4 CAREER MISTAKES YOU SHOULD MAKE IN YOUR 20S
SURE, MESSING UP A BIG PROJECT OR GETTING
DEMOTED FEELS AWFUL WHEN IT HAPPENS BUT YOU LEARN VALUABLE LESSONS FOR THE REST
OF YOUR CAREER.
When publicist
Jennifer B.* was just starting out in her career, her job was so demanding that
she tried to take a few shortcuts.
"I was pitching
all the major beauty and fashion publications, and I cut and pasted the same
pitch into about 50-plus emails," she recalls. "I ended up addressing
two top editors with the wrong names, so it was clear I was ‘mass’ pitching. It
made me look incompetent and lazy. Huge mistake."
Whether you’re just
starting out in your career or you’ve been working for decades, everyone messes
up now and then.
Sure, it’s mortifying.
But making some
missteps and mistakes early on in your career is actually a critical part of
growing—both professionally and personally.
That’s why we rounded
up career pros to offer their insights on the workplace faux pas that have the
potential to actually make you a better employee.
You and your team have
worked for months to finish an important initiative at work—only to discover
that you made a big error and the project is way over budget.
So instead of feeling
triumphant about doing a great job, you’re now worried about getting fired.
What You Can Learn
From It: "How you
react can really make a difference in terms of how people view you from that
point on," says Cheryl Palmer, a certified career coach at executive coaching
firm Call
to Career.
Her advice? Go into
damage control mode right away—and be sure to come clean with your boss and
your team.
"People respect
it when you say you made a mistake," says Jessica Bacal, director of Smith
College’s Wurtele Center
for Work and Life and author of Mistakes I Made At Work: 25 Influential Women Reflect on
What They Got Out of Getting It Wrong. "So have the conversation with your boss and own up to
it—without being overly apologetic. You can say, ‘This is a good lesson. And
here’s how I’m going to address it in the future.’"
There was a time when
you were your supervisor’s go-to person, but lately you’ve noticed that you
aren’t being asked to certain meetings—and other staffers are getting
assignments that should be yours.
You’ve been
unofficially demoted.
Aside from it being a
hard-to-stomach blow to your ego, it can make you wonder if your job has hit a
plateau—or worse, is on a downward spiral.
What You Can Learn
From It: This can be an
opportune moment to take a step back and do an honest assessment of how you’ve
been doing at work.
Is it possible you’ve
been dropping the ball lately, and that’s why your supervisor is giving you
fewer responsibilities? Are you feeling so overwhelmed that it’s affecting your
productivity and the quality of your work?
Whatever the case, it
can be helpful to your future career if you learn how to identify when things
are derailing—and immediately take action to get your job back on track.
Another wise move?
Consider having a frank conversation with your boss about your concerns and ask
for constructive feedback, suggests Bacal.
Bottom line: You won’t be able to turn things around
if you aren’t clear on what exactly the problem is.
So if you think you’re
in hot water because you’ve taken on too much, says Bacal, you can work with
your supervisor to help you figure out which important tasks you should tackle
first.
"You can say to
your boss, ‘I really want to make sure I’m prioritizing correctly. Right now
I’m working to get X done, and this additional assignment would push things
back slightly,’ " suggests Bacal.
With this nuanced
tact, you’re not only managing expectations that your boss may have but also
hopefully getting the guidance you need.
"It’s better to
communicate and speak in an enthusiastic way about your career values and
goals," she says, "than to under-communicate and watch things get
taken away at work."
When you’re starting a
new job—or taking on a new role at your current gig—it’s natural to have a case
of "impostor syndrome."
Translation: You feel
like you don’t quite know what you’re doing, but you don’t speak up about any
concerns you may have out of fear.
Well, it turns out
that this predicament isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
What You Can Learn
From It: For starters,
know that everyone feels like they are faking it at work at times.
"Whenever you’re
making a change and learning new skills, especially if you’re in a leadership
role, you’re going to feel like an impostor," Bacal says. "It’s part
of the learning curve."
But it is a mistake to
think that just because you feel like you don’t fit in, that automatically
means the job isn’t right for you.
"It takes a long
time to find your stride," Bacal explains. "It’s OK to feel like
that—and it doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you."
Eventually, if you
give yourself time to build confidence, that impostor syndrome will fade and
you’ll feel secure in your ability to do your job.
In a tough economy
it’s understandable to be grateful to have a job—any job.
But that doesn’t
necessarily mean you have to suck it up and stick with a gig that doesn’t
fulfill you on a personal and professional level.
What You Can Learn
From It: If you do feel
like you’re in a career rut, Palmer recommends shaking things up by discreetly
doing some research.
Talk to people at your
level in other companies to see if they are having the same experience, she
says, so you can better assess if what you are going through is comparable in
your industry—or if your situation is uniquely problematic.
"This is
especially important for people who have gotten a job right out of college
because they have nothing to compare it to," she adds. "So talk with
others and get a reality check."
And if you know you
need to finally move on, don’t beat yourself up over it, thinking you wasted
precious time taking the wrong job in the first place.
"People think
they have to immediately find the perfect job, but in your 20s, you’re still
information-gathering," Bacal says. "In reality, each job will add to
your skill set—even if it teaches you that you don’t want to do anything like
it again. That’s a good mistake to make."
BY RACHEL GRUMMAN BENDER
http://www.fastcompany.com/3054394/hit-the-ground-running/4-career-mistakes-you-should-make-in-your-20s?utm_source=mailchimp&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=fast-company-daily-newsletter&position=5&partner=newsletter&campaign_date=12112015
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