Best Career Advice Quotes & Sayings

Everyone tells you to write what you know. It's the tried-and-true advice every writer hears at some point in her career. But to take my writing to a deeper level, I've found that a better practice is to simply write what frightens you, haunts you, even. I now keep a sign on the bulletin board in my office that reads: 'Write What Scares You.' I've learned that tapping into the hard stuff - whether it's the fear of loss or a boogeyman lurking in childhood memories - is what ultimately gives a story the power to leap off the page and grab you by the collar. — Sarah Jio

If you're offered a seat on a rocket ship, don't ask what seat! Just get on. — Sheryl Sandberg

I don't even trust myself in my career much less giving somebody else advice. — Tim McGraw

The best career advice to give to the young is, 'Find out what you like doing best and get someone to pay you for doing it.' — Katharine Whitehorn

Looking back, it made no sense for my college friends and me to distance ourselves from the hard-won achievements of earlier feminists. We should have cheered their efforts. Instead, we lowered our voices, thinking the battle was over, and with this reticence we hurt ourselves. — Sheryl Sandberg

Treat yourself like a fast person with aches and pains and a suitcase full of excuses, and good luck
you'll stay exactly where you are. Train like an athlete and, though you may not look like one now, you will become one.
Push: 30 Days to Turbocharged Habits, p. 214 — Chalene Johnson

I married my best friend. I was still in awe after more than four years of being around her at how smart and strong and loving and caring she was. And I really hoped that her choosing me and rejecting my advice to pursue her own career was a decision she would never regret. — William J. Clinton

The worst piece of advice I've gotten in my whole career is from somebody who said, 'Remember, it's all about likeability.' — Clive Owen

Do you want a level of income to fit your lifestyle or a lifestyle to fit your income level? — Miles Anthony Smith

In one way or another, almost every twentysomething client I have wonders, 'Will things work out for me?' The uncertainty behind that question is what makes twentysomething life so difficult, but it is also what makes twentysomething action so possible and so necessary. It's unsettling to not know the future and, in a way, even more daunting to consider that what we are doing with our twentysomething lives might be determining it. — Meg Jay

Colum McCann, after I explicitly asked for advice regarding my career. He said: Don't be a dick. — Anonymous

The best advice I got throughout my career was understanding what my current managers' pains and challenges are - it's not always just about hitting the number. — Jim McDonough

Over the years, I have repeated Eric's advice to countless people, encouraging them to reduce their career spreadsheets to one column: potential for growth. Of course, not everyone has the opportunity or the desire to work in an industry like high tech. But within any field, there are jobs that have more potential for growth than others. Those in more established industries can look for the rocket ships within their companies - divisions or teams that are expanding. And in careers like teaching or medicine, the corollary is to seek out positions where there is high demand for those skills. For example, in my brother's field of pediatric neurosurgery, there are some cities with too many physicians, while others have too few. My brother has always elected to work where his expertise would be in demand so he can have the greatest impact. Just — Sheryl Sandberg

I have two last pieces of advice. First, being pre-approved for a credit card does not mean you have to apply for it. And lastly, the best career advice I can give you is to get your own TV show. It pays well, the hours are good, and you are famous. And eventually some very nice people will give you a doctorate in fine arts for doing jack squat. — Stephen Colbert

Can't we do better with Applicant Tracking System (ATS) software? — Miles Anthony Smith

Success is a matter of choice, not chance ~ Deepak Mehra — Deepak Mehra

The lucky people that end up doing what they love even find out somethings that they don't love it as much as they thought. — E. A. Davis

Adaptability is the name of the game; if you understand that you must now be adaptable and flexible, you will find a way to succeed in your career. If not, you will succumb to job market pressures. — Miles Anthony Smith

I've had lots of good career advice over the years. I've learned that you must always arrive knowing your lines, you must hit your marks, you must be punctual and cheerful and kind. I'm always irritated with young people who misbehave and young actors who are temperamental. I don't think there's any need for it. — Jacki Weaver

When someone does a professional favor for you, send a handwritten note. You must send a written note to a mentor or sponsor when she helps you. Perhaps even a gift. And here's a great tip from Archambeau: When you take someone's advice, let her know it and how it worked out. So few people ever do that. — Kate White

Losing my father at a tender age was hard, and I felt it more so while growing up when I needed a father to talk to. Especially while pursuing an acting career where I would have loved his guidance and advice, since it was his passion as well. — Ajay Mehta

It is impossible to pursue a successful literary career and follow the advice of all one's 'best friends'.I feel compelled to follow the light which my own intellect & judgement cast upon my way, rather than any one of the many conflicting rays which other minds would lend me. — Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Sometimes you just need some reassurance about your Choice before you take any decision. — Auliq Ice

What I find really difficult is making career decisions. Normally it will take me two weeks, until the very last minute and I have to say yes or no. For a couple of weeks, I will tune everyone out who is giving me advice, so that I can make a clear decision on my own and it takes time. — Paul Walker

If we don't communicate, we certainly can't get much done and if we don't communicate authentically, what we get done is less effective. — Michele Jennae

When I speak in casual conversation, I try to start a mental clock in my head. I actually learned this from Marty Nemko, a San Francisco career coach. He told me, "For the first thirty seconds after you start talking, imagine a green light in your head. After thirty seconds the light turns yellow. At sixty seconds, it's red." That's a good piece of advice for most any conversational situation. It takes some mental energy to monitor myself, but it works. — John Elder Robison

Finding a job that is a good fit is as much about you selecting the right company as it is about them selecting the right candidate. — Miles Anthony Smith

