After 41 draws without a winner, the Powerball lottery jackpot has climbed to $1 billion — the seventh largest in the lottery’s history.

Even if you don’t match all six numbers, smaller prizes of $1 million and $50,000 are still in play.

If you somehow beat the odds and win a large cash prize, what happens next can be just as important as the win itself. That’s because decisions you make in the first few days can leave you vulnerable to losing or mismanaging the prize.

Here are five common mistakes experts say to avoid, starting the moment the ticket is in your hands.

Until a lottery ticket is signed, “the person who physically holds a winning ticket” can claim the prize, according to the South Carolina Education Lottery, one of the state lotteries that administers Powerball.

Participating state lotteries generally direct players to use validation tools — self-check terminals, mobile app scanners or official lottery websites — rather than relying on store staff. That guidance exists in part because store clerks have been caught stealing winning tickets.

To prevent fraud, you’ll want to sign the ticket in ink right away, state lotteries advise. It also can’t hurt to have a photocopy or photo of the signed ticket, since it can help if your ticket is lost or misplaced, according to the South Carolina Education Lottery.

You signed the ticket, but where do you put it? Because a winning ticket functions much like cash, you don’t want to keep it in your pocket, wallet or lying on a desk in your home, says George Gagliardi, a certified financial planner in Lexington, Massachusetts.

“Holding the winning ticket before claiming it is akin to walking around town with $100 million in your wallet,” he says.

The official ticket needs a secure location. A common recommendation is to lock it in a bank safe deposit box or a personal fireproof safe or lockbox as soon as possible.

Announcing a big lottery win can invite financial requests, scams and unwanted attention, says Gagliardi. It’s often safer to keep the news within a very small circle of trusted family members.

Some state lotteries require winners to go public when they claim the prize, which is why it can help to consult a financial advisor, a lawyer and an accountant before coming forward, State Farm advises.

They can walk you through payout options and, in some states, help set up a trust that allows you to claim the prize anonymously.

Winners are often given between 90 days and a year to claim a prize, depending on the state.

Rushing to claim it can prevent you from building the advisory team you’ll need to manage immense wealth. Without a lawyer, accountant and financial advisor experienced in large windfalls, you risk making costly decisions about taxes, investments and spending, State Farm reports.

Powerball winners must choose between two payout options: a 30-year annuity worth the full listed jackpot amount or a lump-sum cash payout that is roughly half the advertised prize. For a $1 billion jackpot, the annuity would pay about $33.3 million per year, according to USAMega.com.

Each option comes with tradeoffs. The annuity provides guaranteed installments with a larger total payout over time, while the cash option gives you immediate access to a sizable sum that can be invested right away.

Your age, estate planning needs and comfort with investment risk can all shape which payout structure makes the most sense. Consult a trusted financial professional who can help you make decisions based on your individual financial situation.

It can also help to slow down before making a choice, since “you will be in an emotional state for a while, and one wants to make decisions logically, not emotionally,” says John Loyd, a certified financial planner in Texas.

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Artificial intelligence may transform hiring across several industries — but a few skills can help most people safeguard their future careers, according to JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon.

″[AI] will eliminate jobs. That doesn’t mean that people won’t have other jobs,” Dimon told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” on Sunday. “My advice to people would be critical thinking … learn EQ [emotional quotient, also known as emotional intelligence], learn how to be good in a meeting, how to communicate, how to write. You’ll have plenty of jobs.”

Dimon’s prediction comes during somewhat of an AI reckoning across the American workforce. Some experts say AI is a factor behind a rising unemployment rate for young people, with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warning in May that the technology could erase up to half of all white-collar jobs over the next five years.

Other CEOs see changes on the horizon, too. “It’s very clear that AI is going to change literally every job,” Walmart CEO Doug McMillon told The Wall Street Journal in an interview that published on Sept. 26, adding: “Maybe there’s a job in the world that AI won’t change, but I haven’t thought of it.”

For his part, Dimon has previously emphasized the value of leaders with soft skills. Effective leaders have the ability to ask good questions and learn from competitors, clients and their own mistakes, he told LinkedIn’s “This is Working” video series in July 2024.

“If you don’t have an accurate assessment of the real world out there, what’s changing, what the ideas are, you will eventually fail,” said Dimon.

Some other experts and business leaders generally agree with Dimon’s sentiment. Critical thinking, or the ability to analyze information and form takeaways, is a particular key to success in the age of AI, Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman told CNBC’s “Closing Bell Overtime” on Aug. 8. While AI can perform a variety of administrative and skill-based tasks, it can’t currently make nuanced judgements, research shows.

“You’re going to want to be creative. You’re going to want to be [good at] critical thinking. And you’re going to want to be flexible,” said Garman. “I think the ability to learn new things and adapt is going to be just as important as any particular skill that you learn.”

Similarly, strong communication skills and emotional intelligence are an essential part of succeeding in a modern workforce, some experts say. Being able to effectively relay your ideas and interact with colleagues comes with relatively obvious benefits. Just being perceived by your colleagues as a good communicator can help you form relationships, be more likeable and gain influence at the office.

You can improve how you interact with others by mentally preparing before conversations, asking thoughtful questions, taking accountability for your mistakes, giving others credit for good ideas and participating in small talk with your colleagues — but being a great communicator is often about listening, according to Harvard University associate professor Alison Wood Brooks.

“Successful conversationalists and successful employees go a step further” than a perfunctory head nod and making eye contact, Wood Brooks told CNBC Make It in July. “Listening to somebody’s answer then probing for more information is a superhero move, and a shockingly low number of people think to do it. You should show [you’re listening] by saying [you are] out loud.”

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Being a star employee doesn’t necessarily mean being the first one in the office and the last one out.

