Five Job Mistakes Never to Make

Avoiding Occupational Hazards

Always maintain a professional
appearance and demeanor.

The female executive looked impeccable in her sharp winter-white suit -- from the waist up. Somehow -- perhaps distracted by thoughts of the major presentation she was getting ready to give -- she'd made an unfortunate choice of unmentionables: red bikini underwear. "No one remembered a word she said," says Pam Holland, author of Help! Was That a Career-Limiting Move? (Career Skills Press, 2001), who witnessed the fashion emergency first-hand.

The woman, a brand manager with a pharmaceutical company, didn't lose her job, but she sure did gain the wrong kind of attention. More to the point, she missed a perfect opportunity to affirm that she was professional in every way and therefore indispensable to her company -- the most vital quality these days for any employee. In today's shaky economy, workplace slip-ups can lead to pink slips. (The layoff rate decreased somewhat in the first quarter of the year, but the unemployment rate has been increasing overall since October 2000.)