The Best Career Advice You’ve Probably Never Received
These days it seems like EVERYONE has an opinion about what you should be doing in your career.
Attend X conference.
Get X certification.
Listen to X podcast.
Buy X course.
Make sure to work for X amount of years before you launch a consulting business.
The absolute truth is: There is a lot of noise out there!!
….and it might be challenging to pick out which voice should you listen to?
Most importantly, I recognize there are A LOT of experts out there who have founded their whole career on telling people what to do. But I also realize that there are several gaps in the common advice given out.
While other people’s opinions of what is best for you are not facts, weeding out what’s good advice and what isn’t can help you learn from other people’s experiences and make you confident in your next career steps.
That’s why I wanted to share the best career advice I've received and hopefully can be a guiding tool for you to consider when thinking about your next career moves.
THE TOP FIVE CAREER TIPS YOU NEED TO HEAR:
1. Stay Focused On Your Strengths! So often I jump on calls with interview prep clients and they immediately start the conversation talking about their weaknesses or downfalls in their career. I see this as a major red flag because, the truth is, interviewers want to know more about YOU and what benefits you may bring into a new organization. Unless asked, we do not need to hear about your negative experiences or weaknesses. Moreover, once you take the time to analyze your strengths (Take a Strength Finder quiz and ask your trusted peers what you are good at!) and weaknesses, you can decide what is worth your time to improve upon. Everything else? Just say NO to! Seriously, work does NOT have to be soooo stressful. So many of us focus on the things we are bad at or weak at, when the reality is it’s impossible to be good at everything! Cut that negativity out of your life and collaborate with someone whose profession is focused on handling the things that you find difficult.
2. It is okay to totally suck at something - take a risk! Everyone is focused on settling into their career thinking that they will only ever do ONE thing and that they should get there ASAP. In reality, most of us will have multiple career changes throughout our lives. So, test the waters in different industries! It is okay to take a 1099, contract, or temp position to learn new skills. As long as you are taking on new opportunities that will provide you more value, you can take risks! If you have a growth mindset, there’s no such thing as failure – only experiences that help you learn, grow, and become more valuable as a professional.
3. Being too busy for making yourself your #1 priority is not a badge of honor. Time and time again I hear this “I am just too busy to carve out space for myself.” If you do not make yourself a priority, by default you will always be less important. The truth is: Life does not always have to be so difficult to manage. If you are happy living your best life, and you’re happy in your personal career, IT IS OKAY TO JUST BE IN THE MOMENT. By allowing yourself to not be completely booked & busy all the time, you’ll be minimizing your risk of burnout. Not always having to burn the candle on both ends to feel successful is totally fine and allows for more creative space & opportunity to reflect on what is most important to you.
4. Contribute to your network before you NEED your network. I’ve kinda always knew that networking was a valuable tool. I remember teachers and mentors telling me to lean on my network for support, however, now more than ever, I see that nurturing your network is ESSENTIAL to career longevity. You should *always* (maybe weekly or monthly!) be contributing to your community, even if it’s through a social network like LinkedIn or Instagram. Creating a community of people who you trust and who trust you in return is VITAL in career success. Over time, your network can vouch for you and be the support system you need to grow.
5. Define what success means for yourself. Creating a vision of what success means to you will allow you to make critical decisions when opportunities arise. You will no longer struggle with saying YES or NO to new experiences because you will innately understand if these new opportunities will get you closer (or further away) to your idea of success. Time is your #1 resource, how you use it will determine how successful you become. Above all else, defining what success means for you will keep you on the right path to success and happiness – and never quit working for that!
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