Make These 5 Common Career Mistakes and You Get the Pink Slip

Junior worker getting fired by senior manager, pointing his hand and finger. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

You graduate out of a good university and give multiple rounds of interviews to finally land your dream job, but did you know you may be given the pink slip even for seemingly trivial mistakes such as turning up late or being too open on Facebook?

Avoid these five commonly made mistakes if you want to retain your job.

1. Turning up late to work

According to a survey by Career Builder UK, one million people were laid off in 2008 for reaching office late. Many people overlook the importance of punctuality and end being late to work consistently. Excuses like your car breaking down or going to jury duty does not even cover you under the law in many places. A casual attitude towards work timings is a red flag and employers brand you as irresponsible and casual. Employers expect you to be hard working and turn up on time so that you start the day on a productive note.

2. Bad mouthing your colleagues

While gossiping and bad mouthing co-workers might give you a good laugh, the truth is you can be liable for disciplinary action for this and might get terminated. A survey conducted by TheLadders showed that about 38.4% of the employees fired were because they indulged in using bad language. Every organisation tries to maintain a clean and healthy work environment and any employee defiling it is not taken to lightly.

3. Using the business hours / work computer for personal work

While you might be tempted to take a break and unwind on Facebook or catch up with your friends online during your working hours, you might be asked to leave immediately when caught doing it. Companies pay you and expect you to put in the entire work time working sincerely on your project. Whiling time away brings down the productivity of the organisation and they are better off hiring someone more serious and with more commitment towards work.

4. Being too open on social media

A lot of you are very open about what you share on your social media platforms without realising the implications of your action. Make sure that you check your company’s social media policies so that you do not end up violating them. Companies do not encourage sharing work related information on account of confidentiality and if you end up sharing something very critical, you can be sure of facing its dire consequences. Moreover, some companies have media spokespersons or company representatives and only they are allowed to speak on behalf of the organisation. They do not allow employees to share their personal views about the company on a public platform.

5. Inappropriate relationship with colleagues

You might think flirting with your charming co-worker is harmless fun, but most companies do not encourage such relationships in the work place as it affects productivity, and worse, it affects the entire work schedule if there are break-ups involved. Moreover, what you might think as flirting might be construed in a negative light by your colleague and you could be sued for sexual harassment!

Go the extra mile to make sure you do not make the above mistakes if you are looking for a career graph that rises up fast. There is no dearth of hard working employees and hiring managers are always on the look out for the best talent. Make one mistake and you end up getting the pick slip.

Zoey Smith has been an educator with Anglia Ruskin University and is presently associated with Buy Essay as a Student Counselor. She loves to help students improve their essay writing skills. In her free time, she loves to read and travel.  Zoey’s Google Plus profile is https://plus.google.com/u/0/101357168680139000670