Young people starting out in their careers often make plans that, over time, collide with the established norms of the workplace. Even after landing a promising job, many stay stuck in the same role for years while their colleagues rapidly climb the career ladder.
Why do seemingly identical people, working under similar conditions, end up with such different outcomes? What’s the secret to career success for young professionals? The answer is simple: make fewer career mistakes. AdmiGram.com breaks down the most common ones that hold people back.
What Youth Must Know About Work Before 30
Understand That There Are No Friends at Work
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Young people who get the “green light” as up-and-coming professionals are often placed in managerial positions early. That would be fine, except inexperience leads many new managers to treat their subordinates as friends. Sometimes, on entering a new team, people find themselves in an environment where a buddy-buddy atmosphere takes over. All of this gets in the way of effective work.
You need to learn professional objectivity. Where it’s genuinely necessary, you should critique others, hold your subordinates accountable, and even push back in debates with management. There are no friends at work — the sooner you realize this, the better off you’ll be. Otherwise, your subordinates will take advantage of you.
Separate Your Desires From Your Capabilities
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You need to clearly distinguish your desires and dreams from your real possibilities. Set your priorities for the short and long term. Sketch out a simple plan for the next quarter or six months, and you’ll see whether the goals you’ve set are actually achievable. After that time, you can look back and figure out why you didn’t reach the outcome you wanted.
If the fault lies entirely with you — laziness, a weak character, whatever it may be — there’s no need to despair. The important thing is that you’ve recognized it in time, instead of drifting along chasing something unattainable. Accept yourself for who you are and look for a different path to fulfillment. But if the problem isn’t you, don’t waste your time — look for a job where you can actually put your potential to use.
Learn to Work the Right Way
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For most people, working “the right way” is a lot like being a good child to their parents: showing up on time, listening to the boss, following corporate etiquette, and so on. Sticking to this code of conduct will make you a solid, dependable employee. But you can forget about the career heights you once dreamed of.
Working the right way, in the sense that matters, means proactively solving problems at work — for your own benefit, not just because you’re told to. Don’t just settle into the routine you’ve landed in. If you don’t want to be just another cog in the machine, learn to solve problems on your own instead of waiting for instructions from above. Sooner or later, you’ll get noticed. Worst case, you’ll walk away with experience that will serve you well at your next job, since there’s nothing more for you to gain where you are.
Learn to Delegate and Prioritize
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At work, you can’t keep every boss happy at once. But a higher-up boss will generally hand you more demanding challenges than someone lower down the chain. Learn to prioritize based on what matters most to the company as a whole, weighed against the problems that could land on your own plate.
If you get the chance to delegate authority or responsibilities, never fall into the trap of “only I can do this.” If that’s how you think, why do you even have people reporting to you? If you’re serious about your career, you won’t get anywhere without strategic thinking.
Learn to Talk Yourself Up
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It’s important not just to assess your own worth honestly, but also to be able to talk convincingly about your achievements and accomplishments. Employers frequently size up a candidate’s communication skills during the interview itself — so at the very least, learn how to present yourself well when you’re being hired.
It also pays to speak positively about your work, no matter how things are actually going — even when it’s genuinely rough. Often it’s an acquaintance or friend who ends up playing a decisive role in your career, by thinking of you at just the right moment. But they’re unlikely to recommend you for anything if all they remember is you complaining about how bad everything is.
image on top: Tai’s Captures / Unsplash
