10 Costly Career Mistakes To Avoid

Hi everyone, thank you for coming back to my blog. I hope you found my last blog interesting and useful, where I covered ‘6 Ways To Think Like A Billionaire’.

In today’s blog, I am going to cover something a bit different to what you folks are used to, but I feel it is important, especially to the younger readers amongst you who are at the start of their exciting journey into the world of work. This is because it will stop you youngsters making huge careers mistakes which could set you back a many years. Those setbacks could be costly, and could ultimately hinder your journey to financial success.

Now, your mum or dad would’ve told you it’s okay to make mistakes, but that’s not always true. Sometimes success is more dependent on making fewer mistakes, rather than doing something spectacular. Mistakes can matter, and they can matter a lot.

Did you know that the 200th best tennis player wins about 49% of the points they play? What percentage of points does the number one player in the world win? 53%. The difference between barely scraping by and being the best in the world is making 4% fewer mistakes, at least in tennis.

Career mistakes can be just as costly, because there’s a big difference between losing a job and being promoted.

For getting the most of your career and having the best career experience, ensure that you avoid making these costly career mistakes:

1. Failing to make your boss look good

Whether you like your boss or not, they potentially have a lot of control over your future. Making your boss look good is positive for your future and will only boost your future prospects. Making them look bad doesn’t improve your future prospects at all, in fact, it does the opposite.

Consider how your words, actions, and decisions impact your boss.

2. Failing to network

It’s important to get to know the people in your company and your industry. Many jobs are never posted and instead they’re simply offered to people. You could be missing out on some great opportunities by keeping to yourself instead of networking.

For introverts, like myself (you would never have thought right?!), it can be hard to network because of our quiet, ‘keep to ourselves’ nature, but once you start doing it a couple of times, it will become second nature and your network will grow without you realising it.

If you ever need a new job, your network can be invaluable.

3. Poor wardrobe decisions

Always dress the part, especially when interviewing for a new position, whether that’s an internal or external position. Dress for your position or even better, the position one level above yours.

Dressing somewhat like your boss is generally a good idea because people will take you more serious. If you’re underdressed, people will assume that you’re not professional enough and won’t take seriously, which could have a massive impact on your career, maybe not today, but sometime in the future.

4. Failing to improve

Since you’re going to the same place each day and doing the same things over and over, it only makes sense that you’d improve over time.

Do your best to become an expert at your job. Learn everything you can and do the best job you can.

5. Ignoring warning signs

Is your industry being replaced by new technology? Is it clear that your boss has it out for you? Few people are fired by complete surprise because there are usually warning signs, even if they are very subtle. Get out while the getting is good.

6. Being unreliable

To avoid this mistake, just be reliable, it’s as simple as that. Meet your deadlines, turn your assignments in on time, turn up to meetings prepared and on time and do what you say you’re going to do.

In addition to this, help your team when they need help or are struggling with their own workloads. This will be noticed by your boss and team members, which will put you in good stead for any upcoming bonuses or promotions.

7. Gossiping

As a general rule, it’s not smart to talk about others (even though there is a massive temptation to sometimes do so). However, negative comments often come back to haunt you at a later time. Plus, much of what you hear around the ‘water cooler’ is often false or inaccurate anyway.

8. Arriving late and leaving early

Be on time, as mentioned above, this goes back to being reliable. Ensure that you put in the required number of hours in each and every day you are at work. You don’t want to be known as the person who is lazy and doesn’t pull their own weight.

9. Staying at a job you dislike

If you dislike your job, have enough respect for yourself to look for another one! It’s hard to do something you don’t like well and it’s also hard to hide the fact that you don’t like your job. Do yourself a favour and find a company and position that you enjoy because when you do, you will thrive and get much further in your career.

10. Chasing money

We all work to earn money, but money isn’t the only consideration. Do you like the company, the industry, your boss, and your colleagues? Do you like the work-life balance? How much flexibility do you get to work your own hours around your other commitments in life? How are the benefits? Do you get company stock options? Do you get a high enough percentage pension contribution? Do you get 25 days or more annual leave on top of public holidays? Do you get maternity/paternity leave?

As you can see, all these things should play a part in choosing jobs throughout your career, because there’s more to a job than just making money.

Whether you are starting your career or are mid-way through your career, if you are doing any of these costly mistake, STOP NOW!

Be better and start caring about your career, because the more you care about your career, the easier and quicker it will be for you to gain financial success.

Until next time, stay safe and please share this blog with anyone who might find it useful. Thank you.

***On a side note, if you’re interested in starting a side hustle or making passive income, I highly recommend this 30 day course to get you started — One Funnel Away Challenge. It’s one of the best investments I’ve made to date and I can’t recommend it enough, so go check it out.***