Professional development is a lifelong learning habit. It’s also a practice that should begin as soon as you enter the workforce, if not as you prepare to do so.
Keep in mind, however, that professional development isn’t simply about taking accreditation courses and accruing continuing education units or “CEUs.” Learning from past mistakes and forming good professional habits are also essential to forging a strong career path. Better still avoid some of those mistakes entirely so you can spend more time establishing best practices that will benefit you in the long term.
From the job application process to raising your hand for a promotion, there are plenty of pitfalls as well as lots of opportunities to improve and develop. So we’re highlighting some of the top blunders to avoid in addition to some great daily practices to transform into regular habits.
Avoid These 5 Mistakes
1. You don’t have a career path mapped out for yourself or you don’t update it.
Hiring managers are known to ask job candidates where they see themselves in five or 10 years. While the question doesn’t quite account for market factors like technological changes to the way we work, it’s still important to have a somewhat well-defined idea of where you would like to be in five, 10, 15, and 20 years. You want to create this roadmap, not simply to share during job interviews, but to create a guide for yourself.
You’ll certainly make changes to this plan as you grow in your career. Life, too, will likely cause you to make changes to your plan. But the idea is to create career goals for yourself in order to stay motivated and on track.
2. Money is the only metric you use to determine the value of a job offer.
If you’re basing your decision to take or leave a job offer based on salary or wages alone, you’re making a mistake. Even if the job offers more money than what you were previously earning, it could be a deal with the devil. You may find that you dislike the actual work or your boss, coworkers, or even the company culture once you’re in the job.
Another possibility is that the job doesn’t align with your long-term career goals. In short, don’t shortchange yourself or your career goals by basing your decision to accept or decline a job offer based on salary alone. You’ll spend at least 40 hours per week at work and if you’re miserable during that time, no amount of money will be enough to make up for your unhappiness.
3. You ignore red flags.
If anything about the job application or interview process gives you pause, walk away. This could include a hiring manager speaking poorly of previous employees with the company, signs of a company in financial distress such as a number of other positions that will not be replaced, or questions you ask during the interview that goes unanswered.
Disregard anything that you initially found questionable in order to accept a job offer and you will very likely regret it. Whatever the issue may be, you will have to contend with it on a daily basis. Plus, once you’re in the position, it will become more complicated to make a quick exit unless you’re prepared to just walk away and create a gap on your resume.
4. You aren’t looking for a new job.
Our parents or at least our grandparents worked in an era when employees stayed with companies for years and in many cases lifetimes. But times have changed and promoting from within is no longer standard practice, although it does happen.
So once you start a new job, give yourself three months to get a solid grasp of the role and then start looking. It will probably take you at least a year to find a new job and there are no guarantees your current employer will offer you a promotion.
If you do get a job offer, you can also ask your current employer to match the increased salary so long as you’re prepared to accept the new job if that request is denied.
5. You get caught up in office gossip and politics.
Avoid this at all costs. Gossip and office politics are major contributors to toxic workplaces. They are also strong indicators that you need to look for a new job and that –whether or not you participate in the negativity—you will be a target of it at some point. If you so get caught up in it, you also risk being viewed negatively by supervisors and coworkers and that can hurt your career prospects with an organization.
Develop These 5 Professional Habits
1. Network.
You should definitely get to know your colleagues at work. This includes people who work above you, below you, and in other departments. Think of this as “building your brand” internally. But don’t limit your professional network to your job. Whether you attend in-person or virtual networking events as well as events in your industry, you should always seek out new professional connections that could potentially help in developing and improving your skill set and keep up with what’s going on in your sector. Who knows? You may even meet your next employer via networking.
2. Create your own career development program.
This shouldn’t be confused with mapping out a career path, although it could be part of your overall career path. Career development is about building upon skills and knowledge that you already have as well as acquiring new professional skill sets. They can help you improve in a current role and/or prepare for future positions that you aspire to.
If your employer doesn’t offer a program, you should identify some courses that are in line with your career goals and in your price range. They can prove good discussion fodder in future job interviews where you can talk about how you’ve been preparing to take on more responsibility or how the courses have helped you excel in past roles.
3. Identify at least two potential mentors.
First, be sure to ask in job interviews if the company would be willing to pair you with a mentor or two. If the company does have a formal process for doing this, you can try to seek a mentor out once you get started.
Get to know some of the company’s leaders and once you identify those that have traits compatible with mentorship, ask if they would be willing to meet with you once a week or once a month for 30 minutes.
Networking may also be helpful in finding and identifying mentors. But start the process by first knowing what you want out of mentorship and what traits are important to you in a mentor.
4. Follow industry news and trends.
You want to be on top of your game as far as what’s going on in the hospitality and restaurant industries. It will help to come across to management as knowledgeable, informed and interested in what you do and in the business. Keeping up with current hospitality and restaurant industry trends will also enable you to speak intelligently in job interviews and to ask informed questions.
5. Schedule 30 minutes to an hour of exercising or reading.
Don’t let yourself become a slave to work. Nothing good will come of being too dedicated an employee. So be sure to spend some time on yourself. Thirty minutes of exercise –even if you just go for a walk—will help you clear your mind and reduce stress. Reading for pleasure also helps strengthen your mental focus and concentration.
Plus, you’ll also find that leaders in the workplace will sometimes speak lightly about their personal interests. So these activities will allow you to participate in those conversations.