10 career lessons to learn before age 30

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Thirty years is considered a kind of turning point, approaching which we must acquire a certain life experience. In this article, we talk about the lessons that starting a career teaches us.

We gain the most necessary knowledge and experience only by stuffing our own bruises and bumps. When we start working, every noticeable failure feels like the end of our glorious career. In fact, these are valuable bumps, which later make us look closely at our feet, so as not to step on the same rake again. In this article, we have collected 10 of the most common and serious mistakes and misconceptions of aspiring careerists and told what lessons can be learned from them.

Lesson One: Dream Job Can Be A Nightmare

You feel like you're in a great place, but day by day your frustration at work only grows. Let's say you got a job as a pharmacist in a pharmacy, dreaming of sensitively helping each client, but the flow of visitors is so great that you simply do not have enough time for more personal communication. Your job does not bring you the satisfaction you expected to receive.

Such immersion in reality is often an impetus for deep introspection and helps to find exactly that niche in which it will be a joy to work. And the experience gained in the previous place will certainly come in handy in the future.

Disappointment at work also reminds you that nothing will bring you 100% satisfaction. You need to set realistic expectations for yourself, even if it seems that the same "dream job" awaits you.

Instead of constantly looking for flaws, look for the positives. And if it turns out that the job satisfies you 80%, then you are on the right track. But if you barely got 40% of what makes you happy, then you need to think about changing your activity.

Lesson Two: Prepare Carefully for an Interview

Overconfidence doesn't always work well. You may think that you are a tough specialist who should not somehow prepare for an interview, and the work is such that any fool can handle it, not like you. But a person who, having come to the company for an interview, does not know anything about it, or about its activities and achievements, will leave an unpleasant impression of himself.

However, one or two failed interviews will knock you out of your arrogance. What to do to save face after a failure? Here's what Rosalind Randall, an expert on business etiquette, advises:

Anyway, send a letter of thanks. Admit that you were not ready for the interview, but you are now prepared and would be very happy if you were given another opportunity.

Rosalind Randall

Somehow now famous in Toronto career coach Camara Toffolo at the conference approached the head of a well-known company and introduced herself. And everything was fine, until the same day she approached him again to get to know him again. To which he replied: "You work in a business in which you just need to memorize names the first time." Toffolo sincerely apologized for her mistake, and now she remembers names and faces from the first meeting. This skill has helped her more than once. A few years later, the same manager offered her a job.

Lesson three: you can't constantly say "yes"

You are an activist at work. You are ready to take on any tasks that are offered to you. "I will do it!" - you promise, without even realizing how much work awaits you and whether your knowledge is enough to complete it. You give the impression of a team player, but one day you find yourself unable to hold the ball.

This is a classic symptom that most of us experience early in our careers: trying to please everyone.

Camara Toffolo career coach

The desire to bite off a piece that you can't chew speaks of wonderful qualities: initiative and ambition. But long-term success depends on understanding the tasks, processes, deadlines and details. And it's perfectly acceptable to tell your boss that you need to understand a little about the essence of the task before assuring that you will complete it immediately.

Thanks to projects and tasks that you could not complete, you now know what knowledge you are lacking, you can assess what additional training you need and what professional skills you need to refresh.

Lesson four: what if you are not promoted?

You are an efficient employee, you are not indifferent to the affairs of the company, you do your job and even more. But for some reason you are denied a promotion. Worse, they get fired unexpectedly despite your best efforts. If you have not received the coveted position, you need to use this experience as motivation to be even more active.

Your success is determined by your thoughts, will and hard work. Keep working hard, take on more responsibility, but do it right (see lesson three). When you achieve new significant results, you can talk about promotion again.

In the meantime, fortune turns its back on you, remember that you cannot influence all factors. Sometimes failures at work tell you to think about it and maybe do something else. If you get fired, don't get depressed, move on or in another direction.

When Amanda Rose was fired from a large company at 34, she opened her marriage agency and successfully runs it. Experience taught her that a failed career can turn out to be a great success.

Lesson five: how not to kill the boss?

