As you move forward in your career, there may be many opportunities for you to change directions or be promoted. The worst thing that could happen is for your career to be stalled due to a few moves you chose to make that damaged your overall professional reputation. Managers want to hire quality professionals. If you have the skill set and the experience but lack in the professionalism, you may get skipped over for that next big career step. Below are the top 3 moves that will damage your career and how to prevent that from happening.

Being Wishy-Washy

While some are struggling to find work right now, others are in a field where multiple positions are being offered. If this is you, take each job into consideration and know all the facts before choosing a path, but once you have chosen – do your best to keep your word. Going back and forth on a job offer, accepting and then declining jobs, quitting your job in the first week to take another one. This shows you are untrustworthy and unreliable when it comes to work. If you do this too many times, managers will stop offering you positions. Show integrity and loyalty to your employers and stick to your guns. This will build you a solid professional reputation as you move forward in your career.

No Call /  No Show

Aside from this act being considered disrespectful, it’s also grounds for immediate termination for most companies. If there is an issue, ALWAYS make sure you let a manager know. Simply not showing up puts everyone in a bind and reflects poorly on you as an employee. You may not care for the job you have right now, but think of them as building blocks to where you want to go. Many managers will call previous employers to ask about work history before offering you a position. The last thing you want is to build a reputation amongst your past employers as unpredictable. If you are unhappy with your job, take time to have a conversation with your employer. Simply not showing up will always reflect poorly on you and leaves room for interpretation when someone calls for a reference. Set yourself up for success and be clear about why you are leaving before you leave. Also, if there is an issues within the office, talking to your manager first may resolve the problem so you don’t feel like you have to leave your job. If not, at least you can say you left in a professional manner.

Unpredictable Attitude

Everyone has bad days but when you are unable to control your attitude, facial expressions or responses to others it can be a big problem. The last thing someone wants to deal with is an unpredictable employee or co-worker. Try not to let external issues or personal worries affect your overall attitude towards others at work. Losing your temper, playing the victim, snapping a customers or simply acting like you don’t care when someone comes to you will create a volatile reputation for you in the workplace. As a professional, you need to be able to control your responses to others (both verbal and non-verbal). Employers are less likely to give a promotion or offer a position to someone if they aren’t confident in how that person will treat others.

If you are having a bad day (or week), be open with your manager and co-workers. Let them know ahead of time that you are struggling but do not let it be an excuse for poor behavior. Try to focus on the tasks at hand and not what is bothering you. If it gets to be too much, it is perfectly okay to ask your manager for a personal day. Let them know you are doing your best to correct the situation so that you don’t build a reputation for being unpredictable or aggressive.