Career Advice That You Might Not Hear Enough

When it comes to career development, there’s certainly no shortage of advice available. From lectures and podcasts to videos and books, whichever way you prefer to absorb new information, you will find insightful and helpful suggestions to guide your career in the direction you want.

You’re also bound to find a lot of contradictory information and, depending on who you listen to, the wrong way to chase down a promotion or negotiate a salary can be the right way according to someone else. Often, the right approach can have more to do with your personality and the personality types of the people you’re dealing with, and lumping strategies into either ‘good’ or ‘bad’ is too reductionist to be helpful.

That’s why it’s essential that you keep an open mind and critically evaluate advice before applying it. In that spirit, here’s some career advice articles and tips that you might not hear enough.

Don’t Let Your Passions Die

For a great many of us, our careers are not in the same field as our passions, and there was likely a time when you realized you had to put the guitar down and lay to rest your dream of becoming a rock star in favor of a stable and more traditional career. One that would reward your commitment with financial security for you and your family.

You may well look back at those days when your passions were focal points in your life with a nostalgic and melancholic longing for what once was. The fact of the matter is, whether we’re good at what we love or not, we still get great satisfaction out of it, and people with creative outlets have a higher quality of life. Stress levels are reduced, emotions are processed and expressed, and it can have profound effects on our well-being. Of course, happier people enjoy greater career success, so even though you may not be performing on the stage, make time for your passions, enjoy the creative freedom they afford, and you might find that your focus and energy improve in other areas of your life as well.

Be Big On Respect

A company where employees are overworked and aren’t big on recognizing actual contribution or value can be seen as a “cutthroat work culture”, and it can take its toll. Nevertheless, some of the most influential companies in the world are the very same companies that push their employees to the limit. While the career may be important to you and suit your needs, you should be careful that the corporate culture doesn’t change your character.

Maintain professionalism and show respect to any and every employee you deal with, even if you have certain misgivings about them. Your organization might make it seem as though you shouldn’t help other people, but be wary of this mentality swaying too much influence over you; otherwise, you may find that your lack of respect for others affects your life negatively in other ways. Conversely, you might also find that the respect you do give helps you land other opportunities as well.

Set Boundaries

There is nothing wrong with impressing your boss or associates. After all, you might be trying to get a promotion or obtain more equity in a startup. Every organization should appreciate employees that are willing to stay late and work hard on vital projects. However, there isn’t enough career advice out there that describes the pitfalls of continually going the extra mile.

If you are always known as the individual that will answer the after-hours e-mail or come to work an hour before the rest – it will most likely become expected of you. Obviously, this isn’t fair if you are getting paid the same as other employees that choose not to do this. You must be clear about establishing suitable work/life boundaries. If you can complete some work over the weekend for a specific project, you have to be clear about the fact that this was an exception and not the rule. If you don’t set clear boundaries, the amount of work, the pressure to please, and lack of social life could potentially lead to burnout.

Be More Curious

There are lots of professionals that will tell you that you should work hard and do everything that you can to reach your goals without asking too many questions. You often see this reflected as a “keep your head down” strategy at work.

However, there is nothing wrong with asking questions. In fact, you might find that your boss appreciates when you ask questions in a meeting, particularly when they expand the discussion in useful ways, or help them remember a point that they forgot to mention. While some would tell you that asking questions will make you seem uninformed – and that comes down to the content of the question itself – curiosity can be a great quality in a capable employee. If there’s something you need to know, don’t be scared to speak up and ask.