Ex-Recruiter Shares 3 Career Lessons She Had To Learn The Hard Way So You Don’t Have To
Save yourself the trouble and take her advice.
insta_photos | Shutterstock A lot in life requires trial and error, and sometimes we simply won't know something is a mistake until after the fact. Still, it's important to learn from those who came before us and take their advice into account, lest we fall into the same avoidable traps.
Caty, a recruiter turned career coach on TikTok, set out to help people avoid the mistakes she made throughout her career journey.
Here are 3 career lessons an ex-recruiter learned the hard way:
1. Don’t take a job only for the money.
“I took a job just for the money and I was miserable,” Caty admitted. “I knew immediately that when I accepted it, it was misaligned to my values but I took it because I wanted a paycheck and it wasn't worth the money.”
At first glance, this may seem like a counterintuitive take. After all, isn’t the point of working getting paid? Well, yes and no. We all certainly work to earn a paycheck, but working a job you hate 40 hours a week can be detrimental to your mental health and overall well-being.
Forbes noted that working a job you hate can increase your risk of illness, weight gain, anxiety, depression, and stress, and negatively impact your quality of sleep, motivation, and confidence.
Of course, turning down a higher salary isn't always feasible — we all have bills to pay. However, if you can avoid it, don’t let the paycheck sway you.
2. Don’t follow your boss to a new organization.
insta_photos | Shutterstock
Leadership changes are hard, especially when someone feels like a mentor to you. However, Caty said it isn’t worth it to quit your job and start a new one with a new company just because your boss is doing the same.
“I followed a leader to an organization,” she recalled. “They left. They recruited me to come in. But it wasn’t my career path, it was theirs, and shortly after, they left. I was solving a problem for them, and it made me feel like I was used.”
Fast Company insisted this is not a decision to take lightly. Just because you like your boss doesn’t mean you’ll like the new company — or like who they are at the new company, for that matter. Ultimately, you have to maintain autonomy over your career. It’s your path, not your boss’.
3. Don’t feel forced to do something because you’re good at it.
DimaBerlin | Shutterstock
Just because you’re good at something doesn’t mean it has to be the way you earn your paycheck. Caty knows this personally, as she has fantastic recruiting skills, but found that she couldn’t stand doing that as a career.
“I love teaching,” she clarified. “I love guiding, but I don’t actually enjoy the process of recruitment anymore. And I fought for that for so long because I was paid so well, and that’s what they call the golden handcuffs.”
Author and executive coach Karen Elizaga told Glamour, “You can work at getting good at something — you don’t have to be naturally skilled at it to excel. On the other hand, it’s much harder — although not impossible — to manufacture love for something just because you’re skilled.” She encouraged readers to follow their passions and do what they love when possible.
Ultimately, every career will come with bumps in the road. Still, learning from those who came before you can be extremely helpful. That way you can avoid their pitfalls and can make different mistakes all of your own.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.