We often hear helpful advice on ways to advance in our professional careers. How you can make your resume stand out, be more productive, and enhance your communication skills are just a few examples we’ve discussed in the past. Now we need to take a different approach: it’s time to retire outdated advice that’s still floating around.
In 6 Career Tips You Should Put In The Shredder, author Molly Cain shares career advice that you should avoid at all costs. Let’s take a look at what you should hang in the rafters immediately.
Attempting to stay at one company forever also presents a plethora of other issues. You only understand one type of company culture, one type of technology, one organizational structure, and you’re trained in only one kind of pay scale.
“Your Resume Should be One Page”
If you’ve been working long enough, you know how hard it is to list all your work experience, accomplishments, and education on one page. If you start to delete important information, manipulate font sizes, and use slang, it may be time to embrace the second page.
On the flipside, if you’ve been working for a few years but don’t have enough for the second page, don’t panic. Forcing your resume to look bigger by adding false information or “fluff” is only going to make your resume look weaker to potential employers. You’ll eventually reach the second page given more time and experience.
“Find a Company You Can Stay at Forever”
Working at one company for the rest of your life may have been possible 30 years ago, but in today’s economy you can’t handcuff yourself to one company forever. “It used to be safe to put all your faith into one company for your entire life,” says Cain, “but it’s not anymore.”
Attempting to stay at one company forever also presents a plethora of other issues. You only understand one type of company culture, one type of technology, one organizational structure, and you’re trained in only one kind of pay scale.
“Don’t Negotiate”
The first offer is the first offer. If you’ve been offered a job or a promotion and aren’t satisfied with the terms, you can, and should, negotiate and counter-offer. You know what you’re worth and what you can bring to the company; by accepting without negotiating, you may be settling for a lowball offer.
“Don’t Show Weakness”
Honesty is the best policy. When faced with the, “What is your biggest weakness?” question, respond openly.
The practice of spinning the question around to make yourself look good feels forced, rehearsed, and frankly, doesn’t answer the question. At a time when the emphasis on company culture and employee engagement is at an all time high, potential employers value people who are just that – people, not robots.
“Don’t Take Risks”
It’s easy to avoid taking risks. Just say ‘no’ when you feel nervous or scared about an opportunity, and you’ll safely avoid the fear of the unknown.
But that’s exactly the problem.
When you don’t take risks because of the fear associated with it, you’ll never experience growth. You miss out on opportunities that can help you grow both personally and professionally. Worst of all, you’ll always have that nagging “what if?” feeling in the back of your mind.