10 Common Career Tips That Might Be Wrong for You

Advice about the working world can seem helpful, but following it may not help your career flourish.!

- By Jill Duffy

You’ll get plenty of sound career advice during your lifetime. Much of it will be valuable, but some of it will come at the wrong time or be the opposite of what you need to hear at that moment. Depending on your immediate needs and long-term desires, good career advice can turn out to be wrong for you.

Curious to hear other people’s experiences, I asked around and collected ten pieces of career advice that don’t always hold up.

1. GO WHERE THE MONEY IS

There are high-paying jobs, and then there are jobs that come with lower base pay but generous compensation packages that lead to more guaranteed money in the long term—and sometimes a happier life. The classic example: any job with a pension. If you collect a full pension for 20 or 30 years after retirement and have additional retirement savings, you might end up making more money in the long run than taking a job with more immediate payoff.

Another example: Positions that qualify for a Student Loan Forgiveness program, which can knock tens of thousands of dollars off your debt after you meet the requirements. For example, Public Service Loan Forgiveness and Teacher Loan Forgiveness benefit employees of non-profit organizations, government, and qualifying educational institutions. These jobs sometimes also come with incredible job security, so you don’t have to worry about being laid off.

Make sure you include the value of a pension, student loan forgiveness, job security, and other factors beyond the immediate salary when weighing your options.