36 Career Tips No One Will Actually Tell You

1. Your college major is just a college major and nothing more.

Proven talent in other fields will speak for itself.

–Christopher Craft, Author at OPENRoutine.com

2. Always be kind to the receptionist, especially at an interview.

–Ambra Benjamin, Engineering Recruiter at Facebook

3. The weaknesses that you’re unaware of will hurt you the most.

Use any roadblocks in your career to determine your hidden weaknesses. This might be hard, and involve asking people who didn’t hire you exactly why they didn’t–but it will help you in the long run.

–David Osborne, President & Founder at Simmetry Solutions

4. The number one quality for getting hired is likability.

–John Fawkes, Blogger and Career Coach

5. Study and work in whatever seemingly unrelated areas you are interested in, even if it’s just a hobby.

That way, when your dream job/business comes up, you’ll be perfectly and uniquely qualified for it.

–Sarah Jansen, writer and editor

6. Learn how to properly use questions.

You can learn, get answers, give answers, mentor people and develop your reputation just by using questions. Learn to use questions in a non-threatening way and you will open up many doors.

–Jan Theys, author and lawyer

–Anonymous

8. Don’t just look up for opportunities, look laterally.

People with diverse experience usually progress faster than people with more experience.

–Vikrant Vaidya

9. Don’t be better, be different.

–John Fawkes, Blogger and Career Coach

10. The best job for you won’t be ready at the exact time you are “ready.”

You have to be open to and searching for opportunity all the time.

–John Fawkes, Blogger and Career Coach”>Mark Bimson, Project Manager

11. Jobs are a marathon, not a sprint.

People who always work 80-hour weeks will have to compensate somehow and they’ll be slowed down in the long run.

–Michael O. Church

12. Don’t complain about Mondays.

–John Smart

13. Sometimes it’s better to share credit for something even if you did most of the work.

You’l be building allies and creating a team.

–Jane Chin

14. Do not underestimate the power of social rituals.

–Jane Chin

15. Talk openly about your failures.

People will respect and trust you if they see that you’re taking risks and aren’t ashamed to learning from them.

–Mira Zaslove

16. Give (deserved) praise to your coworkers.

It makes you both look good. Even (or especially) if they did something better than you.

–Satvik Beri, Data Scientist

17. Ask your boss what their biggest problem is and make it go away.

–Virginia Backaitis

18. Your main goal at work should be to learn and contribute.

Success and promotion will follow from there.

–Laura Cooke

19.

–Sreeraman Thiagarajan, Vice President at Piblicis Beehive

20. You can learn a lot hanging out by the printer.

–Anonymous

21. The people you know who leave your current company are often times more valuable to you than those still with your company.

–James Schek

22. As an employee, you are essentially a small business of one.

Your employer is the customer, and you must focus on how to increase your skills to be more desirable.

–David Osborne, President & Founder at Simmetry Solutions

23. Do everything you can to make your boss look good.

They will remember this when it is time for a promotion or a raise.

–Jim Fletcher

24. Do NOT make enemies if you can avoid it.

–Jeff Kesselman

25. Never, ever cook fish in the office microwave.

–Ryan Harvey, Institutional Investment Consultant

26. You don’t get ahead by doing your job well–you get ahead by making new things happen that weren’t a part of your job description.

–Victor Wong, CEO of PaperG

27. Make sure people know when your work is successful.

–Satvik Beri

28. When you get promoted, the majority of your work relationships are going to change.

People that were comfortable with who you were will now test you.

–Rohan Light

29. Don’t look too busy.

–Mira Zaslove

30. The way to get more responsibility is to build up trust with smaller things.

–Anonymous

31. If you need to get in favor with someone, ask for their advice.

–Ankur Gupta

32. But don’t take too much advice.

Too much advice, especially conflicting advice, will scare you from starting anything new or taking big risks.

–Darren Beattie, Fitness Coach

33.

–Anonymous

34. The qualities that got you your first promotion won’t always be the ones to get your next one.

At higher levels, employees are judged on their ability to deliver future value to the company in ways that are not taught or explained to them: most importantly, how much business are they are able to bring in.

–Victor Wong, CEO of PaperG