5 Cliche Career Rules You Should Ignore -The Muse

5 Cliche Career Rules You Should Ignore -The Muse5 Cliche Career Rules You Should Ignore Weve all heard those tried-and-true cliches meant to guide your career decisions. They come from people whose experience and advice you respect.Theyre supposed to make your life easier, functioning as givens you can fall back on. But thats not always the case and you might actually be an exception. Case in point, here are five rules you may be better off ignoring1. Do What You LoveYouve been looking for a while, but you still havent found a job that suits both your passion and your budget. People keep telling you to hold out for your dream, but moneys getting tight. What do you do?Why Its a RuleLets back up and think about why people say this It stems from the idea that youll be more fulfilled if you enjoy what you do for a living. Break the RuleHowever, nowadays we know that fulfillment comes from many places- and it may be that your 9-to-5 is just a means to support your life outside of work. So if you have a family to support, or other ways to live your passion, its OK for your job to be just a job.Read More You Can Love What You Do for a Living, But Still Think it Feels Like Work2. Dont Ever Leave One Job Before You Have Another in HandWhen your alarm goes off, you groan. You hate your job, and every day there seems like an eternity. You want to leave, but you dont have another job lined up yet. Should you wait? Why Its a RuleTraditional advice would say not to leave just yet. Not only is it easier to job search with a continuous employment history, but avoiding a gap in pay means you wont feel pressure to take any position, even if its not a good fit. Break the RuleIf stayings become toxic emotionally, psychologically, or physically its time to leave. Its true that this can put a (big) strain on your finances, so institute a strict budget now to help you prepare. Just because youre leaving before you get an offer doesnt mean you should do it on a whim. Read More 4 Les sons I Learned From Quitting My Job With No Back-up Plan3. You Must Stay With an Organization for at Least One YearYou took a new job, and everything welches going great- until it wasnt. Now, youd like to leave, but youre worried that youll hurt your employability if you do. Isnt there that rule about having to stay in a new place for a minimum of one year?Why Its a RuleIts true You dont want a reputation as a serial job-hopper. Employers like to work with people who stick around since its so expensive to recruit and train them. Break the RuleWhile you want to avoid having lots of short stays in your job history, most people will understand if there was a particular situation that wasnt great. If its your boss or the day-to-day nature of your work thats not what you expected, keep in mind that there are sometimes options to change positions without leaving the organization. Start by looking for new responsibilities and discussing a transfer to another team. If, after that, youre sti ll itching to get out, update your resume and re-start your job hunt.Read More 4 Ways to Become Known as a Career Builder- and Not a Job HopperWANT TO FIND A JOB THAT FITS YOU PERFECTLY?Of course you do And luckily for you, we know lots of awesome companies hiringFind Your Niche Right This Way 4. You Have to Start at the Bottom if You Want to Change FieldsYou want to try something new, but theres one problem. Youve already poured so much into your current career path and youre not interested in starting over from zero.Why Its a RuleThe idea behind this is that you need to pay your dues and demonstrate your interest and commitment- and the way to do this in any industry is to begin at the bottom (even if that means returning to school). Break the RuleHowever, if youve already put time into your current career, you probably have more skills that transfer from field to field than you recognize. Not just that, but your years of work have also taught you how to network, which can play a role in getting off the ground floor. If you get in front of enough people and show them how wonderful you are, you can often talk your way into a position that your resume alone wouldnt get you. Go to events and make connections. Itll give you a huge boost in your quest to avoid restarting at square one.Read More How to Get Experience in a New Field Without Starting at the Bottom5. Never Be the First One to Give a Salary NumberYoure in a first round screening with an HR person and they wont let you dodge the question, What salary would you like? You start to sweat. You know youre not supposed to give a number first. What should you do?Why Its a RuleWhen you give a potential employer this information, you give yourself a salary cap since its unlikely that an employer will ever go higher than you. Break the RuleSometimes breaking this ones unavoidable. The company may require a salary number to submit your application, or a hiring manager might keep rephrasing the question. In this c ase, go ahead and give an estimate, but make sure to aim higher than youre really looking for to leave room for negotiation.When asked for a number, first try to send the question back with an answer like Could you share with me what range you had in mind for the position? But if this doesnt work, youll want to provide a range that is on target with the going rates in the field. Conduct salary research in advance, so your initial number is informed and within industry standards. Read More 4 Secrets to Negotiating a Salary That Will Make Your Bank Account Smileansicht five unwritten rules work generally, but they may not be applicable for every situation. It really comes down to personal choice, paying attention to the factors that are present in your situation, and doing what you need to do to get what you want most from your career. Photo of person thinking courtesy of PeopleImages.com/Getty Images.