I actually really like this. I suffer heavily from Imposter Syndrom, and one of the biggest realizations I had was that my new project manager manages to keep his job despite being absolutely horrible at it.
Unfortunately it’s a “liars market” in that liars get “whatever” jobs they want, to hell with credentials.
Unfortunately I’m pretty much incapable of bullshitting, I’m honest to a gigantic fault. So many job listings with insane requirements and then people say “just apply anyway.” …no? They’re asking for a thing and I don’t have it. I’m not the kind of person to Google “how to do my job” after I’ve been hired.
I seriously need to get out of my job, but seeing all these “dog shit cleaners. Masters degree required. Pay: $2/hr” is insanely depressing…
Most jobs are terrible at distinguishing between requirements, responsibilities, and nice to haves. Most requirements are actually responsibilities which means you’ll need to learn those skills but don’t need to already know them. As long as you think you can pick them up you should be fine.
You apply anyway because half the time the things jobs “require” is the same marketing fluff they add everywhere. Similarly to you I have a hard time bullshitting because I try to be honest about what I know and what I don’t, and for the first few years of my career I was incapable of bullshitting. Then my credentials were required for a project and I had to sit down with a sales person to “fix up” my resume. It went something like this:
“Was Power BI used in this project?”
“Well, yes, but I didn’t really use it. I opened it maybe once.”
“I’ll mark it down as experience with Power BI”
Really opened my eyes to how things get done. Some of what gets added as “requirements” tend to never come up. During an interview it’s always worthwhile to prod a bit at the requirements to see what is and isn’t bullshit, because I guarantee there is always some bullshit that you will never need.
Similarly don’t be afraid to bullshit a bit on your resume because you can’t know everything about everything. Bit of technical jargon but I’ll get to the point, I swear. My first job switch was for a position that required experience with microservices. This was in the early days when people were still figuring out what these mystical microservices are. I was then working on a project that was using a microservice architecture, but I never felt like the project was getting any real benefits from that decision and the applications didn’t feel “micro”. Nevertheless I put it down as experience and I rationalized it as it’s experience either way. If it’s done right and I see it done the same way in a different project then it does mean I have the experience. If it’s not done right then I’ll have the experience of how it could be done wrong which means I still have some experience. Kinda BS but it landed me the position. I then learned that my experience was both right and wrong, so I quickly learned from the mistakes of the previous project, learned how to do it right and applied them in the new project. In the end I was highly regarded in the project despite at first feeling like I bullshitted myself in. As long as you’re willing to put in the effort to overcome your shortcomings you’re allowed to bullshit a little, because nobody cares as long as things get done without huge issues. Just don’t sell yourself on things you know you can’t overcome.
My team is currently hiring, and I got to listen in on the conversation with HR when they were developing the job posting. The job posting includes requirements that the team knows they are unlikely to find, especially finding all of them in a single candidate. The posting calls them requirements, but really it’s more of a wish list. If you come across listings where you meet half of their requirements (wish list), and think you can learn some of the others, you should apply.
Allegedly the only way to get rid of imposter syndrome is to just… do your work/stuff until it goes away.
I’ve been at the same job for 9 years, but I don’t feel any more capable than at the start. I still have no idea what I’m doing while being sure others are constantly judging me.
Any day my manager will take me apart to put me on a PIP or outright fire me. I’ve “known” this for years, and I’m as convinced as ever that it will happen eventually, soon even.
Yeah, I’m not sure if it ever goes away… I recently got invited to sit on the national licensing board for my field. I’m literally helping make the test to see if you’re an imposter, and I still feel like an imposter.
Imposter Syndrome is just the flipside of Dunning-Kruger. You must not let it paralyse you but you should know that it is a good thing. You can’t get better unless you believe there is room to get better. And there always is room to get better, so you’ve been on the right track from the getgo.
Seems to be a requirement for managerial positions that you are completely worthless as a person. The majority of management I’ve seen in my time did nothing but actively take away value from the company, the employee’s lives, and the customer’s experience.
I actually really like this. I suffer heavily from Imposter Syndrom, and one of the biggest realizations I had was that my new project manager manages to keep his job despite being absolutely horrible at it.
