First Career Job: How to Not Be Pigeon-Holed | #CareerTips #DreamBig

I have traveled far from my first career job and learned much on how to keep the journey going. I invite you to add to this post your lessons learned from your career journey! So the question is, how can you avoid pigeon-holing from your first career job?



First Career Job: Image is Train Tracks leading through opened sided tressle bridge

Fist Career Job: Avoid Being Pigeon-Holed. Image by Thomas Hawk via Flickr Creative Commons License.

Image by Thomas Hawk via Flickr Creative Commons License.



How to Keep Growing From Your First Career Job

When I realized early on that I was not meant to teach high school mathematics after all, I had to get a job and support myself another way. I took a job as a computer programmer. That set me on a road of being a techie. I could do the work. Yet once again, I knew that wasn’t my destiny. Now thirty years later, I reflect on how I moved on each time until I found my fit.

    First Career Job: From the Beginning

  1. Learn something new each day that is unrelated to your job. The pattern you establish from the start is how you will travel your whole journey.

  2. If you don’t like your first career job, take time after work each day to list what you don’t like. If it’s the work itself, start dreaming of what your dream job would include. Yet if it’s the company you are working for, then start networking so you can move on to another company.

  3. Show your natural talents every day. Don’t wait for managers and leaders to unearth them. As you show them, you become much more aware of where your natural talents can take you. And moreover, you may discover that dream job right where you are.

  4. Talk to other people about their careers and what they like about them. This was a tremendous help to me. Curiosity propels your career journey.


  5. And Along the Way

  6. Always practice “less and more.” Where are you getting stuck? In the negativity of your current situation? Be “less” negative and “more” active. Forcing yourself to have a positive attitude rarely works. But taking active steps to learn and move on that journey is *always doable and helpful.

  7. Ask yourself, what attitudes and mindsets am I around? Routine? Procedural? Negative? Then start associating with curious, open-minded, and through-provoking people in your personal life. You are taking a journey to career happiness inside and outside of work.

  8. Join a group or start a group. What new road do you want to explore? Get on it. Never wait until you are miserable in your career to start networking. The networking and discussion groups uplift you from your misery toward your happiness.

  9. Get a coach or a journey partner to move you along. I tapped a career coach at a key point along the away and what a difference it made!



Your Turn

I am sure there are more lessons I have learned along the way. I may even write a follow-up post to this to reveal my next set of insights from my first career job. Meanwhile, what have you learned about how you grew from your first career job?

From my professional experience to your success,
Kate Nasser, The People Skills Coach™

Related Posts:
Your People Skills Readiness Can Seize Every Opportunity
Positive Attitudes Succeed, Negativity Protects the Status Quo

©2020 Kate Nasser, CAS, Inc. Somerville, NJ. I appreciate your sharing the link to this post on your social streams. However, if you want to re-post or republish the content of this post, please email info@katenasser.com for permission and guidelines. Thank you for respecting intellectual capital.


Kate Nasser, The People Skills Coach™, delivers coaching, consulting, training, and keynotes on leading change, employee engagement, teamwork, and delivering the ultimate customer service. She turns interaction obstacles into interpersonal success. See this site for workshop outlines, keynote footage, and customer results.



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2 Responses to “First Career Job: How to Not Be Pigeon-Holed | #CareerTips #DreamBig”

  1. Alli Polin says:

    I loved my first career job and still look back on it fondly. Instead of learning that the work wasn’t for me, it was the type of organization. In the company where I worked the philosophy was “work hard, play hard,” and I was all in initially. Over time, my priorities shifted and when I had my first child they tried to get me to stay on part-time. However, seeing others in “part-time” positions I knew that meant 40, not 20 hours a week. After that, I intentionally looked to work for small organizations where I could do work I loved and have the flexibility to live the life I wanted to lead. In the end, the best way to to do that was to go out on my own.

    It’s always important to look back on where we were to choose where we’re going with more purpose and intention. Will share, Kate!

    Alli

    • Kate Nasser says:

      I love it when you leave your personal experiences in these comments Alli. It expands and breathes additional insight into the post.

      Thanks so much!
      Kate

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