Career / The Top Five Regrets

Disappointment doesn’t discriminate; no matter what industry the individual operated in, what role they had been given, or whether they were soaring successes or mired in failure, five dominant themes shone through. Importantly, the effects of bad career decisions and disconfirmed expectancies were felt equally across age groups.

Here were the group’s top five career regrets:

1. I wish I hadn’t taken the job for the money. By far the biggest regret of all came from those who opted into high-paying but ultimately dissatisfying careers.

2. I wish I had quit earlier. Almost uniformly, those who had actually quit their jobs to pursue their passions wished they had done so earlier.

3. I wish I had the confidence to start my own business. As their personal finances shored up, professionals I surveyed yearned for more control over their lives.

4. I wish I had used my time at school more productively. Despite all the controversy currently surrounding student loans, roughly 86% of students still view college as a worthwhile investment.

5. I wish I had acted on my career hunches. Several individuals recounted windows of opportunity in their careers, or as one professional described, “now-or-never moments.”

Choosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor from

via The Top Five Career Regrets – Daniel Gulati – Harvard Business Review.