Six Deadly Mistakes To Avoid in Your Career

Aggressive boss scolding upset employees
Microfinance Jobs
Advice Apr 8, 2022 0

Having to maintain a career is no easy feat. Mistakes happen. Human error is unavoidable. But what can change is our approach in dealing with and stopping some common but deadly career mistakes from happening. We can look at the basic patterns of unhealthy work life and work to decrease the frequency of such mistakes.

Keeping that in mind, MicrofinanceJobs.net is here to talk about 6 deadly mistakes to avoid in your career, leading to much bearable work life.

Being a pessimistic person in your team

You are perceived as the energy you put out in front of others. If it’s positive, you will automatically be wanted to be around. But if it’s negative, you will become hard to work with, slowly losing yourself in a pool of pessimism and mistakes. This can, in effect, clearly affect your career. Your attitude towards your job, your profession, in general, and your personality are extremely important factors for you to land a job and continue to keep it; maintaining your career.

Don’t unnecessarily talk negatively about your co-workers behind their backs, don’t be overly critical, and don’t be a source of constant complaints and inconveniences. If something doesn’t go as planned, do not seek refuge in cribbing about it. Be a professional, and work hard to improve your work; all while being a comfortable force to work with.

Absence of personal goals in a career

Concentrating solely on company deadlines without any actual goals and ambitions in mind does little for your personal and career growth. If you often find yourself directionless, it will ultimately lead to your career losing all sense of direction as well. While it’s good to be a hardworking individual contributing to the success of the company, acquiring that as your sole identity does not always become an asset to your career. In the long run, when you have exhausted your mind and body, you find yourself being more ambitionless, deeming your mindless labour a mistake.

Remember to constantly work on yourself, enhance your expertise, and create ambitions for your own personal and professional growth together. When you concentrate on all aspects of your life, you provide support to all aspects of your life by letting them support each other, including your career.

Jumping from one job to another

While we may think that going for a variety of jobs and constantly switching between them adds to our resume and improves our career graph and prospects, it’s important to note that that can easily be seen as unprofessional and a sign of lack of commitment. Companies want employees who stay. If your resume shows you don’t, they will prevent the risk that arises from hiring you. And then what? It shall impact the same career that you had been trying to build by frequently jumping from one job to another. This act also suggests that you’re indecisive, unreliable, and lack a clear vision; signs that are not associated with a good employee. Companies notice this while studying your resume, so it’s always a good idea to never give them the chance of pointing it out in the first place. How? By choosing the right opportunities, and staying with them.

Quality is better than quantity. Choose places of work that rightfully suit your career, help it grow, and give it the chance to do the same. If you don’t stay with it long enough, you are not letting it give you the lessons that are beneficial to your career.

Study the job before applying. Choose. Stay. And Trust.

Lack of belief in yourself

Confidence takes you to places that you couldn’t otherwise reach. So learn to build it over time. Do not give in to intimidation. Trust yourself and your abilities, capabilities, and strengths. When you lack confidence and belief in yourself, others will have a harder time trusting you too. You need to start showing what your capabilities are by being completely honest and sure about your abilities, and how they can help contribute to the company and the clients you work with. When you do that by producing results, you are more likely to be identified as a credible and trustworthy employee.

Moreover, your relationship with your co-workers, as well as with clients/customers, depends on how you perceive and treat yourself. So don’t be too hard on yourself. Hang in there, and avoid the mistakes of coming off as an incompetent person with insecurities.

Another instance where your lack of confidence can prove to be deadly in your career is when it’s time to grab the opportunities your company provides. For example, it’s time for appraisal/promotions and you could have the right requirements to be considered for a higher role with higher compensation, but you’re too self-degrading to believe in yourself; failing to put a word in, applying for the opportunity and/or standing up for your self, ultimately losing your chances of success at a career you work so hard to build.

We advise you to work on this characteristic, for it’s an extremely bad sign when it comes to one’s career. Start by concentrating on what you’re good at, and build your confidence thereon.

Lack of networking

Trying to build a network of connections doesn’t simply stop after your job search is completed and you’ve secured the job you wished for. Networking is an investment, and an investment can help you benefit from it in the long run. But when you pay no attention to it, it starts depreciating, losing its value that would otherwise have proved to be beneficial to you. So what do you do? You continue to invest and take care of it. Networking is an important part of a professional’s life. It helps your career sort the right opportunities and devises an action plan in case things don’t work out in your present job. When reliable, it can be a credible source of support that you can fall back on. And what’s better than knowing that you have a solid network of options that you have built for yourself? That you can utilise those resources during hard times? Exactly. So it’s always better to meet new people in professional circles, sustain your networks, and continue your connections for the future.

Learn to realise what’s important to you and your career early on, prioritise and pay attention to investing in your relationships. It would be a mistake not to.

Losing focus on your skills

Your set of skills is something that always stays beside you, having the ability to grow indefinitely and becoming more of an asset as time goes on. This is why it’s so important to maintain your focus on constantly polishing your skills. It’s understandable that when you land your job and spend quite some time in the company, you forget about these things. About spending time on the same factors of success the way you did before getting the job while preparing yourself during the job search.

As technology progresses with time, skills can easily become outdated. It’s always a better idea to keep an eye out on the latest happenings in the industry, understanding their ways and how your skills can fit in them, highlighting what you’re good at and how your role in the company cannot be easily replaced. You can do so by constantly reaching out to acquire more knowledge by learning and seeking new skills to add to your resume. Avoid making the mistake of forgetting about the importance of skills once you adjust to a company. As your skills constantly grow and adapt to the world, you too become more proficient to do the same.

Continue to grow your career along with your skills.

Was that helpful? We, at MicrofinanceJobs.net, hope we could bring some more awareness on mistakes that can often prove to be deadly to your career!

We referred to insights from these sources: 1, 2, 3.

If you have any questions or thoughts to share on the topic, comment below! Let us know if you have any suggestions of your own!

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