Career advice to live your life by

Every day, our candidates ask our consultants for advice on navigating the way to the next step on their career ladder. Our experienced consultants are always happy to share their advice, but we thought it might be useful to share some of the best advice from our network of successful professionals. 

We asked some industry professionals for the best career advice they’ve ever received and here are our 5 favourite little pearls of wisdom. 

1) It's a small world

‘The industry is relatively small and you never know who you will end up working with again, so make sure you leave on a positive note.’

When you’re looking to move, it can be tempting to focus on your future, but keeping your current employers happy, even if you are working your notice period, could pay dividends in the long run.  
 

2)  Be kind

‘Be kind and light-hearted when dealing with people.’

If you are pleasant and enjoyable to work alongside, not only will you get more out of your teams, you’ll also be remembered when colleagues leave for other opportunities and your natural network will grow organically.
 

3) Get out of your comfort zone

‘Find a new challenge whenever you feel comfortable with your job.’

This is a good tip to avoid falling into that rut. Face new challenges to learn and improve. If you don’t, you could find yourself stuck in a stagnant career.
 

4) There's a difference between listening and hearing

‘Listening is key, always make sure you understand what is expected of you, don’t make assumptions!’

Whether your peers, managers, clients or customers are internal stakeholders or external customers. The industry can be very subjective. Only by making sure you understand exactly what is expected of you can you be certain of making a good impression. 
 

5) Be open-minded

‘Make sure you keep an open mind and always be inquisitive.’ 

The challenge with most things is that until you know them, you don’t realise that you didn’t know. This pearl of career wisdom completely addresses this. By asking questions, you’ll learn new things and you’ll be able to evolve with technology and trends. Your colleagues will also appreciate the interest you show in them and their individual areas, making it great advice for building your network too. 

Whether from a teacher, a relative, a manager or a colleague, the best career advice always stays with you. Remember it throughout your career and revert to it when it’s time to make tough choices.