8 Pieces of Advice Every Young Professional Should Know

Michael Curry & Elizabeth Galbreath
September 20, 2022
Career Guide Article

These 8 pieces of advice will help you become the person you want to be!

If you’re like us, you have read your fair share of advice and information about how to be successful personally and professionally. We love to learn and seek ways to improve, so we’ve sought out mentors, joined professional organizations and created development plans. Even though we’ve tried to be proactive about our learning, some lessons you just need to learn the hard way.

We’ve learned a lot the hard way, so we compiled a list of our best advice in hopes that sharing these insights with you will prepare you for what’s to come in your career journey. Some of these lessons are harder than others, and this won’t be all you need to know as a young professional. We encourage you to use this list as a starting point to get curious, use your resources, and reach out to role models or mentors in your life as tools to reflect and learn more. We’re here because talking about your experiences is an important part of processing and bringing others with you as we all develop stronger leaders and professionals.

Here’s our 8 pieces of advice every young professional should know:

Take notes

You will absorb tons of information through conversations and meetings constantly. You may trust your brain to remember it all, but you probably won’t. Do your future self a favor and take notes in important conversations. If you don’t want to take notes, see if someone else is willing to do so, and then share. When you’re managing lots of tasks and ideas, this will help you remember decisions made and key thoughts.

Ask meaningful questions

When you ask thoughtful and intentional questions, you build deeper relationships. Open-ended and follow-up questions are your best friend.

These are more introspective and allow a person to “open up” more. By asking “how,” “why,” or “what,” you are setting yourself up for success. Asking good questions does not come without being a good listener. Often, we listen to respond, rather than listening to understand. This is where questions can begin to falter. Once you start the conversation, listen, allow it to flow, ask questions and see where the discussion takes you!

Work is not everything; take care of yourself

When you’re passionate about the work you do, or you just want to do a great job in your professional life, it’s easy to let work take over all aspects of your life. Remember that work is just a part of your life. Protect your “off” time, whether that’s nights and weekends or something else, and use it to rest, relax and connect with others. Find hobbies to pursue on your time off and meet people to form a community. Give yourself things to look forward to once work is over to encourage yourself to maintain a healthy balance. And if you’re asked to take on additional responsibilities that interfere with “you time,” say “no” if it will cost you the rest that you need. Sometimes it’s best to say “no” to something now in order to feel great about saying “yes” to something later.

Leaving a job is never easy

It can be tough navigating early career choices. From limited options to a suffocating job, you should never settle for less than what you deserve. Know that when you are moving on, you are not quitting on yourself. Finding a job that you love and enjoy is essential since you spend most of your time there. Strive to find a role that heavily aligns with your passions and values. There are always learning opportunities but challenge yourself to find the perfect fit for you.

Be open to the unexpected and embrace the uncertainty

You may have a plan or a major that you’d like to focus on for the rest of your life. This tip challenges that plan and reminds us that sometimes we don’t know everything, and we need to take risks and explore what we never expected. If COVID taught us anything, it proved that we need to embrace uncertainty. Not everyone knows what they’re doing, especially as things are changing so quickly, and that’s perfectly okay. Use this time as an opportunity to take chances, ask questions and change your plan.

Don’t compare yourself to others

This is one of the hardest things not to do. Every single person who you interact with has a completely different trajectory than you do. There is so much pressure to hit milestones at certain times. This can be finding a significant other, buying a house, having children or finding the perfect job. If we don’t accomplish those things by a certain time, we can begin to compare ourselves to where others are at in life. You have your own journey, and they have theirs. If you continue to seek out new opportunities and what is best for you, then you are doing everything right.

Seek feedback consistently

Feedback gets a bad reputation. When you realize feedback is the only way for you to grow and get better, it becomes your friend rather than your enemy. Seeking feedback is crucial since many people aren’t willing to give it voluntarily, out of fear of hurting someone’s feelings or it not being the “right time.” Others give feedback at the most inopportune times when you’re not prepared for it. If you seek feedback constantly, you are always “ready” to receive feedback and ask others for it, so they know you’re willing to receive it. People will respect you and your willingness to continuously look for ways to better yourself.

Reflect on your experiences

Reflection is an incredibly useful tool in every aspect of your life. It gives your brain a moment to pause amidst your busyness and think through perspectives, conversations and experiences. Self-reflection is crucial to understanding how you learn best and how you handle various situations. Allowing yourself time to process what you have experienced is necessary for knowing where to go from that experience. Taking five minutes a day to reflect is a good starting point and will help you find the method that works best for you!

As one final reminder, all this advice can be great, but only if you do something with it. In putting these tips to action, remember that it can feel overwhelming to be “perfect” or “great.” Aim for a realistic goal by simply trying to make progress and get better. Don’t incorporate all this advice into your life at one time; integrate them piece by piece into your life in a way that makes sense for you. We are excited for all that’s to come for you on the never-ending journey of lifelong learning – enjoy the ride!

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