During our path to success in our professional lives, we learn a lot from our mistakes and we get a lot of tips and advices from professionals we work with. Although we work with experienced colleagues and successful professionals, it doesn’t mean that we have to listen and follow all of the tips they give us about our career paths.
It doesn’t mean that you don’t trust whoever gave that advice but you have to take it with a grain of salt as it may work well for the others but it may end up holding you back if you do it. Below is a couple more advice you should analyse first before considering:
Only go for your dream job – usually given to newly graduates and people searching for a new position. People would mostly tell them that they can be anyone they want to be as long as they work hard and persevere. Of course that is true but the part about ONLY going for their dream job is a little bit unclear. You have to open up your options and properly plan your way in getting a position you want. Newly graduates should have considered openings that will target their skills and they should research about the company well. The perfect jobs maybe with the other company but you never know what kind of opportunities will pass you by if you ignore them or if you wait for that company to hire you. Make the most of what you have and learn to be the best employee first before aiming for the best position. Doing the things you love or doing your passion is one of the things that can make you happy in a job but it doesn’t always happen in an instant as it may include trying new things out (even including new employers), training and learning to be good in your passion, getting more responsibilities in your job, and it may even include you being unhappy and too tired sometimes.
Loyalty to the company can get you more benefits – although it is quite true and it may even help you in your resume as it will signal other employers that you are loyal and stable, staying in a position only for that very reason may again make you miss a lot more opportunities and may even make you more miserable. Do not however practice the opposite which is staying with a company only for a couple of months then moving on to another as they have other better benefits as this will only make you look like a job jumper. If during your stay with the company after a year or two you have found another opportunity that you think is something that you can do and something that can help you better, don’t be afraid to take the chance but study and plan it well.
You can reach the same position as mine in the same number of years I got it – people will tell you how long it took them before they became managers or business owners etc., but it doesn’t mean you have to wait that long too or wait for other people ahead in line of you before you get to where they are at now. Workers may have the same level at some point but it doesn’t mean that they have the same output. Somebody who has been working in the company for 3 years doesn’t mean he is more qualified for a top position versus someone who has only been there for a year. If you work hard, of course, you will surely get benefits including the right recognition and promotion. Of course sometimes working hard is not enough as other people in your company is busy to notice what you have done so be sure to keep track of all your achievement and when the right time comes, mention all of them – probably during your annual review if you have it.
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