14 Common Career Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

“14 Common Career Mistakes and How to Avoid Them”


It’s not uncommon to make a few career mistakes during your professional journey. We all do. While some are minor and can easily be overlooked or treated as missteps, others are larger career mistakes that can come back to haunt you.

Because the larger career mistakes can negatively affect your career goals, you should avoid them as much as possible. Many of these mistakes come from our carelessness, overconfidence, or, in some cases, hubris. For example, are you someone who thinks they are always right? I can promise you that’s not the case, and your employer doesn’t want that in their team. Perhaps that’s an extreme example and doesn’t apply to you, but being mindful of career mistakes can help you navigate your professional path more successfully.

We’ve compiled a list of what we feel are some of the more common career mistakes employees make. We also offer solutions for ways to avoid them before they happen. Like anything in life, some of these are pertinent to you. Others aren’t. Awareness of them can help you avoid trouble in your career.

Only Creating Short-Term Goals

Common Career Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
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Focusing only on short-term goals can limit your vision and stop you from reaching your full potential. While short-term goals are important, long-term goals are equally important and will help you achieve bigger things in the future.

Not Asking Questions During an Interview

Woman scared in interviewWoman scared in interview
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When you go to an interview and don’t ask questions, the interviewer might think you didn’t research the position or company or don’t care about the position. Do your research and prepare some questions to ask at the interview.

Grammar and Spelling Mistakes on Your Resume

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Even if your career choice doesn’t involve much writing, having grammar and spelling mistakes on your resume will make you seem unprofessional and careless and can reduce your chances of getting hired. Have someone proofread your resume before sending it out to catch any mistakes.

Burning Bridges

Irritated young man is using a laptop and screaming while working with other freelancers in cafeIrritated young man is using a laptop and screaming while working with other freelancers in cafe
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Damaging a relationship with a coworker or quitting a job unprofessionally can negatively affect your career. Workers and management talk to each other and often talk to workers and management from other local companies. You don’t want to ruin your reputation to the point you struggle to get another job. Always act professionally.

Not Asking For Help

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When choosing or changing your career, you can ask many people for advice. Family, friends, mentors, teachers, and career counselors will all be happy to help you ensure you make the right career choice. Get as much help and advice as possible. It will help you make the right decision in the long run.

Letting Someone Else Make Career Choices for You

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Yes, ask for and listen to advice. But you shouldn’t let someone else influence you so much. They basically make your career choice for you. People spend about 90,000 hours of their lives at work, so be sure to pick a career that fits your interests and talents.

Missing Deadlines

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Deadlines are there for a reason, and meeting them is important. Of course, some may be more urgent than others, but missing deadlines will make you appear unreliable, unmotivated, or uninterested. Meet those deadlines, and if you are going to miss one, make sure you communicate as much as possible.

Not Being Willing to Learn

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Things change constantly, and strategies, methodologies, and trends in your career field are no exception. It’s important to learn about new ways of doing things and just as important to unlearn traditional concepts.

Not Networking

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Many people get comfortable in their jobs and forget to network. Then, when they decide to look for a new job, they don’t know anyone who can help them. Make sure you network, no matter how comfortable you are in your career. Help others when you can so you don’t feel bad asking for help when needed.

Ignoring Feedback

Man receiving feedback from a female work colleagueMan receiving feedback from a female work colleague
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Everyone enjoys getting positive feedback, but negative feedback is not always so great to hear. However, all feedback is important and will help you improve in your career. Take both positive and negative feedback as a gift, listen to it, and reflect on it.

Not Apologizing

Asian woman and man talkingAsian woman and man talking
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We all mess up occasionally. It can’t be helped, it’s human nature. But it’s important to recognize when you mess up and take responsibility for your actions. Admitting fault, apologizing, and doing better will work wonders for your reputation.

Not Speaking Up

Public Speaking in officePublic Speaking in office
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You are the star of your life; know your goals and how you want to progress in your career. But nobody else does unless you speak up. Make sure you speak up about your ambitions and objectives to ensure people know and ask them what you need to do to accomplish them.

Not Offering Solutions

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There are always ways to improve something in the workplace. An updated policy or system can make things run more smoothly. If you want to make changes, create a case where you show the problem and how things could be improved. Well-explained ideas that can increase productivity or revenue or reduce risk will be welcomed anytime.

Neglecting Life Outside of Your Career

Stressed man working with his babyStressed man working with his baby
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A healthy work-life balance is important. You shouldn’t neglect your life and relationships outside of work. You know the saying,g “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”. It’s not wrong, but spending all your time glued to your desk can cause stress, burnout,t, and low morale and productivity. Make sure you have plenty of time to spend with your family and to do things you enjoy outside of work.

16 Effective Techniques for Managing Work Stress

Woman working in laptop stressedWoman working in laptop stressed
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United States workers are experiencing record levels of workplace stress, and the American Institute of Stress (AIS) outlines the impact on workers’ wellness in a recent ComPsych survey. The outlook isn’t good — 62% of workers cited tensions due to a lack of autonomy or extreme tiredness. Moreover, work priorities are taking over citizens’ lives, with the sources of anxiety stemming from workload, coworkers, and performance improvements.

15 Highest Paying Jobs That Nobody Wants

Group of happy Blue-Collar workersGroup of happy Blue-Collar workers
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Truthfully, almost all of the best high-paying jobs that no one wants to work are blue-collar jobs. Working in the trades can sound intimidating, but it comes with great benefits, high pay, and job security.

Despite the pros, not a lot of people turn to the trades. If you’re feeling stuck, you may want to consider one of these high-paying jobs.

To curate this list, we chose jobs where you could earn at least $25 an hour. These jobs are also high in demand. To find out how in demand, we used Indeed and ZipRecruiter.

Here are 15 high-paying jobs that nobody wants.

Have any questions or need assistance? Contact us here. For more insights, visit our website.



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