5 Risks to Never Take in Your Career

Summary: We have come up with the top five risks you should never take in your career if you want to be successful and move up the corporate ladder.

There is nothing wrong with taking risks in your career in an effort to advance, but you need to be wary of which ones are worth taking and which ones should be avoided entirely. In today’s post, we will discuss the top five risks you should never take in your career or risk losing your job.

Seeking Out Success

One of the worst risks you can take with your career is seeking out success. You should never intentionally seek success, or lament about your failures. When you do this, you are putting your career at risk by simply not focusing on the opportunities in front of you. In order to grow your career you need to focus on all of the opportunities presented. When you focus on success, you will fail to see the potential career paths that await you.

Become Complacent

No matter how long you have been with a company, you should never become complacent in your job. Even though you are great at what you do or how stable the company seems, change can come without notice. If your duties are handed over to someone else or the budget for your department is downsized, then your job might be in jeopardy. There is nothing wrong with continually browsing for a new job, even if you do not plan on making a switch right now. The more you stay active in the job market, the easier it might be to find a new job when the time comes.

Taking a Risk Near Retirement

If you are closing in on retirement, you should avoid taking career risks at all costs. Risk-taking in your career should be done when you are first starting out, within five years of graduating from college, so you do not harm your chances of a successful retirement. Risks you should avoid in the latter stages of your career include launching a new company, working in a foreign country or even switching careers.

Burn Bridges When Switching Jobs

No matter how long you have been in the professional world, you should never burn a bridge when you switch companies. Leaving a company for another job does not mean you will never see or work with those people again. This is why you must absolutely quit on solid terms. Do not upset your former co-workers or supervisors when leaving for a new job. You might apply for a job with your former company in the future or an old supervisor could become your manager at your new company. If you burn a bridge, it might come back to haunt you.

Create a False Offer

Negotiating a raise at your current job can be difficult and stressful, but it should never cause you to create a false job offer. Lying about having another offer on the table in order to negotiate a higher salary can easily be proven false by your employer and can lead to the unemployment line.