Best career/work advice you ever got?
- Thread starter CycloneEye
- Start date
I don't know. Usually a publicly held company is larger. Almost always, larger companies have better benefits. My 401k match alone will make it very hard for me to ever leave my current situation, as long as it keeps up.
I was incredibly selfish for leaving my first job because I confused boredom/not using my talents with being miserable. By missing out on paycheck I was taking home at the time, I also missed out on many other opportunities to help people in my family/community, forcing my wife to work for a few years after we had kids, and other investment opportunities
I moved on to a second job and found out what being miserable really meant- selling an inferior product to people who don't need it and not understanding myself what it really was. I drank the company kool-aid. Once again made a very good paycheck, but suffered through many sleepless nights once I realized what was going on.
8 years ago, I found the happy medium in what I do now. Much happier, one may even say passionate, about what I do, and make enough to have a comfortable life. I am still a few years away though from what I was making at my first job.
What I'm saying is make sure you know the real reason you want to leave your current line of work, and think about the ramifications hard before pulling the trigger. Making good money can make up for a lot of unhappiness at work. I wish someone would have explained that to me when I was younger.
I moved on to a second job and found out what being miserable really meant- selling an inferior product to people who don't need it and not understanding myself what it really was. I drank the company kool-aid. Once again made a very good paycheck, but suffered through many sleepless nights once I realized what was going on.
8 years ago, I found the happy medium in what I do now. Much happier, one may even say passionate, about what I do, and make enough to have a comfortable life. I am still a few years away though from what I was making at my first job.
What I'm saying is make sure you know the real reason you want to leave your current line of work, and think about the ramifications hard before pulling the trigger. Making good money can make up for a lot of unhappiness at work. I wish someone would have explained that to me when I was younger.
Make sure the private company is well managed. Because if it isn't, there is very, very little accountability for top management, especially in smaller private companies. Nothing will change.
This x1000...the last company I worked for I kicked total butt. Everything the plant could be judged on that was my responsibiltiy was off the charts good, we are talking record breaking years...but my boss and I had bad chemistry. I didn't like him and he didn't like me. He obviously had a bad perception of me that was not based in reality. I left the company at the height of my powers there and never looked back. I actually struck gold and am working for a much better company.
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To be a little cliche.
Stay busy doing the job you have, not telling me about why you should have the job you don't.
Remember you get paid for the job you are in, not your experience or your education. if you are a receptionist with a Phd, you are still a receptionist. Be the best damn receptionist you can be. People will notice.
When the time comes to reduce headcount, the last person to go is the person for whom nothing is beneath them. Man the front desk for hour? Check. Stay late to colate and three ring bind documents for the board packet? Check. Make 8 million copies of the big sales presentation about to go on. Check. Nothing goes unnoticed.
Dress for the job you want, not the job you have. While I hate business dress myself, having sat in on many a promotion decision I have never, ever seen someone lose out on an opportunity becuase they "dressed too nice" but I have seen many people get passed over because they can't seem to iron their shirt, or wear something other than fliip flop. The dry cleaner is your friend.
Once you get people working for you, use the word "we" alot, especially when there's blame to be taken. Taking a bullet for a team member will buy more loyalty from the rest of your team than anything else you can do. (THis doesn't mean they don't get their share later when it comes down to it).
Stay busy doing the job you have, not telling me about why you should have the job you don't.
Remember you get paid for the job you are in, not your experience or your education. if you are a receptionist with a Phd, you are still a receptionist. Be the best damn receptionist you can be. People will notice.
When the time comes to reduce headcount, the last person to go is the person for whom nothing is beneath them. Man the front desk for hour? Check. Stay late to colate and three ring bind documents for the board packet? Check. Make 8 million copies of the big sales presentation about to go on. Check. Nothing goes unnoticed.
Dress for the job you want, not the job you have. While I hate business dress myself, having sat in on many a promotion decision I have never, ever seen someone lose out on an opportunity becuase they "dressed too nice" but I have seen many people get passed over because they can't seem to iron their shirt, or wear something other than fliip flop. The dry cleaner is your friend.
Once you get people working for you, use the word "we" alot, especially when there's blame to be taken. Taking a bullet for a team member will buy more loyalty from the rest of your team than anything else you can do. (THis doesn't mean they don't get their share later when it comes down to it).
My first advice about work/career has nothing to do with work/career exactly.
Your personal character is the most important thing.
If you're fortunate, the best work/career advice is to find something you do even if you don't get paid, and then figure out a way to get paid for it. I know -- it sounds silly or impossible, but when you think about it, a lot of people can do this. I'm pretty good with computers and I help people with their computer problems -- I have for over 25 years. I'm fortunate enough to have been paid well to do it for the last 15.
I also agree with tec71 a few posts previous. You can really really tell those who are good and are hard workers. True examples: I go into a convenience store and get a pop. Nobody else in the store except the manager, who is just piddling around. I fill my pop, walk over to the cash register, look around, wait a bit, and eventually the manager ambles over and takes my money. This has happened numerous times. I would fire them. In contrast, at another convenience store I get my pop and walk over to the cash register. There are only a couple of people in the store, one of which is currently checking out in front of me. The employee -- instead of just having me wait 15 seconds for the person in front of me to pay -- which is totally acceptable -- they make eye contact, tell me how much my pop is, and check me out on the adjacent cash register while still checking out the person in front of me.
At any level of job -- in my example a minimum wage convenience store employee -- you can do standout work. You can also do substandard work.
Otherwise -- economics can be tough but strive for doing a job you like and finding a place you like to do it. Simple, but often overlooked. There are tons of cliches about how money doesn't buy happiness, and it definitely doesn't buy contentment.
Your personal character is the most important thing.
If you're fortunate, the best work/career advice is to find something you do even if you don't get paid, and then figure out a way to get paid for it. I know -- it sounds silly or impossible, but when you think about it, a lot of people can do this. I'm pretty good with computers and I help people with their computer problems -- I have for over 25 years. I'm fortunate enough to have been paid well to do it for the last 15.
I also agree with tec71 a few posts previous. You can really really tell those who are good and are hard workers. True examples: I go into a convenience store and get a pop. Nobody else in the store except the manager, who is just piddling around. I fill my pop, walk over to the cash register, look around, wait a bit, and eventually the manager ambles over and takes my money. This has happened numerous times. I would fire them. In contrast, at another convenience store I get my pop and walk over to the cash register. There are only a couple of people in the store, one of which is currently checking out in front of me. The employee -- instead of just having me wait 15 seconds for the person in front of me to pay -- which is totally acceptable -- they make eye contact, tell me how much my pop is, and check me out on the adjacent cash register while still checking out the person in front of me.
At any level of job -- in my example a minimum wage convenience store employee -- you can do standout work. You can also do substandard work.
Otherwise -- economics can be tough but strive for doing a job you like and finding a place you like to do it. Simple, but often overlooked. There are tons of cliches about how money doesn't buy happiness, and it definitely doesn't buy contentment.
Best Career Advice: There is only one thing in life that matters. Figure out what that one thing is for YOU and everything else falls into place.
Best Work Advice: Work like the job you want, not the job you have, and you will get the job you want.
Best Work Advice: Work like the job you want, not the job you have, and you will get the job you want.
