Don't play career lottery

There are a lot of things to that you can do to put your career on the right track such as developing new skills, working for good organizations or having a mentor. But there are many things than can insidiously eat away at your career prospects. Here are a few of those to avoid.

DON’T BURN YOUR BRIDGES: People burn bridges when they get too emotionally consumed about an issue or especially if they feel they have been wronged. The most challenging of these is remaining sane when in your boss’ eyes you can do no right. If that happens and you know for sure there’s little you can do to rescue the situation, look to go work elsewhere but depart in a decent way, no tantrums, no name calling.

DON’T WORK ‘UNCONSCIOUSLY’: Showing up at your job day to day and going through the motions isn’t exactly a career building exercise. At a minimum, appreciate what you need to do to make the job satisfying or fulfilling. You may be mostly interested in the pay cheque but that kind of attitude to work is unlikely to guarantee you a job for long or to offer you any real chance of advancement.

DON’T REJECT OPPORTUNITY: Sounds crazy? But we do that all the time without realizing it. For example, do you sometimes find yourself saying or even thinking ‘it’s not my job’ or ‘I am not paid to do this’ when you are asked to extra work? Of course it may be within your rights to decline but will it be in the interest of your career development? You can take on more work than you think but don’t overwhelm yourself. Think twice before you reject opportunities that are ‘clothed’ as extra work.

DON’T KEEP RECYCLING YOURSELF: If your organization were looking for a bunch of forward thinking, hardworking, problem solving, good team players to work on an assignment the rewards of which may could include promotion, bonuses or an enhanced reputation, would you be selected?. My point is are you ever ready to take on new challenges or are you satisfied doing the ‘same old, same old’?

Now take action: In what ways are you gambling with the future of your career?