Finding your dream career is a lifelong journey. Since it has most likely taken you years to reach this point, whether it’s going to school or gaining first-hand experience in your field, keeping a career, not committing career mistakes and being successful is important to most people.
There are many career mistakes that you may be making, and today I will tell you about what you may be doing to sabotage your career and your future job prospects.
1. You are overestimating oneself as a career mistake, which affects the quality of your work.
Saying yes to extra projects can be a great thing. It shows your manager that you want to help the organization out further and are fine with taking on the extra work. However, if you take on too much work, or you are not even qualified to do the work that you took on, then this is not a good thing for you or your organization. You should only realistically accept work that you know you can complete with high quality so that you are not making any career mistakes.
2. You are not taking any extra work, which reflects negatively on you.
Being a part of a company most likely means that you are a part of a team. If you never say “yes” to taking on another project or helping someone out, this can make others think negatively of you, and make them think that you are only there for yourself. If you only take the easy work, then others may think you are not capable of doing anything else.
3. You are not doing enough research.
Some jobs require a lot of research to be done when completing an assignment. If you complete an assignment and do less research than is required, then you are really harming the quality of your work. This might imply to others that you are lazy and that you do not care about your career.
4. You are not seeing the long-term goal of your work, which may tell others that you are selfish.
Seeing the long-term goal of your work is very important: You should understand what you are doing, and how it affects both you, your company, and your other coworkers. Completing work just for the short-term may show to others that you are selfish and do not care about the direction of the company.
5. You only care about money, but should there be some passion involved as well?
Another career mistake that you may be making is only caring about money. I am a firm believer that you should care about your job at least a little bit. Having passion in your career can really help you get places and move up the career ladder.
6. You are not professional in social media, which reflects on you and your company.
When was the last time that you really went through your social media and deleted pictures or words that might reflect badly on yourself? Well, you should have already done this. If an employer finds something that they are not pleased with, you may lose your job, or never even get the job you’ve applied for. You want to always conduct yourself professionally online, as you never know who may find information about you.
7. You are not networking, which can affect your career both now, and later.
Networking is very important. You can find lifelong contacts that can help you in your career now, or your career down the line and in the future. Networking can also help you find your next position, as you never know when a contact will come in handy.
8. You do not care about others, which can bite you later on.
Not caring about others applies to many areas of your career. If you leave your job with no notice, this can hurt you in that you can never apply at the same company again, and it may affect future job prospects because others in the industry may hear about what you did. Also, if you are rude to your coworkers, this will lead to others not wanting to work with you because of your personality and how you work.
9. You are not dressing the part, which might show that you are unprofessional.
Having a career most likely means that you need to dress a certain way. Different industries and different companies have different dress codes, and you should learn what they are. Not dressing the part can show that you are not a good match for the company.
10. You are not prepared for interviews.
The first major step towards getting your first position in your desired career is to be successful with interviewing. However, if you don’t prepare for interviews, this can really hurt you in that you may never get the best first step in your career. You should prepare for interviews, practice possible interview questions, spruce up your resume, have a reference list, supply cover letters and more.
What career mistakes are you making?
