BLOGPOST 5: Pessimism in the Workplace

Whenever I hear the word career prospects, I'll have to say I want to become an internal auditor, a chief accounting officer, or even a president of a multinational company. BIG WORD, isn't it? Well, it is undeniable that almost all of us want to get ahead in our career. It's important for us to pursue opportunities that are good match of our interests, skills, and degree. It may be a looooooooong way to go but through patience and perseverance, we'll end up in our destination. Whatever thing you work now will pay off in the future. Not only will you end up in the career that suits your degree, but also in a wide range of variety that may be a lot better from your career now. In addition, you'll also have a better understanding of where you need to build new skills and develop existing ones to be successful in your career. HOWEVER the success of career differs with pessimists. Pessimism is believed to be a hindrance in one's career. Is it really so?

It was weird how I arrived at two articles of the same title from a single website but of different authors. Even so, the reasoning somehow varies.

Starting with the first article entitled How being a Pessimist can Affect your Career Prospects by Michelle Wilkinson from the website http://www.careerpath360.com. The article was helpful to let me understand the connection between the two.

The author strongly states that it is evident that being a pessimist have a negative impact on your career prospects. It has always been that the negativity would automatically lead to negative career prospects. In addition, this negative effect actually becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Self-fulfilling prophecy is like a belief that will eventually fall into reality.


From the picture, it may be kind of a senseless comic, yet it actually gave a view of this prophecy. It happens that "Hot chocolate" is scared of the unknown. The fact that Hot chocolate doesn't make a good first impression, that is probably why he ended up being scared at all. Hot Chocolate would probably remain constant to his thoughts. In connection to the career prospects, being a pessimist actually works that way too. If you believe that you're going to end up getting them minimum wage, and very low status. This is exactly what's going to happen too. Pessimists close one's eyes to great career prospects, and instead rely on the worst possible outcome. Pessimists assume things negatively that they don't anymore bother to alter the situation. It is also the attitude towards your career that makes it turn out as what is perceived. Thus, making pessimism affects the decision you make in your career. 

The author also added that it isn't the nature that is always pessimistic in your career, but also one's thinking which often accompanies a feeling of self-doubt and low self-esteem. If this is so, then pessimists who think that they lack confidence to find a career that is a lot better, they would eventually just stuck to whatever they have now. They wont opt for for better opportunities. Pessimists make it hard for themselves to focus on their assets and sell their potentials and skills to good companies. Therefore, it is their pessimistic mind or rather one's self is their best enemy.


In the same title as of the first, the second article entitled How Being a Pessimist Can Affect Your Career Prospects by Maria C. Collins from the same website which is www.careerpath360.com was able to give readers a clear view how negativity leaves a mark in one's career prospects.

According to the article, a negative attitude not only affects the workplace, but also the workers involved in the workplace. It is not always the workplace that is affected by this pessimism. The people associated by this pessimist would also make them doubt their job security, their abilities and  reduce the productivity in the workplace. In addition to this matter, the negativity may drive the office workers to avoid him. The worst case might cause trouble and fights with the colleagues. If this is so, then a pessimist wont be able to show the skills and abilities that may give him a promotion. This interference may not lead the pessimist to his/her desired career prospect. A negative outlook may discourage and interfere workers rather than to urge them to productivity. In this case, a pessimistic mind would also give a bad impression to customers, leading to a bad impression to the company.

With regards to the employer in the workplace, it is also mentioned that a pessimist may lose his job entirely. Employers may give assumptions like a pessimist isn't happy with his job, or a pessimist is just causing trouble in the workplace. If it happens that a pessimist lose his job, it wouldn't be that easy to get another job. Even from the first job itself, if a pessimist's career prospect is to become a chief accounting officer, if from the start the pessimist clouds negativity in the interview, no employer would like to accept a employee like that. A pessimistic mind during interviews could also interfere your abilities. It goes the same. Employers would still give negative assumptions, leading to a rejection in the desired job. 

The author ended his article stating that pessimists should take a look at their actions. Sometimes, they never realized how bad have they become it's because the negativity has been a habit to them. This negativity in the workplace should alter the way you look at the world and try to find the good in things rather than the bad. Therefore, having such a negative, pessimistic attitude will damage your career prospects.


Summing up both articles, pessimism is definitely a hindrance in one's career. Not only it affects the career, the people in the workplace, the workplace itself, BUT ALSO ONE'S FUTURE. The negativity goes in a domino effect. Your career gets messed up, you messed up somebody's career, you messed up the costumer's impression, you messed up the company itself, YOU MESSED UP YOUR LIFE AND IT WILL CONTINUALLY GROW BEING MESSED UP. Every thing goes into a mess. There are a lot better perspective we should take into consideration, and pessimism's not one of them.  Therefore, I have concluded that pessimism is a bad habit that should be refrained in the workplace.