5 Job Skills That Can Hurt Your Career

[Aunt Spiker]

5 Job Skills That Can Hurt Your Career- Yahoo! HotJobs

good advice?

I disagree, here:

1. An ability to multitask
Juggling several activities at once--say, listening in on a conference call, responding to email messages, and composing a project update for your boss--is a skill almost every worker claims to have or wishes to possess. But in actuality, multitasking is rarely effective. Why? Because constantly switching from one undertaking to another prevents you from giving your entire focus to any one task. As a result, your work quality is likely to suffer, and you may even spend more time finishing the projects than you would have if you'd tackled each separately.

Multitasking is ONLY when you can do more than one thing at a time - and maintain focus on each of things equally well.

If you cannot focus completely on each thing then you aren't actually multi-tasking, you're just too damn busy

 

[Slartibartfast]

5. A strong technical streak
Whether you're an accountant, administrative assistant, or IT professional, it goes without saying that you must have a firm grasp of the technical requirements of your position. But there's more to succeeding on the job than being familiar with generally accepted accounting principles, for instance. You'll do yourself a disservice if you focus on your job's technical aspects entirely. Interpersonal skills--the ability to communicate and collaborate with diverse audiences, especially--are in high demand by employers. Soft skills become even more important as you move up the ranks. Often, individuals are chosen to lead project teams or oversee groups of employees in large part because of their interpersonal abilities, not their technical skills.

I have made this mistake. Focusing on job skills to the exclusion of people. I am trying to learn those soft skills though.

 

[Aunt Spiker]

This is my fault:

3. A can-do spirit
Every company wants employees who won't wilt in the face of a challenge. But an upbeat attitude can backfire if you sugarcoat problems or make promises you can't keep ("Sure, we can deliver twice as much in half the time!"). The best employees possess an optimistic yet realistic outlook.

An overly positive attitude also can be problematic if you don't allow yourself to vent frustration or disappointment when faced with significant setbacks. If you lose a major client or are passed over for a promotion, for instance, it's good to take time to acknowledge the loss, and then use that reflection period to develop a plan for moving forward. Just be sure you don't dwell on a setback or respond in an unprofessional way.

Every time I've had a problem it's been because I ALWAYS bite off more than I can chew. I get cocky, feel I know everything and fail miserably. . .this attitude gets me a good job, but loses it just the same (hence why I've been a manager 4 times - you can't be can-do cocky and maintain a balanced job as a manager)

 

[Gardener]

I disagree, here:


Multitasking is ONLY when you can do more than one thing at a time - and maintain focus on each of things equally well.

If you cannot focus completely on each thing then you aren't actually multi-tasking, you're just too damn busy

I see advantages and disadvantages to either, myself. The multitaskers do waste time in transition, but if they have a well developed executive function they can make excellent trouble shooters. The pack horses, on the other hand, can get a lot done, but they often have tunnel vision as they usually don't have much of an executive finction, so can ignore that which is both important and pressing in favor of completing tasks that are less so.

 

[rivrrat]

I agree with all of that save the multitasking. Multitasking is the ONLY way I can work. I cannot mentally focus on ONE thing for hours on end. If I do not switch my focus, I just totally zone out. I am MUCH more effective if I'm multitasking.

 

[Gipper]

I'm an accountant. I don't have interpersonal skills.

 

[justabubba]

i like Warren Buffett's criteria for employee selection
he wants people who are

smart
ambitious
honest

but recognizes if they have the first two qualities but are without the third, it could cost him significant money

nothing in that yahoo article gives me heartburn
the OPs issue is with multi-tasking, and i see her point. but i also see this ability as being able to have the initiative to recognize the need to change the employee's work priorities based on what develops, rather than staying on a singular task which may no longer have the top priority

 

[Mell]

Multitasking is ONLY when you can do more than one thing at a time - and maintain focus on each of things equally well.

If you cannot focus completely on each thing then you aren't actually multi-tasking, you're just too damn busy

Women apparently have a high ability to multi task. I do it all the time. It helps me stay interested. I get bored with anything that goes on continuously for a long time.

A female magazine article writer told me it is how she deals with writers block. If she hits a block with one article, she switches to another, and this apparently helps get rid of the writers block so she can go back and continue the first article later. She says it is her method of meeting her pressing deadlines.

 

[Mell]

I agree with all of that save the multitasking. Multitasking is the ONLY way I can work. I cannot mentally focus on ONE thing for hours on end. If I do not switch my focus, I just totally zone out. I am MUCH more effective if I'm multitasking.

This is exactly what I am like. In order to work for long periods of time I need to multitask to stay interested.

 

[bicycleman]

These are nice to know if I were 20 again and just starting out, but I will be retiring either next year, but definitely 2012. Advancing is over for me. Employers don't discriminate against old people, though, i just lack the qualifications they are looking for. My next job will be working down at the funeral parlor with dead people. I should be able to do that well. I've had lots of experience working with my management.