Working fast will get you promoted? Ankur Warikoo warns of 5 mistakes he made in his first job that he wished some had told him sooner

Your first job is one of the most important career milestone in your life. It is where you learn, you shape your expectations, how you approach work, work under pressure and ultimately hints at your professional success. But the first job means you have to learn many things on the job. Ankur Warikoo in his recent social media post shared how working quickly, meeting deadlines and expective recognition for it may not be enough to help you advance in your career. From his career, he shared 5 job mistakes which he wished some had told him sooner to steer clear from.

Ankur Warikoo shares 5 mistakes he made in his first job
In a social media post on LinkedIn, Warikoo explained how in his first jobs he had some set assumptions about professional success which were quickly proved wrong.

Speed= intelligence

He admitted that he used to equate speed with intelligence and believed that meeting deadlines would make him a star performer. He soon realised that sometimes in an attempt to deliver a work quickly, the quality of the work used to suffer. He said, "You're not paid to be fast. You're paid to be reliable."

Waiting for manager to point out mistakes

His next mistake was assuming that checking his own errors was his manager's responsibility. He shared that if a manager has to contantly double-check an employee's work, they end up focusing on employee's work instead of his own responsibilities. He stressed that intelligence alone cannot compensate for a lack of trust. If a manager cannot rely on an employee to deliver accurate work, being smart may not be enough to build a successful career.

Waiting for feedback

Warikoo also admitted that he once believed that his manager was responsible to provide him with a feedback. He learned that employees must take the initiative to seek feedback and work on it. Professional development ultimately depends upon the individual's willingness to improve themselves.

Good performance automatically leads to a promotion

Doing a good job does not necessarily mean someone is ready for the next level, according to Warikoo. He recalled that he never asked what the next stage of his career would look like or what he needed to demonstrate to qualify for it. His experience taught him that employees must understand the expectations associated with a promotion instead of assuming that strong performance alone will secure one.

Focusing on tasks rather than outcomes

Warikoo said he used to complete the work assigned to him, tick it off his list and move on without considering its larger purpose. Looking back, he realised that he had concentrated on the output instead of the outcome. Understanding why a task matters, rather than simply completing it, can help employees connect their work to broader organisational goals. He added that a first job can teach valuable lessons, provided people are willing to unlearn some of their assumptions alongside learning new skills.

Ankur Warikoo recalls earning Rs 15,000 in his first job before joining ISB

Warikoo has also spoken about how an ordinary first job eventually introduced him to the opportunity that changed his professional trajectory. In a separate social media post, he revealed that his first job paid him Rs 15,000 a month. Despite holding a physics degree, he had dropped out of a PhD programme and found himself working alongside MBAs, creating training content for sales professionals. He admitted to feeling out of place in that environment.

The turning point came when his boss mentioned that her husband worked at the Indian School of Business (ISB). The institution was only five years old at the time, but its programme was expensive, and joining would require Warikoo to take the biggest loan of his life. He applied, secured admission and took the loan to pursue the programme. Looking back, he acknowledged that the experience changed his life.

Why your first job does not have to define your entire career

Warikoo observed that professionals often place excessive pressure on their next job to determine their long-term future. They may wonder whether a role represents their calling, whether they will remain in that career forever or whether they will eventually feel proud of the decision.

But, according to him, a job does not need to answer all these questions at once. Sometimes, its purpose is simply to provide an income, teach useful skills and introduce employees to people from whom they can learn.