While the tech industry is growing exponentially, there are lots of newbies and veterans who fall victim to career roadblocks and pitfalls that are easily avoidable. These pitfalls seem harmless but easily hamper techies’ potential to improve their employability and earning power.

You can make your experience in the workplace much more enjoyable and seamless by avoiding common tech career mistakes. Moreover, learning from the mistakes of others helps you with helpful insights on how to avoid career pitfalls.

1. Reducing Network Outreach

Man resting on wall looking into oblivion

Many people mistakenly believe that the sole goal of networking is to land a job, and consequently, they reduce or even stop networking once they get a job. Abandoning your network outreach is nothing short of setting your career on fire—the tech industry is constantly evolving, and there is only so much one person can learn or do alone.

In essence, it is a matter of necessity to have a network of like-minded professionals who you can collaborate with when the need arises. Maintaining your network keeps you up to date on industry trends, and career opportunities, and generally refines your work life.

To maintain your professional network, you might want to consider leveraging professional networking apps and social media platforms, attending virtual seminars and conferences, and joining relevant professional organizations.

2. Failure to Upskill

Girl relaxing at work

Learning is a lifelong endeavor, and keeping up with a constantly evolving market is an integral part of being a tech professional. Artificial intelligence was once an obscure branch of technology that nobody thought much of, but a few dedicated individuals kept at it, and it has become quite a huge phenomenon with the advent of ChatGPT and more AI apps.

That being the case, if you fail to upskill as a tech professional, you may find yourself lagging in the tech space. Programming languages and other integral forms of technology tend to evolve rapidly.

Take, for instance, HTML, which is one of the most widely used markup languages today—it was first officially released in 1995 as HTML 2.0. Over the decades, it has undergone numerous updates and changes. Presently, the industry standard is HTML5. Any website designed with older versions will be considered inferior.

How frustrating would it be for a web developer to be unable to use the current version? If the constraint of time and location are your major concerns, you can check out some tips for choosing online courses.

3. Not Negotiating a Satisfactory Salary

man and woman shaking hands over negotiation

Regarding salary negotiation, the best thing is to take the bull by the horn and hash it out with your prospective employers from the outset. Clearly outline the salary range and benefits you expect in exchange for your expertise.

For this, you can consider using salary estimate tools or getting a management agency. Techies who have to worry about where the next meal is coming from and how to pay their utility bills rarely have enough time to do their jobs right. It may be highly irresponsible of you not to look out for your interests.

4. Being Overly Friendly With Colleagues

friends with sunglasses

You didn’t think this could be a problem, right? Surprisingly, it is one of the major causes of reduced productivity and lack of professionalism in the workplace. You can and should be cordial to your colleagues, but never make the mistake of treating them like bosom friends.

Such friendships can cause you to spend time better spent working chit-chatting with your colleagues. The best way to avoid running into this dilemma will be to start as you mean to go on. A lot of new employees act overly friendly on their first day in a bid to get along with everyone, then end up getting stuck in that persona.

5. Doing Mediocre Work

resting head on table with laptop

They say it takes 21 days to form a habit. That is one of the dangers of working in large or medium-sized corporations—specialization. Once you find yourself doing the same thing over and over again, it doesn’t take long for monotony to set in. Before you know it, you start doing your work passively with little to no creativity.

One way to avoid falling into this rut is to ask for more tasks outside your comfort zone, liaise with your colleagues, or speak with your supervisor about this. In addition, you can indulge yourself in apps that enhance productivity, especially for remote workers.

6. Not Meeting the Deadlines

Digital wristwatch on hand

Doing a good job is one thing, but doing it when needed is an entirely different ball game. Effective time management is an important soft skill that anyone who hopes to work with others should possess.

Working as part of a team means you are part of a production chain. Therefore, flouting deadlines will affect the productivity of other members of that team and ultimately affect the goal of the organization as a whole.

To avoid missing deadlines, you can start managing your time with task management tools. If all else fails, ask your manager for an extension of the deadline rather than blatantly missing it.

7. Refusing to Set Career Goals and Timelines

sticky notes with goals pinned on wall

The importance of setting career goals cannot be overemphasized because, more often than not, people who refuse to set career goals and timelines find themselves underachieving professionally. A key to achieving your career goals is breaking them down into smaller milestones and setting timelines to achieve them.

Achieving these milestones will invariably heighten your confidence in your ability to achieve your long-term goals. Furthermore, setting measurable goals is also an integral part of setting career goals.

8. Making Enemies at Work

Employees arguing and screaming at work

This could evolve from avoiding communicating with your colleagues, and leaving your job without observing due protocols or differences in opinion when it comes to work.

Differences in opinion are particularly rampant in tech companies where new updates are constantly coming up, and designers and developers have colleagues judging their prototypes and questioning the reasoning behind their choice of design.

It is natural to feel isolated and want to lash out at times, but that is not the answer. To avoid ruffling feathers unnecessarily, learn to manage your emotions in the best way possible and communicate effectively when needed.

If you are having trouble communicating effectively or channeling your emotions positively, you can enroll in soft skill courses. Presently, soft skills are some of the major skills employers look out for in prospective employees.

Avoiding Roadblocks and Charting a Smooth Tech Career

It is normal to fall into ruts from time to time. What is not advisable is staying in a rut. If you realize your career as a techie is not going the way you envisaged, you can objectively retrace your steps and figure out which common mistake you have made.

Once you identify the problem, it becomes much easier to find a solution that can simply involve employing soft skills that are beneficial for propelling your career. Charting a smooth and rewarding career in tech is seamless when you learn from the common mistakes of others and avoid them.