Nonprofit HR’s Blog

Have you ever switched jobs or moved to a new city and experienced an internal relief that no one knows you and you can start all over with fresh opinions of your abilities and character? It’s an interesting experience, isn’t it?

We all have bad habits. (I have a nice habit of showing my displeasure with eye-rolling and sighing.) We all do our best to keep these character flaws hidden from the public and co-workers.

Since we can’t all pack up and move it is often a good idea to take a snap-shot of where we are currently to make sure our personal flaws are not jeopardizing our career opportunities.

Karen Siwak has a good list of bad habits that indicate you have a job/attitude problem.

1. Your answer to, “How was your day?” usually involves gossip or complaints about your colleagues and clients.
2. The last workshop you took was a company-mandated workplace safety course two years ago, and you can’t remember anything except the chocolate-chip cookies that were served.
3. You haven’t added any new people to your network of contacts in the last month, and some of the contacts you do have won’t take your calls anymore.
4. You used to belong to an industry association, but you dropped out because FILL YOUR OWN EXCUSE IN HERE.
5. Your response to people’s suggestions automatically starts with, “Yes, but…”
6. When asked to get involved in a special project at work, your first thought is “Oh no, why me?” or, “Does this mean I have to stay late?”
7. Your boss’s boss has no idea what you do. Or worse: Your boss has no idea what you do.
8. You are under 45, and are already day-dreaming about your retirement.
9. The only person you’ve thanked in the last week was the person who handed you your change and cup of coffee.
10. Your reputation at work has started to include the preface, “Oh. He’s an interesting guy.”

Photo Credit: Kelly Nelson