The career advice that didn't age well

Welcome to a new season. Season 5, episode 1.

As I shared last week, no real rhyme or reason for the seasons or episodes. You only live once.

This week I want to discuss something I think my fellow millennials especially, will identify with. If you don’t, that’s cool too.

Let’s jump in.

When I was 22, even before that, I thought career advice was like some sort of instruction manual with a list of directions I needed to follow, and if I deviated away even slightly from the list, I was in trouble:

Do these things.
Avoid these mistakes.
Work hard.
Stay loyal.

Easy enough, right? The advice at the time seemed logical and the people delivering it to me I’m sure meant well, but it was likely just something that worked for them, or frankly, what they were told from their mentors. And so on and so forth.

Fast forward to today, and careers have changed. The job market looks way different. More people find side hustles or quit their full time gigs altogether to build something of their own. Career pivots have been normalized, and the college degree, imo, doesn’t carry the same weight it used to. The career advice I had received before just doesn’t hold up anymore.

Let’s talk about a few of these one-liners I would hear often, which I would definitely think twice about today:

1. Your degree will define your career: You know the drill; go to college to get a good job in that field. yadda yadda. Couldn’t be further from the truth, at least for me. Careers today evolve based on your skills, curiosities, relationships, and opportunities. Sometimes the degree isn’t even in the room with us! On a similar note, I believe strongly that GPAs do not belong on resumes. I don’t care if it’s a Summer internship mid-college career or you’re a senior applying for your first job. GPAs do not define you and they most certainly do not belong anywhere except a report card. All your degree is, is a degree. You gotta be proactive with whatever that next step is.

2. Follow your passion: Is it still fair to say this? Sure! But how ‘passion’ is framed looks different today. I never had that one single skill or experience that I did from a young age that carried me through my schooling and early career into adulthood. I just kinda figured it out and things evolved accordingly. Most folks today—myself included as someone who landed in Community Management after several years working in higher education—grow into loving what they become good at, what gives them autonomy, and what enables them to have an impact. Sometimes, that stuff finds you waaaaaay past early adulthood.

3. Climbing the ladder is the goal: Not everyone wants the top job. You can still grow without becoming an executive or landing in a management role. Today, I see more people optimizing for flexibility, interesting work, and lifestyle. And tbh, that’s how it should be. After all, your job is only that—a job. For me, I want to ensure I’m paid at a level that’s comparable to my experience; that’s factor #1 for me. Everything will follow from there.

4. Just work hard and people will notice: The truth is, lots of people work hard. The workplace rewards visibility, not just the effort you put in. Those folks advancing tend to communicate their work, build relationships, and make their impact visible. I’m not saying that across the board; I recognize each industry is different and every job has its own organizational challenges and dynamics; I just speak from my own experience.

What is some career advice or common one-liners you would hear as an early career professional or student that has become antiquated and no longer reflects how work or careers actually operate today?

Thanks for reading and for being here. I don’t take for granted that you care what I have to say. Or even if you don’t care, and you’re still here; thanks for being a fan anyway. ❣️

All my links are here. Let’s connect!