For anyone looking to advance in their chosen career field, striving to get promoted can seem like a never-ending task.
After too many evenings spent volunteering to stay an extra hour and go above and beyond your job function, you may be wondering what else can I do to get my hard work recognized.
Well, now an HR expert has revealed the three things that can make employers cringe – and one of them may surprise you.
Could these mistakes cost you a promotion? (Getty Stock Images)
In an essay for Business Insider, US-based HR expert Valerie Rodriguez outlined the most common behaviors she sees among employees that she doesn’t recommend, from what they say to colleagues to how they behave at work social gatherings.
Don’t share too much about your personal life
The most obvious of the three mistakes Rodriguez pointed out is not sharing too many details about his personal life with his coworkers.
Now, when you spend around 40 hours a week with the same group of people, it’s understandable that you’d turn to them for advice about events happening in your life outside of work, however, Rodriguez urges people to remember that coworkers aren’t “automatically” your friends.
He highlighted an incident in which he confided to a colleague that he had had problems with his car.
A couple of months later, she had applied for a job opportunity that would require travel, only to find out that her manager had heard about the car confession and had negatively impacted her chances.
Sharing too much about your personal life can be detrimental. (Getty Stock Images)
“As a result, I didn’t get the job. I was very discouraged and felt burned out,” she wrote, adding that the situation made her realize that sharing even innocent details about her life can be used against her.
“It made me realize that I shouldn’t share things from my personal life with those I work with,” she added.
Don’t underestimate yourself
Most of us are taught to be humble and not brag too much about our accomplishments, and while arrogance can turn people off, Rodriguez added that being too humble can also hinder your progress at work.
“I’ve since learned that if you don’t stand up for yourself, no one else will,” he explained, adding that quieter, more humble employees are more likely to be passed over for promotions.
No one wants to be the person who overdid it at the work party. (Getty Stock Images)
Staying up too late at parties can be a bad idea
After working hard during your 9-to-5, a work party may seem like a good opportunity to let off some steam, but Rodriguez says it’s important to remember that these people are your colleagues at the end of the day.
While she’s not saying you should avoid work social gatherings altogether, staying up late into the night puts you at risk of committing an alcohol-induced faux pas.
And let’s face it, no one wants to end up being HR’s cautionary tale about the employee who “went overboard” at the work Christmas party.
