W. P. Carey Alumni Share Their Wisdom on Career Missteps

We asked W. P. Carey Alumni: What is a career regret that you have, and what would you differently if given another opportunity?

Here are the career missteps they shared:

  • Accepting Career Growth That Costs Quality of Life
  • Being Impatient To Get Going
  • Missing Opportunities Due To Neglected Networks

Accepting Career Growth That Costs Quality of Life

My misstep was taking a career growth opportunity without having a complete understanding of what impact it would have on other “accounts” of my life. As individuals, career is only one of our life “accounts.” There are other accounts that make us whole, like family, health, and friends. So, when I accepted that career growth opportunity, I lacked the wisdom to understand which of my life accounts made me whole and how they were prioritized. What I do differently now, is to make my career decisions with a clear understanding of the impact career decisions have. 

Sumit Mehrotra, MBA ‘05, Wellkasa

Being Impatient To Get Going

Fresh out of college, I was very impatient regarding my career. If given the opportunity to go back, I would focus on enjoying the process of career growth (learning, developing skills, and building relationships). Ultimately, everything good takes time and hard work.

Alex Heimann, BS Supply Chain Management & CIS ‘01, Tempest

Missing Opportunities Due To Neglected Networks

I was happy and grateful to land my first job as an engineer and I spent a lot of time mastering my craft. As a function of that, I didn’t keep up with the networks I had built during college. A number of folks that I had gone to school with became supply chain managers, product managers, and data science leaders. While I was developing a great network internally at my employer and in my current role, I wasn’t accounting for the future and the possibility that I might want to make a career transition later (which I ended up doing).

Be sure to take some time to meet with your former colleagues and ask them, “how are you doing?” You might unlock your next big idea, insight, and career opportunity.

Joel Polanco, MBA General Management, Intel

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By W. P. Carey Career Services Center
W. P. Carey Career Services Center