Let's face it, unloved bosses are probably more common than darlings. Don't try to remake your boss. Learn to manage your emotions and work in difficult conditions, unless, of course, the boss does not violate generally accepted norms of human communication.

Communicate with him only when necessary, always speak calmly, even if he is not restrained, do not complain about him and do not gather an anti-boss team of colleagues around you. In other words, don't do anything that your boss can use against you.

The less you try to annoy your boss, the less you will end up communicating with him both in and out of the office. And in the end, working with an unpleasant leader will teach you self-restraint and help you understand the kind of leader you want to become.

Lesson Six: High Pay Doesn't Guarantee Love for Work

In his article, behavioral economist Dan Ariely explains that almost all of us need goals and a sense of constant progress as motivation. High salaries quickly become commonplace and no longer inspire active work.

Don't get us wrong, money is important! They allow you to live the life you want. And how much money you make now has a lot to do with how much you get for your next job.

But just as quickly the feeling of shopping gets boring, so the high spirits from a high salary will fade away if you have no other joys in your work. With this in mind, we encourage you to reflect on what is important and valuable to you in your work. For example, are you willing to receive less money, but work in a sociable, inspiring team? Or is it enough for you to have business conversations with colleagues in the chat, but the possibility of not counting every ruble is endlessly pleasing?

Camara Toffolo explains that a pleasant work environment, work-life balance, opportunities for growth and a culture that supports employees are all essential components of work motivation.

Lesson Seven: Don't Try to Hide Your Mistakes

Even experienced workers make this mistake - they try to hide their mistakes. This is an indicator of immaturity and a sense of insecurity. But hiding the evidence under the carpet will make you nervous, and you will have to talk to the boss much longer if your tricks are revealed.

Instead of trying to cover your tracks, admit your mistake. Just do not make excuses and do not look for the guilty. Just say what you learned from this experience and suggest solutions to the problem. Discuss with your manager how best to deal with the situation and how to minimize the damage caused by the mistake.

Lesson Eight: Failure in public speaking is the norm

Public speaking takes a long and hard study. Even famous people - politicians, actors, heads of large corporations - can experience embarrassment in front of an audience. There is a lot of evidence of this on YouTube. But a mediocre performance isn't the end of a career.

If you fail, think about what went wrong and what needs to be done to make it better next time. Maybe you didn't have enough information, time for preparation, practice, or maybe it's time for you to improve your speaking skills?

Meet with your boss and apologize, just leave a long list of excuses outside the door, rather ask him for his opinion on your performance. Hearing criticism is painful and unpleasant, but necessary.

Lesson Nine: Keep Your Distance with Co-workers

We spend most of the day in the office. And how wonderful it is when all friends are there and you can have fun discussing work (and not so) issues over a cup of coffee. However, sometimes too frank conversations can be harmful to you. Not all people are sincere, and not everyone always behaves the way they would like. Don't be paranoid, but be careful.

And if you know "bad company" in your office, try to communicate less with them, do not succumb to various provocations on their part, but also do not spoil the relationship. Since being enemies is also very unprofitable for your career, there is a risk of getting a knife in the back.

Lesson ten: don't argue with your boss in public

You were invited to a meeting with the main persons of the company to present the project. Everything went off without a hitch: listeners are interested, ask questions and discuss ideas with you that will improve the project. Your boss also makes a proposal, but you fundamentally disagree with him, which you directly and uncompromisingly declare. And now the high-level meeting threatens to turn into a market squabble. You broke the chain of command by crossing the fine line between an accurate discussion and a boorish argument.

A key ingredient for career success is the ability to first weigh words well and then speak them. And you will not always be a star, your decisions are not always the only correct ones. And when you publicly discuss an idea or problem with your boss, your every word should be weighed on the pharmacy scale.

If an unpleasant incident does occur, be sure to talk to your boss, explain that you were wrong, and assure him that this will never happen again.

In the future, if you think your suggestions are really better, wait for a moment to speak with your boss in person. And think about how to correctly present your opinion so as not to hurt the boss's pride. It is much more profitable for career growth to play with him on a team than to be in opposition, trying to bring yourself to the fore.