5 lies you’re often told about the working life

5 minutes read 

Career advice is easy to find; but it often involves platitudes, or beliefs from a previous generation. The past decade has been an incredible period of innovation, with online access and disruptive business models changing the culture of work; and with the onset of Covid-19, there’s no denying Singapore graduates will be entering into a “new norm”.

It’s important to identify the deceptions or simply obsolete beliefs about the working life today:

1. Nine-to-five employment is the safest way to make a living

Covid-19 saw a slew of retrenchments, even among the Professional, Managerial, Executive, and Technician (PMET) group. Re-employment is not as quick or easy as it once was, and here’s something important to consider: Being re-employed doesn’t mean getting your old income back. After all, a retrenched manager, who once made $10,000 a month and is now in a blue-collar job making $2,500 a month, is still “re-employed”.

The fact is, nine-to-five employees can find themselves retrenched in their middle or later ages (40 to 50 years old). At such a late age, it can be difficult to start again; and unless they’re lucky enough to have upgraded or been in lucrative fields, there’s a risk their income levels may never recover.

Nassim Nicholas Taleb, probably one of the most famous experts on risk in the financial system, has pointed out that the self-employed are actually more secure than regular employees.

This is because the self-employed are forced to adapt to market demands, and tend to have multiple income streams (i.e., they have multiple clients, whereas employees have only one income stream). While their income may fluctuate, it does not crash to a complete zero, like a retrenched employee.

So don’t mistake complacency for security, by assuming a nine-to-five job is the most stable.

2. Flexible hours means a less demanding workplace

Be careful not to conflate “flexible hours” with “fewer hours”. Flexible hours could indeed mean the ability to spontaneously take tomorrow off; or to do all your work in the wee hours of three to four in the morning and then sleep till noon.

However, that does not mean you get to work less. It’s entirely possible to have flexible hours, but end up working twice as much as someone with a regular work schedule. You may be able to take a day off on short notice; but you might ultimately be workin six days a week as opposed to seven.

For this reason, it’s important to understand that flexible hours don’t necessarily give you work-life balance; they may just give you work-life choices (i.e., you can choose when to work, but you’re still overworked!)

 

It’s important to understand the scope of the job, and what it takes out of you. Speak to friends, family, or anyone else in the same line, to find out how demanding it truly is. Don’t jump at the chance for just any flexible hours job.

If you believe this, we have some bad news. A more contemporary understanding of workplace relations shows that you can’t really avoid office politics, even when working from home.

 In fact, avoiding office politics – as it’s often defined – can end up hurting your career instead. This is because “avoiding politics” often means refusing to get to really know your colleagues. It can mean that, after three or four years of working with them, you

don’t know anything about their children graduating, one of them struggling through a divorce, a health condition that’s a challenge to them, etc. 

 

Not knowing these details can cause you to accidentally make insensitive decisions, or make you look clueless. You might not, for instance, realise that your comments about parents who “work all day” are painful to single parents who have to leave their children

at home. Or you might end up picking two project members, who have a long history of disliking each other (thus affecting your own work).

 

We’re not encouraging you to “”play office politics” of course. Rather, the point is that you cannot have your head in the sand, in an attempt to avoid all social interaction with colleagues.

 

Doing so will impede your own work in indirect ways; and it could render you inappropriate for leadership positions.

 

4. It’s good to be very defined about your job role

You may be advised not to “let people take advantage of you”, by making you do extra work. While there’s some truth to it, it can be damaging when taken too far. You can always draw a line when asked to do something, and say it’s not in your job description. Sometimes, you may even win and be left alone.

 

But when the time comes for a cool overseas training trip, or a raise, or an opening higher up, you’ve raised the chances you won’t get it. In the eyes of your boss or colleague, you might just be seen as “the one who said no”, at a time when your help would have made a difference.

 

You may find that you have a dozen accomplishments to your name, but are still remembered as uncooperative or unfriendly; all over the one time you decided to use the words “not in my job description”.

 

Sometimes you do need to make such a stand; but think it through first. Don’t reflexively reject “extra work”, and consider if it’s worth doing; especially if it means cultivating new skills.

 

5. Micromanaging bosses are the worst

 

 

What’s “micromanaging” to one person is valuable mentorship to another. While people love to complain about micromanagement, it’s important to consider the alternative: Would you be comfortable if your boss was not around to provide close guidance?

 

A “hands-off” boss might seem enjoyable at first; but it can mean you’re assumed to learn things on your own, and either sink or swim. Also, bosses that are too “hands-off” may not be teaching you any skills, so you’re not getting the benefits of experience.

 

This isn’t to say micromanagement doesn’t exist, or that it’s always good; but you have to consider, especially if you’re new, whether close instruction is something to avoid.

 

In general, the more inexperienced you are, and the higher the risk of the activity, the more hands-on you want the boss to be. Think of it this way: if you were going skydiving, you wouldn’t complain the instructor is “micromanaging” when she keeps going over your parachute details, right?

 

When dealing with valuable clients that can affect your reputation, keep the same =principle in mind. A “micromanaging” boss might be looking out for your protection.

 

If you’re looking for a nurturing work environment, and one real long term earning potential, drop us a note at Exodus Capital. We provide close mentorship, as well as incentives and advancement, for new entrants in the finance industry. 

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The content, views and thoughts expressed in the post belongs solely to us and not of Manulife Financial Advisers Pte Ltd or any group of organisations. It may not be applicable to everyone or all contexts. None of the information stated here constitutes an offer to buy or sell product, financial instrument. Any expression or opinion is personal to the author and the author makes no guarantee regarding the completeness and accuracy of any information supplied.