Anonymous
Post 10/04/2020 18:17     Subject: Single best piece of career advice you ever received?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:In MBA classes they often said "Don't ask a question at work unless you already know the answer". And if you don't know the answer, work and research more until you do. Easier said than done, but the best advice anyone ever gave me.


Maybe it's different in business but I'm in law and this is terrible advice. The people who refuse to ask problems and who try to pretend like they have all the answers do not get nearly as far as the people who are willing to ask questions.


Definitely bad advice. We judge new hires based on how thoughtful/frequent their questions are.
Anonymous
Post 10/04/2020 18:08     Subject: Single best piece of career advice you ever received?
1. Always do an excellent job at what you're being paid to do - even if it's low level, or if you think it's beneath you. People won't give you more interesting work if you can't get the basics right - or without attitude.
2. Always make your boss look good.
3. If you decide to leave, make sure you're 100% sure, and never accept counter offers from your current company. Don't tell anyone you're leaving, or unhappy, until you have an offer in hand. Once they know you're willing to leave, they'll start to resent you. Walk away and don't look back.
Anonymous
Post 10/04/2020 18:04     Subject: Single best piece of career advice you ever received?
Two I have seen multiple times on this thread that should be carved on the side of a cave are:

-- stop thinking of yourelf as an employee
-- companies are not loyal and don't care unless it would be more costly to have you not there than employed with them

Some more:

-- there is no such thing as a permanent job or job that you can coast into retirement with. All jobs are temporary.

-- you are never truly employed, only between searches

-- always network

-- always be positive, Nobody likes working or interviewing with a negative person
Anonymous
Post 10/04/2020 18:00     Subject: Single best piece of career advice you ever received?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Save your money from day 1, and watch your expenses. Strive to get to a position where you can walk away from a job if need be. Odds are, you will really want/need to at some point--either your integrity is being threatened, or your health/sanity. Don't become dependent on a company for your survival.


This is a great one. DH and I are both at jobs for 20 years, and much of our happiness and success comes from knowing we could walk away if we needed to. We’ve always felt that knowledge has allowed us to stay saner and do better in our jobs - which is why we’ve had such a long successful run.


It's all about psychology. "In any situation the person who appears to care the least has the most power". Companies find people with a take it or leave it attitude confident, and confidence is an admired trait. Think positive feedback loop.
Anonymous
Post 10/04/2020 13:01     Subject: Single best piece of career advice you ever received?
Perception is often more important than reality.

This is SO SO SO SO true.
Anonymous
Post 10/04/2020 10:28     Subject: Re:Single best piece of career advice you ever received?
Perception is often more important than reality.
Anonymous
Post 10/04/2020 10:27     Subject: Single best piece of career advice you ever received?
Anonymous wrote:Your job is to make your boss look good.


Something similar as leadership advice. Take care of your team and they'll take care of you.
Anonymous
Post 10/04/2020 10:16     Subject: Single best piece of career advice you ever received?
I work on the Hill, and there were three pieces of advice I received early that I think are applicable to any job, anywhere.

1. Tell the truth. Once you get a reputation as being dishonest or untrustworthy, it never goes away.

2. If you screw up, admit it - quickly - and own it. That way it can be fixed. If you screw up and try to cover up a problem, it just gets bigger.

3. Half the job is high profile and exciting - interesting subjects, stuff you see on the news, and things that lots of people care about. The other half is not very exciting. Arcane issues, not a lot of people paying attention, not much fireworks. But this low-profile stuff is important too. Work just as hard on this stuff - sweat the details, do the extra work. It will pay off in the long run.

Anonymous
Post 10/04/2020 10:15     Subject: Single best piece of career advice you ever received?
Anonymous wrote:Save your money from day 1, and watch your expenses. Strive to get to a position where you can walk away from a job if need be. Odds are, you will really want/need to at some point--either your integrity is being threatened, or your health/sanity. Don't become dependent on a company for your survival.


This is the best advice on here and I wish I had gotten it 20 yrs ago! I did learn it ... the hard way. But now things are better.
Anonymous
Post 10/04/2020 10:12     Subject: Single best piece of career advice you ever received?
Anonymous wrote:Save your money from day 1, and watch your expenses. Strive to get to a position where you can walk away from a job if need be. Odds are, you will really want/need to at some point--either your integrity is being threatened, or your health/sanity. Don't become dependent on a company for your survival.


This is a great one. DH and I are both at jobs for 20 years, and much of our happiness and success comes from knowing we could walk away if we needed to. We’ve always felt that knowledge has allowed us to stay saner and do better in our jobs - which is why we’ve had such a long successful run.
Anonymous
Post 10/04/2020 10:04     Subject: Re:Single best piece of career advice you ever received?
When dealing with clients or your superiors, never start a response with what you can't do. If their request is impossible, tell them what you can do. 99% of the time, they will go for it if you present it the right way.

