Five pieces of career advice you should probably ignore

By J&C Team

During your job search, you will have been given tons of career advice, most of which is extremely outdated or inaccurate, and so no help to you whatsoever. Of course your CV can be longer than a page, and although networking is helpful, remember, it’s not the most important part of the process.

 

1. Include every job you’ve ever had on your CV

CV’s are certainly a way of showcasing your skills, but your potential employer is only interested in how your skills are relevant to their company. If you have quite a lengthy employment history, don’t waste precious space on your CV by listing each and every one, pick the most recent and the most relevant – chances are, the employer isn’t going to be very interested that you used to babysit for your neighbours on weekends.

 

2. Apply for everything

This does seem the sensible thing to do right? Well no, not necessarily. While it’s understandable that you’d want to increase your chances of finding a job in any way you can, and casting a wide net seems like a good strategy, you certainly don’t want to turn your job search into an assembly line of generic CVs and cover letters.

 

 3. You must stay in a job for more than a year – even if you hate it

While job hopping will reflect poorly on your CV, sticking out a job, even if you hate it will have bad consequences, the longer you stay in a stressful and unfulfilling environment, the more likely it is that you will end up leaving on bad terms, which may end up worse for you.  The same goes for ‘never quit a job until you have another’ – if you can deal with the financial fall, this will by no means do you damage.

 

4. Without a degree/experience, you won’t be considered

In many professions, a degree is necessary – vital even – but a lot of the time this isn’t the case.  Many employers prefer taking on a candidate who can demonstrate experience in that specific role.

Similarly, if you’re a graduate straight out of university, it’s very easy to feel defeated before you’ve even begun, but don’t let lack of experience hold you back from exploring careers. Many employers now have their very own graduate schemes, which will train you up in everything you need to know.

 

5. Don’t bring up salary

If the employer has explicitly included the salary on the job specification, then there is no real need to ask them again. It will only demonstrate your lack of attention. Although many people you speak to will advise you that talking about salary is a huge ‘no-no’, it’s probably better to have some discussion about it before you go on to three more interviews before realizing you’ll be taking a massive pay cut.