Experts Say These Are The 10 Career Mistakes You Need To AVOID In Your Working Life

Darragh Berry

The working world is a big bad place and whether you’re starting out or you are 20 years deep in the game, you’ll still want to take any bit of advice you’re given about having a successful career.

Business experts – who have consulted hundreds of successful business people over the years – have told Quora what they believe to be the ten biggest mistakes that people make in their working life.

They say that these mistakes could “cost you years of your life and could take thousands off your bank account”.

1. Listening to Your Family

Do what’s best for you, not your family.

2. Doing it JUST for the Money

Never take a job just for money because it WILL become stressful and not worth it and end up damaging your health and relationships in the end.

You need to like your job.

3. Doing it JUST for the Impact

On the flip side, you want a job that you like, pays well and gives you a high quality of life.

Don’t do something for cheap just because you love it.

4. Not Taking the Time to Understand Yourself

Described as “biggest mistake of all”. If you don’t know yourself as a working person, then you’ll never be able to make a wise career move.

“The first step in any great endeavor is self-knowledge. Understand yourself and your career decisions will all make sense.”

5. Not Standing Up for Yourself

If you believe you deserve a raise or promotion, say it. If you’re clearly better than you co-workers you need to stand up for yourself.

Know your worth and go get what you are worth.

6. Developing a Broad Focus

Become a master of your craft rather than a jack of all trades. If you want to be highly paid and highly sought after, then you need to become a master at what you do.

You can be grand at some other things but you need to excel at one.

7. Not Networking

You don’t know it but a friend, of a friend, of a friend could land you your dream job.

With the internet, you don’t even need to leave your room in order to connect with other working professionals.

Sometimes, it’s all about knowing the right people at the right time.

8. Not Developing Your Own Brand

“We live in a world where brands dominate, and if you are seen as an influencer you are going to be more desirable to work with.”

Build up your Twitter followers, build up your blog followers. Set up a website and promote the shit into it. Make yourself known.

9. Not Investing In Yourself

“You need to attend seminars, read books, hire a coach, and turn yourself into a powerhouse of productivity and performance.”

10. Thinking that Your Career is Everything

Once you clock off, try and leave your job at work. What matters the most is the people that you are surrounded by. Your career may seem like everything but it’s not the be-all-and-end-all.