One career mistake is all it takes to have a damaging impact on your professional ambitions.
Avoiding these mistakes, while keeping your focus and passion for your work, will help you go much further in your career, while ensuring you get enjoyment out of your day-to-day working life.
Our ten most common career mistakes to avoid are:
1. You are coasting
When you have been doing the same role for some time you begin feeling comfortable and can often stop pushing yourself. However, a little bit of effort can go a long way. Try asking for more responsibility from your boss or take on different challenges to keep yourself motivated.
2. You aren’t seeing the bigger picture
Understanding what the business wants to achieve is essential to identifying your place within the business, how you fit in and how your achievements contribute to its overall success. Developing a broader understanding and appreciation of your organisation’s ultimate goals will provide you with a deeper sense of purpose and passion for what you do, and ultimately it will make you more successful.
3. You are burning bridges
The business world can be a small place and reputation is everything. Relationships, networking and word of mouth recommendations are incredibly important in business and career progression. Burn your bridges and you may find that your reputation precedes you next time you’re looking for a new job.
4. You are putting your career before your life
In order to be truly successful in your career you must also enjoy it. Getting that work-life balance right will help you toward this and will also put things in perspective. Though work is important, without a bit of balance in your life you won’t feel truly happy, and if you don’t feel happy or healthy, you’re unlikely to fulfill your career potential.
5. You are blurring the line between personal and professional
Over time you will naturally build relationships at your place of work. However, keeping these relationships strictly professional while in the workplace is a must.
6. You always think the grass is greener
Before you move roles you must ask yourself why you are doing it. After all, simply believing that somewhere else is better than your current place of work could leave you disappointed. The grass isn’t sometimes greener and feeling out of sorts with your current role will only increase the problem. You need to make sure that you are moving for the right reasons before you begin to search for a new role.
7. You are allowing your skills to become out of date
Keeping up with technology is essential to keeping your skill base relevant. In order to continue your personal development being willing to adapt and embrace is a must. Better yourself by taking on additional courses or qualifications.
8. You didn’t trust your gut
After working in an industry for some time you begin to develop a deep understanding of that business, so let your experience drive your instincts. Try to trust your intuition when it comes to important business decisions.
9. You aren’t focusing on projects which will drive the most value
It is important to make sure you are concentrating on the right projects and maximising your time, instead of the smaller tasks which may not be adding as much value. Making an impact at work will only increase your motivation to succeed within your role. Try to focus on the projects that will drive your company forward, bring in revenue and help the business grow.
10. You don’t believe in yourself
Self-doubt can be dangerous – if you don’t believe in yourself your colleagues won’t either. It is important to project confidence and sound assured in the decisions you make. Try to build your confidence by thinking back to all those things you have achieved in your career.