Aaron Goldsmid, 44 years old in San Francisco, who worked with companies like Microsoft, Facebook, Amazon and Twitter gave an interview to Business Insider and talked about the top three mistakes one shouldn't make in his career. Talking to Business Insider, he said he started becoming interested in tech in high school and decided to do graduation in computer science at the University of Colombia. In 2002, he started working at Microsoft until 2008. After that, he did some work for Amazon from 2011 to 2012 and then worked at Facebook from 2012 to 2014. He also worked at Twitter from 2014 to 2015, and also did some roles in some small companies in the midst. Right now, he is the head of product at Deel which is an HR and payroll platform.
After doing work in these tech companies for over two years, Goldsmid came to conclusion about some mistakes he shouldn't have made early on in his career and he should've planned more intentionally. The first mistake he said that people shouldn't make is only thinking just one job ahead. Instead, they should think two jobs ahead and ask themselves what they dislike in their current job and what roles they are aiming for in their next job. As people advance through the career, they should focus on the skills they need to acquire rather than a very fancy job title or position. Whenever people are jumping from one job to another, they should focus on the skill that job is offering, and then think two jobs ahead where they would need that skill.
Another mistake Goldsmid mentioned making in his career was not investing in corporate relationships. He said that it is easier for people in the company to think that everyone aligns with their ideas which is completely wrong. People need to insert themselves in other teams to solve some problems, and that requires having good communication skills. Not everyone has the same goals in mind, but through good communication and investing in a company's relationships, employees can respect your process even if it doesn't align with theirs.
The third mistake made by most people while working is trying to (copy to) be just like senior leaders or some role model in a corporate environment. Early workers often think that senior leaders are very successful and they want to be just like them. But success doesn't always equal good strategies that most new workers do not understand. New workers shouldn't try to imitate senior leaders because they always give their statements because they have proven themselves while the new workers have nothing to prove yet.
Image: DIW-Aigen
Read next: Hyper Connectivity in Workplaces Leaves Employees Overwhelmed and Anxious
After doing work in these tech companies for over two years, Goldsmid came to conclusion about some mistakes he shouldn't have made early on in his career and he should've planned more intentionally. The first mistake he said that people shouldn't make is only thinking just one job ahead. Instead, they should think two jobs ahead and ask themselves what they dislike in their current job and what roles they are aiming for in their next job. As people advance through the career, they should focus on the skills they need to acquire rather than a very fancy job title or position. Whenever people are jumping from one job to another, they should focus on the skill that job is offering, and then think two jobs ahead where they would need that skill.
Another mistake Goldsmid mentioned making in his career was not investing in corporate relationships. He said that it is easier for people in the company to think that everyone aligns with their ideas which is completely wrong. People need to insert themselves in other teams to solve some problems, and that requires having good communication skills. Not everyone has the same goals in mind, but through good communication and investing in a company's relationships, employees can respect your process even if it doesn't align with theirs.
The third mistake made by most people while working is trying to (copy to) be just like senior leaders or some role model in a corporate environment. Early workers often think that senior leaders are very successful and they want to be just like them. But success doesn't always equal good strategies that most new workers do not understand. New workers shouldn't try to imitate senior leaders because they always give their statements because they have proven themselves while the new workers have nothing to prove yet.
Read next: Hyper Connectivity in Workplaces Leaves Employees Overwhelmed and Anxious
