10 career myths you should know

Career Myths – An overheard story or an experience from older guys or just a random internet stories about what you should and shouldn’t do in your career. Well many of them might be true to some extent but others are just a piece of crap.

These career myths mostly affect to those just entering the workforce (as well as those just got in the workforce). It is important to not yourself get affected by those random career myths and instead focus on what is important.

The ideal career choice right after the college may no longer provide satisfaction in few decades. It’s been reported that people generally change at least 4 to 5 jobs till they are satisfied with what they are doing.

Today we are going to bust all those career myths that you have been surrounded with till now. Here are the top 10 career myths you should know.

Career Myths #1: If you don’t find your passion, you’ll never be happy

This is probably the most widespread career myth I have ever come across, which is totally untrue. At an early age, most of the people don’t know what their passion is or what they love doing. It is important to like what you do but you don’t have to love it. So ignore this career myth and concentrate on finding a job that matches your skills, interest, and personality.

Career Myths #2: Your best Friend’s (or sibling’s) dream career will be yours too

Most commonly found among the fresher students looking for jobs or career after college or school respectively. The person with whom you are closest may have, what appears to be, the best career ever. You may think “if it’s good for him/her, it will be good for me too”. Make sure you carefully look into what you will be doing. Give a good thought about what you will be choosing and bust these career myths.

Career Myths #3: Choosing a career means deciding what I will do with the rest of my life.

That is the most common career myth I have seen amongst the youth. You will absolutely not end up doing what career you will choose right now.  A report says 75% of the people change their career over the time looking for better opportunities. It very common for a person to go to college, major in a line of study, work for a few years in that area and then find out it doesn’t suit them at all. When considering a career change, look at your past work history and education to see what skills might relate to the job you want.

Career Myths #4: Earning a Lot of Money Will Make You Happy

I agree money is important but it isn’t the only factor you should consider while choosing your career. There are many surveys already done indicating that money does not lead to job satisfaction. There are good number of people who enjoy their work more than the salary. No doubt you always have to consider earnings, among other things, when choosing a career but that should not be on your top 2. Just make sure you will earn enough to pay your bills 😉

Career Myths #5: Just choose the career and then everything will fall into place

Choosing a career is a great start, but there are lots of things you need to do after that. You need to constantly work on your skills to achieve your career goals. You cannot just sit back and expect things to fall into the place.

Career Myths #6: Working long hours at the office will get you promoted

Your employer would like to see the results and not the hours you spend in the office. Working overtime in the office is not path to success. When it’s time to get recognized, you are not judged by the hours but by your accomplishments in the office. Smart thing would be to prioritize your work and become more efficient, that way you can spend less time in the office and still impress the boss. It would also help you live a balanced lifestyle

Career Myths #7: You can’t quit a job before completing a year

That’s probably the most wide spread career myth, which is absolutely rubbish. You started a job and over time you realized it’s not same as you thought it would be. People are miserable around you and the flexibility you were promised is nowhere seen. But you still have to continue for atleast a year for your resume. That’s not a case any longer. Nowadays it’s common to have few jobs with short tenures, especially early in your career.

If you find out that your new job is not a good fit, start looking for other one immediately. Just be prepared for honest answer when a recruiter asks a reason for it, without being negative about your previous employer.

Career Myths #8: Your skills will go to waste if you change careers

No matter how many times you change careers or jobs, your skills are yours to keep. You can use many of them in a variety of occupations. You may not use them in exactly the same way, but you don’t need to worry that they will go to waste, they will always be very helpful.

Just figure out a way to apply those previous job skills into your new one and you are good to go and it could also help you to stand out of the crowd.

Career Myths #9: You must have one area of expertise

It is more likely than ever that your last job before retirement will be significantly different from the one you had at the beginning of your career. You may have to reinvent yourself many times during your career. It’s never a bad thing to learn new things. Keep learning and keep growing.

Career Myths #10: You won’t know anything about your career before you start

While it’s true that you can’t know all there is to know about a career until you take it and start pursuing it. But in the age of internet you can learn enough about it to make an educated decision about whether it would be a right fit for you or not.

The Bottom Line

Don’t get stuck to a career which is not growing. Let yourself grow with the times. My career was not what I expected 2 years back from now but it is certainly not boring.