What is some career advice that people usually learn too late in life?

Quality work absolutely does not speak for itself in the vast majority of cases. That’s a dead end mindset. Managers do not have time to constantly evaluate employees purely on “work quality”. And if you’re interested in upward movement “work quality” is never the primary consideration for promotion. Managers learn who’s a problem solver, who’s a team player, who can I hand a project to and know it’ll be taken care of. Obviously work has to meet a certain quality, but the fact that it is 20% better than the person next to you means nothing when layoffs start. Or when considerations for promotion are being made. The reliable, team player, problem solver never gets fired first, and will be at the top of the list for promotion. The quiet hard worker pumping out “high quality” work that no one hears about is at a dead end unless they start some self promotion, which is a way of managing perception.

/r/careerguidance Thread Parent