This is a simple one (and not as applicable in the days of text and email but I still do it)--when leaving a voicemail, repeat your name and number again at the end of the message. And do it slowly.

And I agree about not being loyal to the company because they will not be loyal to you. I learned that one the hard way. Be loyal to yourself, first and foremost. Always!
Anonymous
Post 10/04/2020 09:51     Subject: Single best piece of career advice you ever received?
Save your money from day 1, and watch your expenses. Strive to get to a position where you can walk away from a job if need be. Odds are, you will really want/need to at some point--either your integrity is being threatened, or your health/sanity. Don't become dependent on a company for your survival.
Anonymous
Post 10/04/2020 08:35     Subject: Single best piece of career advice you ever received?
Anonymous wrote:In MBA classes they often said "Don't ask a question at work unless you already know the answer". And if you don't know the answer, work and research more until you do. Easier said than done, but the best advice anyone ever gave me.


Maybe it's different in business but I'm in law and this is terrible advice. The people who refuse to ask problems and who try to pretend like they have all the answers do not get nearly as far as the people who are willing to ask questions.
Anonymous
Post 10/04/2020 08:13     Subject: Single best piece of career advice you ever received?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:This is a timely thread. My youngest daughter is entering the career field in 2021, as she plans to graduate in December. She told me she wishes she had more real-world advice. I’m thinking I’ll buy her the parachute book, but I’m open to recommendations for more contemporary/helpful books to get her started. She doesn’t know what she doesn’t know.


Tell your daughter to make friends with the receptionist, the janitor, the copy room people, the secretaries. Remember their kids names, their birthdays. These are the gatekeepers and the people who will whisk away your garbage pail when you've puked into it, the people who can tell you when and where to run into the high-level person you're desperate to speak with, the people who will save your ass when you thought you needed 2 copies but now realize you need 22 copies in 2 minutes.

Tell your daughter to find the truly cool girls at each job. Not the popular ones, but the genuinely cool ones. The ones who agree they will all help each other out, will amplify each other's ideas in meetings, will always give credit where credit is due. I worked at a law firm full of women like this, and it taught me so much about the people I wanted to hang out with at work. If you put it out there that you don't gossip and you like to support other women, the other women who feel that same way will find their way to you.


I agree with this. People in the service and administrative positions are the foundation of a successful business. Yet, they get ran over and talked down to. Treat them with respect.

Add the doorman/security of the building. Say hello/good morning and goodbye/have a good night. Bring them a coffee or pastry once in a while. I became friends with the security guard at a building I used to work at by treating him with respect and not acting like he is a prop. He ended up helping me get a parking pass, which was nearly impossible if you weren't high up in the company. He also turned a blind eye when I stopped in occasionally on Saturdays, despite the building being closed on weekends.


x1000 for the advice above. Being nice to the people at the bottom of the hierarchy is good manners and brings good karma.
Anonymous
Post 10/04/2020 02:54     Subject: Single best piece of career advice you ever received?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:This is a timely thread. My youngest daughter is entering the career field in 2021, as she plans to graduate in December. She told me she wishes she had more real-world advice. I’m thinking I’ll buy her the parachute book, but I’m open to recommendations for more contemporary/helpful books to get her started. She doesn’t know what she doesn’t know.


Tell your daughter to make friends with the receptionist, the janitor, the copy room people, the secretaries. Remember their kids names, their birthdays. These are the gatekeepers and the people who will whisk away your garbage pail when you've puked into it, the people who can tell you when and where to run into the high-level person you're desperate to speak with, the people who will save your ass when you thought you needed 2 copies but now realize you need 22 copies in 2 minutes.

Tell your daughter to find the truly cool girls at each job. Not the popular ones, but the genuinely cool ones. The ones who agree they will all help each other out, will amplify each other's ideas in meetings, will always give credit where credit is due. I worked at a law firm full of women like this, and it taught me so much about the people I wanted to hang out with at work. If you put it out there that you don't gossip and you like to support other women, the other women who feel that same way will find their way to you.


I agree with this. People in the service and administrative positions are the foundation of a successful business. Yet, they get ran over and talked down to. Treat them with respect.

Add the doorman/security of the building. Say hello/good morning and goodbye/have a good night. Bring them a coffee or pastry once in a while. I became friends with the security guard at a building I used to work at by treating him with respect and not acting like he is a prop. He ended up helping me get a parking pass, which was nearly impossible if you weren't high up in the company. He also turned a blind eye when I stopped in occasionally on Saturdays, despite the building being closed on weekends.