When you’re at the beginning of your career, it’s easy to get into trouble. We decided to protect you from the fatal mistakes of youth and gathered 7 things you shouldn’t do if you want to create a reliable career springboard for yourself at a young age.
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Doing nothing until you graduate
A prestigious university diploma is not the most notable line on the resume, and its high potential is generally difficult to demonstrate on paper. In real business, experience is the most important thing. Very often many students start with freelancing, helping to write college essay or notes for a certain lecture and gain the necessary experience for further work that interests them. Career mistake number one is to put off gaining experience and hope that you find a great job with only theoretical training under your belt. The truth is that in the scramble for a good position, the winner will be a seasoned professional with a track record of accomplished projects under his belt. Or your classmate, who almost did not fail all the exams, after couples disappeared on internships, and wrote about it on the resume. So start preparing your sledges from the very junior year, look for internships, take part in case-championships, student projects at your university. Look for opportunities to get real work experience and not to fall into the 92% of students who can not get a good job because of its absence.
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Make career decisions based on money alone
Young professionals often set their sights on earning more while neglecting other important factors. Few people want to work “for food,” but if you’re at the beginning of your career path, it pays to bet on other things. Yes, we all have financial needs, but a career is a long game. A career strategy and a long calculation is exactly the kind of investment that will more than pay for itself in the future. And don’t equate happiness with money. Recall the words of Steve Jobs, the founder of the most expensive company in the world: “Work will take up a lot of space in your life, and therefore the only way to be truly satisfied with life is to do what you think is great. And the only way to do a great thing is to love what you do.” In general, follow your heart, not your big paycheck, and money will become a nice addition to your life’s work.
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Ignore the money issue.
If the “work experience” line is blank for now, it’s easy to fall into the other extreme. Sometimes young professionals want a job so badly that they don’t even mention money at all. “What a blessing to have been invited to an interview!” – thinks the student of yesterday and is afraid to say the word “salary.” Before the interview, do not forget to study how much competing companies offer for the same position, and during the meeting with the potential employer do not hesitate to ask about salary, bonuses, bonuses and other conditions. It is important to find out about all the terms and conditions while you are ashore so you won’t be disappointed. Remember: the company needs you just as much as you do.
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Go with the flow
When you’re at the beginning of your career and life path, not knowing what you want is quite normal. More than 35% of college graduates land a job that has nothing to do with their degree. One of the key challenges of choosing when we’re young is that we don’t know what we’re choosing and often flounder between different career scenarios. But it is having a goal that determines not only success, but happiness as well. Studies show that the happiest people in the world are those with a clear goal. That’s why it’s so important to learn how to set them while still a student and even now try to understand what you really want.
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Forgetting that there is a world outside of work
It is now fashionable to be a workaholic. Many young careerists believe that the eight-hour day – for the weak, and sacrifice the weekend for work tasks. The saddest part is when no one appreciates your 24/7 work, and the demands on those who are willing to literally live at work never wane. Don’t forget – unreasonable workloads make us nervous and just plain miserable. In addition, in the end, this attitude towards yourself will not only lead to health problems, but also lead to a career dead end – spending your whole life at work, you will stop developing. Career expert Bernard Marr, in his article on LinkedIn, gives this example for hardcore workaholics: “Just imagine the person who on his deathbed says, ‘Damn it, I should have spent more time at work!
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Changing jobs too often
A more interesting prospect looms on the horizon, and you run to throw an application on your boss’s desk? Millennials love bouncing from one job to another. Studies show that today’s graduates will have changed a dozen or more jobs by the time they’re 30. There’s nothing wrong with pursuing different careers and new avenues of advancement, especially if you’re young. However, you should still concentrate on your career goal and weigh each job and layoff well. First, because rash job-hopping can send your resume to the recruiter’s basket marked “frequent job changes.” Second, an employee who has worked at the same organization for a long time has a better chance of becoming an executive. According to a study recently published by Harvard Business Review, a commitment to one company increases your chances of taking a top executive’s chair. After analyzing the career paths of all Fortune 500 CEOs, the researchers found that CEOs were more likely to become CEOs who had been with the firm for 15 years or more.
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Take other people’s advice seriously
While you’re young, everyone is out to teach you about life (yes, that includes us). Let’s be sincere with each other. The most honest career advice is this: listen, analyze, take it in stride, and do things your own way. Starting a career is the best time to take risks, break the rules, try and make mistakes. The vast majority of those same Forbes 500 bigwigs started their careers in very different times, in different economic and technological conditions, and therefore their secret to success may not be relevant today. On the other hand, many of them reached their goal precisely because they once did not listen to someone else’s very sound advice.
