Building a career is a long and challenging process that requires a lot of thought, planning, time, and effort. That is why it can be extremely frustrating to end up not meeting your career goals even though you may think you’ve done everything possible. Very often the reason for a failing career is one or several mistakes you’ve made somewhere along the way. Here are the most common career mistakes and tips for avoiding them.
Not building relationships
In an ideal world a successful career would only depend on your skills and diligent attitude towards work. In reality, however, personal relationships often matter as much as work factors, which is why you shouldn’t ignore the relationship aspect of your career. While working in an office, you’re surrounded by professionals, and communicating with them on a daily basis can help you advance in your career in a number of ways: they can give you the help you need, they can support you in a conflict with the supervisors, and they can be simply fun to spend time with during breaks or corporate events.
Not having patience
Ambitious yet impatient workers can be easily spotted already on their first day at the new job: they try their hardest to make a good impression and make their boss notice them. Impatient career-oriented people also tend to jump between jobs, believing that the grass is greener on the other side. However, this behaviour usually doesn’t bring positive results, as, no matter which field you work in and how much you bring to the table, it always takes some time to get noticed. If you switch jobs too often or try too hard to show off your skills, you simply ruin your chances of advancing in your career.
Not working on your image
As we’ve already established, career advancement depends on many factors besides your work capabilities, and image is one of the essential components of success in a workplace. Start with your look: whether your company requires workers to follow a dress-code, or you’re free to choose your own clothes, your goal is to look presentable and polished at all times. Your look doesn’t just include clothes, as hair and makeup are very important as well. Your image also includes your attitude towards work and other people, your manner of speech, whether you smile often, and whether you seem energized and confident while working.
Not learning fast
It’s no secret that technology progresses so fast that innovations from five years ago may seem outdated in 2016. Workplace environment is one of the places that need to adapt to changes very quickly, and if there are some workers who can’t learn the new technology fast enough, their career may soon become jeopardized. No matter if your company has started to hold online conferences, introduced new software, or requires everyone to communicate via a corporate chat app, your job is to learn how to use these new tools quickly and with maximum efficiency.
Not enjoying your life
It doesn’t matter how valuable your career is to you, the work-life balance is an essential component of happiness and self-esteem. Getting too involved with your career and ignoring other parts of your life may give you the brief satisfaction you’re looking for, but sooner or later you will feel that something is missing. Don’t wait until your work-life balance is completely destroyed – learn to enjoy life while working on your career, and you’re guaranteed to stay fulfilled, happy, and healthy.
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