Bad Career Moves: Aiming for Careers That Don’t Work!

Of all the bad career moves I’ve ever made (and I’ve made quite a few), the one that was most invisible to my young self was aiming for a career that sounded good on paper. But one that in real life never actually worked for me.

Interestingly enough, I got ample clues along the way. And yet it took me a long time to finally see the light. People I worked with kept asking me to help with what was seen as “secondary to the business”. And I was good at it. But not what this young grad student was taught to aim for.

Support work is a “bad career move”

Or so I was told. “If you want to be successful, do what the business is really about.” Meaning if you are working in an investment bank, be a trader or broker and not someone doing support work in the back office. (I later learned where the heart of the work really was for me.)

While in grad school, to earn extra money, I took a part-time job at Citibank helping with their computer systems. I knew nothing about that, but it paid well and I took to it quickly — and got lots of praise. Looking back, I actually enjoyed the work and the people. Clearly I missed some major clues.

But in my youthful haze, I saw that kind of work as less important. And so I turned down their job offer to seek greener and more “important” pastures. And I kept pushing my way into jobs I didn’t enjoy — and wasn’t all that great at. Like being a “real” banker. Even though that was exactly what I decided was right for me and my MBA, I was bored out of my mind!

I hated being a banker. And pretty much every other supposedly right job I tried until I wound up more and more working with computers and information technology. And eventually realized that was exactly what worked well for me … with my websites a wonderful extension of that for me later on.

What was really going on?

Well, clearly I had the idea of career mistakes turned upside-down in my head. I let things like job prestige and narrow thinking shape my choices. And I’m writing about it in case you have been getting clues and ignoring them. Or letting what others think guide your career direction.

What was happening for me (and happens for many people) was the idea of a job and what it represents was getting in the way of the truth of a job — and who I really am as a person. Bad career moves for some people can be another’s perfect job.

The most important first step in any career search is to figure out who you are, without worrying what anyone else might think. Or what your imagination thinks a job is versus what the job really requires and feels like on a day-to-day basis. Solid info is key in so many ways!

⇒  EXTRA:  Career Coach Yourself: Two Exercises To Get You Started

 

About bad career moves

Don’t blame yourself. Don’t let mistakes stop you. We all make them. Even the most successful people. Just learn from them and move on — without carrying them on your back.

As one Senior VP once said to me: “If you never make mistakes you have no idea how to avoid them the next time. And you haven’t tried enough to get ahead. You grow from mistakes.”

⇒  EXTRA:  Are “Obstacle Illusions” Keeping You From a Better Job?

 

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