Some of the traditional “good” career advice you hear commonly isn’t actually as good as it seems. For instance, “follow your passion” does not necessarily lead to a sustainable career. Monique Valcour wrote in a blog for the Harvard Business Review, “The ‘follow your passion’ self-help industry tends to under-emphasize this key point: all of the self-awareness in the world is of little use if you can’t pitch your passion to a buyer.” It is true that you are likely to word more productively and be happier in life if you work in a field about which you are passionate. However, sometimes you might have to settle for figuring out a way to incorporate your passion into your job rather than building your job around your passion.
Another example of “good” career advice that isn’t necessarily so is the push to get an MBA. “Get an MBA” is common career advice, but it isn’t always necessary or worthwhile. The degree is certainly a valuable one, but in some cases you might be able to make yourself stand out more by getting a different type of degree that will give you specialty knowledge other employees may not have.