Some of the best performers Harley Finkelstein knows are strict about their working hours; they just use their time really well.

“You don’t have to work 80 hours a week to perform well, to be a high performer,” the Shopify president said on a recent episode of the “Aspire with Emma Grede” podcast. “I know people that work 40 hours a week that are some of the greatest performers ever. They’re just incredibly efficient with their time.”

Finkelstein talked about his own work schedule looking different at various points in his life, saying work-life balance is “very dependent on your particular circumstances.”

“There’s a period in [my] life before I was married, before I had kids where I was able to work 80 hours a week all the time, and when I had newborns, I wasn’t able to work 80 hours,” he said.

Technically, Finkelstein doesn’t like using the term work-life balance.

“I think this idea of work-life balance is a little bit of a misnomer where I think actually what we’re all searching for is some sort of harmony,” he said. “I think everyone needs to kind of find their own version of it.”

For Finkelstein, that means, “There are some Saturdays where I have to work and there are some Thursday afternoons that I go for a walk with my wife.”

Other business executives have taken issue with the concept of work-life balance too.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella also favors the idea of work-life harmony over work-life balance.

“I used to always think that you need to find that balance between what’s considered relaxing versus what is working,” he said in 2019. “What I’m trying to do is harmonize what I deeply care about, my deep interests, with my work.”

Likewise, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has called work-life balance a “debilitating” phrase and said people should think of their work and personal lives as more of a “circle.”

“I don’t love the word ‘balance’ because it implies a tradeoff,” Bezos said at Italian Tech Week in October. “I like work-life harmony because if you’re happy at home, you’ll be better at work. If you’re better at work, you’ll be better at home.”

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As the founder and CEO of Boll & Branch, Scott Tannen oversees the work of some 275 employees — most of whom he’s personally interviewed.

He estimates he’s interviewed upwards of 1,000 people and hired 400 to 500 over the course of his career.

Whether he’s interviewing a prospective intern or someone joining the C-suite, Tannen tells CNBC Make It he always asks one question first: What do you know about Boll & Branch?

It’s a straightforward question that sets the tone quickly and can help him uncover a big warning sign.

“I think when people have not done their homework, that is the biggest red flag,” Tannen says. “You don’t have to know every answer, but you have to have done your homework.”

Tannen says he can tell when a candidate has taken the opportunity to interview seriously and has spent a few hours reading and researching about the business.

“I’m looking for them to at least say, ‘I’ve learned this,’ or ‘I’ve been on your website, and I know you do business this way,’” Tannen says. “If they can’t at least give me back what’s on our Wikipedia page, we probably are not starting off on the best foot.”

The CEO is looking for something beyond the superficial.

“I’ve had people that don’t even know what products we make, within reason,” he says. “They’re like, ‘Oh, you make bedding.’”

A more researched answer might include mention that the company, which Tannen launched with his wife over a decade ago, makes luxury organic bedding as well as linens, sleepwear, furniture and home goods.

Tannen adds that good preparation means coming with questions for the interviewer, as well as confidence, enthusiasm for the role and curiosity about what you’ll accomplish by taking it.

“Tell me what you’re excited about that you think we can teach you, and vice versa, how you can contribute,” he says.

He recalls one memorable interview for a recent intern who applied to a role with the company as a merchandiser. The student didn’t have any merchandising experience, but discussed in her interview how she created her own brand while in college and wanted to learn how Boll & Branch works overall.

“It’s one of the best interviews I’ve ever done,” Tannen says, “because I just felt that she had this incredible desire to learn and this admiration for, at least from her view, how we had built our business.”

That intern is expected to return to the company for a full-time job once she graduates, Tannen says.

Ultimately, he says, showing up and demonstrating that you’re prepared for an interview is “really not a very hard thing to do, but it truly distances the great applicants from everybody else.”

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Tackling tricky interview topics requires more than just quick thinking, according to Madeline Mann, founder of career coaching business Self Made Millennial.

Candidates also need to demonstrate a capacity for self-reflection, she says.

Before going into a job interview, you should always be ready to share “specific examples from your professional career,” Mann says.

Most of these examples should reflect your professional achievements and positive qualities, but it’s equally important to have a couple “negative” scenarios in your back pocket, Mann says.

Two major questions that job seekers should prepare for are ‘Tell me about a time you had an interpersonal conflict’ and ‘Tell me about a time you failed,’ she says.

Here’s how Mann recommends tackling the latter question.

How to answer ‘Tell me about a time you failed’

The prospect of telling an interviewer about a career misstep can be intimidating, Mann says, but the ‘failure’ you describe doesn’t have to be catastrophic.

“It could also be considered a mistake,” she says — for example, “If you missed a data point or you accidentally misunderstood a direction, that could be a failure.”

When describing a time you failed, your answer should include three key elements, Mann says: context, action and result.

In Mann’s view, the best approach to providing context is to plainly state the facts of the incident without glossing over your mistake or dwelling on it. Seeming defensive about your error or attempting to pass blame onto others could raise red flags.

The “action” refers to your approach to solving the problem, Mann says. Ask yourself what the core issue was, and identify the steps you took to resolve it.

For instance, you might bring up a time you made a data analysis error and what systems you put in place afterward to check your work before submitting it.

The most important part of your answer is the result, she says: what you learned from the experience, and how you changed your approach to prevent future errors.

A candidate who made a major data analysis mistake could say: “What I learned from that is I always need to double-check my data sources, because I can’t always trust that they’re going to be accurate,” she says.

From a hirer’s perspective, the purpose of this question isn’t to trick you or figure out “whether or not you’re perfect,” Mann says.

Instead, they’re looking for qualities like honesty, adaptability and resilience.

“What they’re trying to understand is when things go wrong, how do you handle it? How do you learn from it? That’s really what they want to see,” she says.

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