Poll: What Factor Plays the Most Important Role in One’s Career?
As professionals, our careers tend to be a high priority in our lives. Various factors shape our careers, but which one is the most important? When we asked this question in our CFA Institute Financial NewsBrief survey this week, we received 1,136 responses, indicating that there is no single dominant factor.
Which of these plays the most important role in one’s career?
On-the-job performance (34%) ranked the highest. This result could be interpreted to mean that merit prevails, but at the same time, its percentage rank does not seem high enough to suggest that the workplace is a meritocracy. Interpersonal and communication skills (26%) and networking (23%) ranked a close second and third, respectively. These factors probably fuel each other, and the role they play likely ebbs and flows depending on the stage of one’s career. Perhaps the hardest result to explain is that luck (11%) ranked fourth, which might encourage us to complain less about randomness in life and focus more on performance. The message seems to be to keep an eye on all five of these factors as you progress in your career!
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