15 career development mistakes to avoid

As Career Development Month nears an end, it’s time to look at tips for developing an enjoyable and productive career.

While I could have selected dozens of positive actions for building your career, it’s quicker -- and possibly more instructive -- to focus on the smaller number of missteps that can threaten to sink the project.

Following are 15 career development mistakes to avoid, taken from my conversations with career counseling clients over the years.

Career development mistake 1: Believing you need to choose one career over all others, and that it will last you a lifetime. When it comes to career planning, it's better to approach the situation as you would a box of chocolates: Take two -- they're small. Given the prospect of working several decades, you should think in terms of several five- or 10- year careers rather than one whopper 50-year work plan.

Mistake 2: Following the career goals others hold for you. So your parents always wanted you to be a teacher -- so what? If they wanted you to be a sumo wrestler, would you feel guilty about not doing that? You're the one who has to do this work every day; you should get to choose what it is.

Mistake 3: Not giving fair consideration to the career ideas others have for you. Of course, your parents do know you very well. If they've always imagined you as a teacher, it's common sense to at least consider which aspects of teaching you might enjoy using in whatever career you eventually choose.

Mistake 4: Undereducating yourself. I'm not a fan of the automatic college degree, morphing into a master's for everyone. Education bloat is a real phenomenon in my book. But each individual needs to develop skills and take the appropriate level of training to provide options and open doors in their field. To do otherwise is to limit your future.

Mistake 5: Underresearching a career path. One happy or unhappy worker can disproportionately impact your career choices. Likewise, choosing a career according to labor market statistics can be disastrous. To fully understand a career path, your best option is to try the work before you commit, perhaps as a volunteer or apprentice.

Mistake 6: Not building a career inside your current company. People often assume they must leave their current workplace in order to change their actual work. This may be true, but the option of staying should be explored.

Mistake 7: Not being willing to leave your current company to build your career. On the flip side, people can cling to the familiar longer than they should. Of course, it's hard to let go of something certain to chase something unknown. If it were easy, everyone would do it.

Mistake 8: Taking on a victim mentality. Never say, "I would have been a [dream profession], but they wouldn't let me." They? If you can't get into the training or get the promotion, go for a lower level in the field and build from there. Who cares if it takes longer?

Mistake 9: Not building steppingstones or bridges between careers. Let's say you have chosen to be an IT programmer. For career resiliency, you should add another skill set. If you learn to manage projects, for example, you can "steppingstone" up to a management level in your field, or "bridge" out to project management in an entirely different field.

Mistake 10: Thinking you're too busy to develop your career. Sure, it's time-consuming to take classes or meet with a counselor or cross-train at work. But when, exactly, are you going to be less busy?

Mistake 11: Not seeking mentors or advisers to give you perspective. Enough said.

Mistake 12: Not asking for raises, responsibilities or training from your employers. Partnering with your manager to build your career is key to growing within your organization. And hearing "no" is key to knowing where you stand, in case you need to realize your goals elsewhere.

Mistake 13: Not networking outside your organization. You need to know what's going on in your field, and you need to build contacts in case your job evaporates. Professional associations, conferences and classes are all good places to start.

Mistake 14: Not building leadership roles. The possibilities are endless: lead a committee (safety, newsletter, holiday, food drive, etc.), become someone's mentor, give a presentation, write an article ... your choice isn't as important as your commitment to leading something. This is a key career-building skill and an important source of confidence and pride.