I am having one little experiment. Go to your favorite search engine and type in the word "career." Your results page likely lists more than two billion items. Among them, you will find pages containing different occupations along with details about each one, job listings, and career and job search advice.
Why has your simple search turned up such a variety of resources? The reason is that there are multiple definitions of "career." The search engine doesn't know which one you mean when you type in the word. During the 1950s and 1960s, individuals typically worked for one or two firms during their career and success was defined by the organization and measured by promotions, increases in salary, and/or status. Professional success tends to come early in some fields, such as scientific research, and later in other fields, such as teaching.
Embrace rejection, whether it's froma coworker, or a boss. The class of 2020 won’t be defined by what we lost to this virus but by how we responded to it. So, I ask you to remember them to days you go out and change the world. Don’t leave them behind. The career is an individual's metaphorical "journey" through learning, work and other aspects of life.We had to slow down to receive this amazing gift and blessing called more time. Time was flying, but not anymore. This is what was needed to prepare us for the future.
No doubt, challenges will continue to emerge and quickly evolve. To respond with the speed and agility required, business leaders must effectively leverage digital technology and establish quick and reliable methods for identifying needs, adjusting plans, and measuring results.
I believe that executives have three roles to play in managing it: They must help select technologies, nurture their adoption, and ensure their exploitation.
Here are a few "gold standard” tips you should probably just ignore, and what you should do instead:
1. "Just be yourself."
This may be one of the most overused and harmful pieces of career advice ever given. They are more interested in seeing the best version of you that is, you on your best behavior, telling them what they want to hear, even if it isn't exactly what you want to say.
What to do instead:
In any high-stakes situation, including job interviews, you will be rewarded if you manage and control your public image. Or in the words of the great sociologist Erving Goffman: Act how you want others to see you even if it is not 100% genuine. The science of social impressions says that the best approach is to read the room and work out what others expect of you. Then tweak your behavior to avoid disappointing them. Be sensitive to context.
This doesn't mean you need to violate your own principles or be an impostor. It just means you need to be emotionally intelligent enough to respect the social etiquette of the company looking to hire you. Things might be different five years later when you are an established player in the company and have a strong reputation, but you need to play the game before you can break the rules. Your rules maybe better, but a job interview is no time to persuade other people of that.
2. "Let your achievements speak for themselves."
The world would be better off if people succeeded because of their competence rather than confidence. In a perfect world, you would not need to spend time self-promoting, self branding, politicking, and managing up. But sadly, this is not the reality.
In the workforce, research has shown time and again that connections, impressions, and showmanship tend to trump talent and potential.
What to do instead:
Your brand is a bigger driver of your career success than your actual work. This means that even the most talented people benefit a lot from “managing up" –cultivating strong relationships with their bosses, and making sure powerful people see their value.
Observe people in positions of power and make an effort to understand what problems they're trying to solve. Then show and tell them how you can help. This is a better formula for success than ignoring others and focusing only on your own work.
3. "Focus on your strengths."
People generally love this piece of career advice, because it's much easier to follow than the alternative: “Recognize and mitigate your weakness.” The problem is that strengths are born out of tendencies that come naturally to us spontaneous parts of ourselves that elevate our status and reputation with others. And while everyone has them, it is virtually impossible to succeed in any area of life unless you learn to keep your weaknesses in check, too. Moreover, if over used, your strengths will eventually turn into weaknesses.
What to do instead:
Aris totle noted that every virtue is a mean between two extremes. It is better to be some what emotional than cold or explosive; it is better to be some what curious than closed-minded or a reckless; and it is better to be a little bit creative than unimaginative or eccentric. All extraordinary achievers are rather self critical. Celebrate your strengths, but also do the work of identifying your weaknesses.
4. "Follow your passion."
While it helps to have a clear idea of what you want to do in life, following your passion is often only a winning formula if your passion aligns with job market demand and your actual talent.
In most cases, if you only look for opportunities in industries that you love, instead of broadening your perspective and considering those that will make you grow, you end up sacrificing jobs that could advance your career down the line.
What to do instead:
Usually, the younger you are, the more trade-offs you have to make. In your 20s, you should think hard about matching your interests and potential to available opportunities, and seize the ones that will help you learn and grow.
In your 30s, you might want to shift your focus from earning short-term rewards to making a longer-term impact. At both stages, it is wise to be flexible. Treat your strong interests as "nice-to-haves," but put them on standby until the chance arrives to unleash them in a productive way.
Interview tips