All of the advice that I give, I'm not an expert by any means, but it's just my opinion. So if somebody likes me or likes y style or my career, I think they should have that feeling. — Molly Ringwald

Many years ago when I first started my career Maradona told me "to enjoy and play as you know", and that's stayed with me ever since and is the best advice I've been given. — Lionel Messi

Writing is a profession that has no real career structure and your best advice when you hit a difficulty is probably going to come from another writer one or two rungs on the career ladder ahead of you. — Sara Sheridan

The best advice is not to write what you know, it's to write what you like. Write the kind of story you like best - write the story you want to read. The same principle applies to your life and your career: — Austin Kleon

It's really hard to deny a kid who's father has passed away. We all just wanted you to be happy so we messed that up. Your career wasn't about the money. Not at first. It gave you both something big to do so you could stay busy and forget how much you missed your dad." His heart twisted, and he whispered, "When I think of him ... I don't remember his face, but I do remember how much it hurt to have him simply there one day and gone the next ... just gone." Nan nodded. "Imagine how your mom felt. Your dad was the love of her life. — Anne Eliot

An educated person would know that holding a degree will not make you entitled to a better job nor a better salary than someone who has no degree. — J.B.

The best piece of advice I ever received about being a writer came from my brother Lee. I was just starting out and he told me that if I wanted to have a long career, I had to be versatile, that I shouldn't just think of myself in one way, because there would come a time when maybe that one thing wasn't working out for me - and I'd still want to earn a living as a writer. — Tod Goldberg

I'd rather be an adviser. I don't wanna become a trainer because I think with the knowledge and the business sense that I've accomplished through my career and have credibility, why would I reduce myself down to being in a gym with a bunch of training which is not a bad thing to give advice, but I can do that with a suit and tie on and also be there when the cheques are written. I don't wanna be there when the cheques are handed down from 3 or 4 people's hands and then it hits mine as a trainer because 9/10 times, deductions have come out of that. — Bernard Hopkins

Make sure you work at a place which gives you opportunities to learn, travel, explore, interact with intellectuals and new work skills. — Abhishek Ratna

I enjoyed every bit of my swimming career. I think that's the most important advice - to enjoy what you do — Summer Sanders

Job change is a very crucial decision. This decision can make or break your career. — Abhishek Ratna

I guess my music career is my personal life. You know, I've always been a writer who wants to write about my experiences. And so this experience being added to that, I - I want to live extraordinary experiences. And when I give advice to people, I want it to be sage advice. — Jason Mraz

Knowing how you want your work to look helps you decide who best to work with and where. — Michele Jennae

His supervisor, a well-liked ranger by the name of Dick McLaren, gave Randy a line of advice to which he would adhere for the rest of his career: 'The best way to teach the public isn't with a citation, it's with communication. — Eric Blehm

Whereas previous generations had to face some unpredictability, current generations are facing unprecedented levels of instability. — Miles Anthony Smith

Each job requires a conscious choice of career path, and a different plan of development. — Auliq Ice

The most important step in the whole process was to just sit down and do it. My hobby has become a second career. Who knew?-Jamie Beck, Romance Novelist — Holly Hurd

I've broken a cardinal rule of art, music, and career paths: actors are supposed to act, and musicians are supposed to music. That's how it works. You don't buy fish from a dentist, or ask a plumber for financial advice, so why listen to an actor's music? — Hugh Jackman

I am sorry for you tonight, Mr. President. You are facing one of the greatest decisions of your career. Upon what you decide depends on whether or not you are going to get your canal. If you fall back upon the old methods of sanitation you will fail, just as the French failed. If you back up Dr. Gorgas and his ideas, and you let him make his campaign against mosquitoes, then you get your canal. I can only give you my advice; you must decide for yourself. There is only one way of controlling yellow fever and malaria, and that is the eradication of the mosquitoes. But it is your canal; you must do the choosing and you must choose tonight whether you are going to build that canal. — Thomas W. Martin

My career was quite unusual, so my main advice to someone interested in a career similar to my own is to remain open to change and new opportunities. I like to tell students that the jobs I took after my Ph.D. were not in existence only a few years before. — Nancy Roman

Hollywood is fickle; your career can end pretty fast. If the acting jobs dry up, you have to have something to fall back on. In fact, that would be my advice to kids interested in acting - make sure you get an education too. — Matthew Lawrence

I'd like to believe that achieving a leadership position is all about competency, capability and ambition, so I try not to distinguish between the sexes when it comes to giving career advice. — Heather Bresch

There remains a natural career progression even though the tougher job climate seeks to delay it. — Miles Anthony Smith

The idea of gas engines was by no means new, but this was the first time that a really serious effort had been made to put them on the market. They were received with interest rather than enthusiasm and I do not recall any one who thought that the internal combustion engine could ever have more than a limited use. All the wise people demonstrated conclusively that the engine could not compete with steam. They never thought that it might carve out a career for itself. That is the way with wise people
they are so wise and practical that they always know to a dot just why something cannot be done; they always know the limitations. That is why I never employ an expert in full bloom. If ever I wanted to kill opposition by unfair means I would endow the opposition with experts. They would have so much good advice that I could be sure they would do little work. — Henry Ford

I've been very, very lucky in my career, in my life - from day one. When aspiring directors say, 'What's your advice?' first I say, 'Be born the son of a famous director. It's invaluable.' — Jason Reitman

Can't decide which life or career path is right for you? Maybe you don't have to! In The Renaissance Soul, Margaret Lobenstine offers inspiration, advice, and practical tips for people with more than one burning passion. — Laurence Boldt

Make sure that you are fully aware of the work environment which will suit your 'work style' the best. — Abhishek Ratna