Best Career Advice

When it comes to your career, it can sometimes feel like you could use all the advice you can get. From picking the “right” job to actually excelling in it, there’s a lifetime of information to learn.

Career advice helps individuals fulfill their aspirations by setting up realistic goals. Every professional could benefit from career advice to help them explore and plan for future career endeavors based on their interests, skills, and values.

The following are the top five best pieces of career advice from various sources. 

Get Out of Your Comfort Zone

Your career comfort zone will trick you into thinking doing nothing is better than taking action. Stepping outside your comfort zone can help you build your creativity, focus on self-confidence, and learn more about yourself. You may also find that stepping outside your comfort zone enables you to grow and reach new goals. 

John Tarnoff, MA/ MSP executive and career transition coach, explained that author Sir Terry Pratchett perfectly sums up inner conflict: “What kind of life it would be, having to keep swimming all the time to stay exactly in the same place!” 

By doing the same thing every day and never changing the script, we never grow beyond what we already are. And we never get to figure out what we could be. 

A few steps to get out of your career comfort zone include challenging your existing beliefs, finding accountability partners, thinking creatively, and devising a plan to expand your boundaries. 

Be Punctual

Being on time for work is an essential quality many employers look for in potential employees, as it highlights trustworthiness and reliability. Consistent punctuality signals that you care for your team members, you take your job seriously, and you care about meeting deadlines. In almost every workplace, punctuality is synonymous with professionalism. 

Therefore, punctuality can increase your value as an employee and help you advance your career.

On a personal level, punctuality lowers your overall stress levels because it gives you more time to increase productivity in your work and participate in hobbies and recreational activities outside of the office.  

Work on Yourself

Working on yourself is vital if you have a goal you want to achieve. Personal growth goals might be to reduce anxiety, quit bad habits, become more adventurous, and improve self-esteem and self-love.

For an employee, personal growth means you are better equipped to understand how to meet goals at work, find work satisfaction, and aim for a higher role in the company. Personal development in the workplace involves initiative and leadership among coworkers. 

The first step to working on yourself is developing a healthy mindset. There should be no thoughts of “I can’t do this” or “I don’t have what it takes.” Instead, you must celebrate the small successes and take them as a sign that you are on your way to becoming better.

Speak Up

Employees witness routines or ideas in the workplace that make them stop and question. But they often don’t speak up out of fear that they might offend someone, that their opinions may not count, or that they have too little experience to make their voice heard.

But you must find your voice in your career. You must speak up when you have an idea or thought to contribute, as there are many benefits to making yourself heard. You gain visibility, increase your influence, and enhance your credibility and social capital — all of which are needed to succeed at work.

Accept Constructive Criticism

People receive criticism in their lives every day, which can often feel disheartening or negative. But constructive criticism is a valuable tool that allows individuals to learn and grow. Many people don't realize what a great resource it can be.

When you receive constructive criticism, you gain a new perspective on how you can improve on a task or job, allowing you to notice things you missed before and motivating you to try a different approach to your work.

Constructive criticism also helps to build relationships and trust with those around you. A transparent, collaborative workplace allows everyone to become better workers and people.