendant, London. His take: Pull up stakes for an overseas job - and convince your employer that this "isn't just a notch in your belt." | |
 | | Ryan Bristol and Brett Voris, founders of PropPoint.com, Santa Monica. Their take: Ditch the corporate ladder entirely and "get away from all the corporate politics," says Voris. | |
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Then he started doing the math. The head of his division was 50, easily a decade or more away from retirement. The six managers who reported to the division head were all in their mid-40s and had settled into their jobs for the long haul.
Below them was Ciampi's boss: an ambitious thirtysomething MBA who, even by Ciampi's standards, put in incredible hours. But even though he and his boss were killing themselves, neither seemed to be on a promotion track. There was simply nowhere to promote them to.
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