The one previous to him was worse.
Unfortunately it’s a “liars market” in that liars get “whatever” jobs they want, to hell with credentials.
Unfortunately I’m pretty much incapable of bullshitting, I’m honest to a gigantic fault. So many job listings with insane requirements and then people say “just apply anyway.” …no? They’re asking for a thing and I don’t have it. I’m not the kind of person to Google “how to do my job” after I’ve been hired.
I seriously need to get out of my job, but seeing all these “dog shit cleaners. Masters degree required. Pay: $2/hr” is insanely depressing…
Most jobs are terrible at distinguishing between requirements, responsibilities, and nice to haves. Most requirements are actually responsibilities which means you’ll need to learn those skills but don’t need to already know them. As long as you think you can pick them up you should be fine.
You apply anyway because half the time the things jobs “require” is the same marketing fluff they add everywhere. Similarly to you I have a hard time bullshitting because I try to be honest about what I know and what I don’t, and for the first few years of my career I was incapable of bullshitting. Then my credentials were required for a project and I had to sit down with a sales person to “fix up” my resume. It went something like this:
“Was Power BI used in this project?”
“Well, yes, but I didn’t really use it. I opened it maybe once.”
“I’ll mark it down as experience with Power BI”
Really opened my eyes to how things get done. Some of what gets added as “requirements” tend to never come up. During an interview it’s always worthwhile to prod a bit at the requirements to see what is and isn’t bullshit, because I guarantee there is always some bullshit that you will never need.
Similarly don’t be afraid to bullshit a bit on your resume because you can’t know everything about everything. Bit of technical jargon but I’ll get to the point, I swear. My first job switch was for a position that required experience with microservices. This was in the early days when people were still figuring out what these mystical microservices are. I was then working on a project that was using a microservice architecture, but I never felt like the project was getting any real benefits from that decision and the applications didn’t feel “micro”. Nevertheless I put it down as experience and I rationalized it as it’s experience either way. If it’s done right and I see it done the same way in a different project then it does mean I have the experience. If it’s not done right then I’ll have the experience of how it could be done wrong which means I still have some experience. Kinda BS but it landed me the position. I then learned that my experience was both right and wrong, so I quickly learned from the mistakes of the previous project, learned how to do it right and applied them in the new project. In the end I was highly regarded in the project despite at first feeling like I bullshitted myself in. As long as you’re willing to put in the effort to overcome your shortcomings you’re allowed to bullshit a little, because nobody cares as long as things get done without huge issues. Just don’t sell yourself on things you know you can’t overcome.
My team is currently hiring, and I got to listen in on the conversation with HR when they were developing the job posting. The job posting includes requirements that the team knows they are unlikely to find, especially finding all of them in a single candidate. The posting calls them requirements, but really it’s more of a wish list. If you come across listings where you meet half of their requirements (wish list), and think you can learn some of the others, you should apply.
Apply. Just be honest on your resume and honest in the interview. Source: I sometimes hire, but do not write the job postings.
Allegedly the only way to get rid of imposter syndrome is to just… do your work/stuff until it goes away.
I’ve been at the same job for 9 years, but I don’t feel any more capable than at the start. I still have no idea what I’m doing while being sure others are constantly judging me. Any day my manager will take me apart to put me on a PIP or outright fire me. I’ve “known” this for years, and I’m as convinced as ever that it will happen eventually, soon even.
Yeah, I’m not sure if it ever goes away… I recently got invited to sit on the national licensing board for my field. I’m literally helping make the test to see if you’re an imposter, and I still feel like an imposter.
You are in the perfect position to help your brothers out!
This makes me think of those who design the US immigration forms.
“Are you coming here to commit crimes?”
( ) Yes ( ) No
Kinda sussy, ngl
You’ll do great - I’m sure of it!
Me too.
Imposter Syndrome is just the flipside of Dunning-Kruger. You must not let it paralyse you but you should know that it is a good thing. You can’t get better unless you believe there is room to get better. And there always is room to get better, so you’ve been on the right track from the getgo.
Seems to be a requirement for managerial positions that you are completely worthless as a person. The majority of management I’ve seen in my time did nothing but actively take away value from the company, the employee’s lives, and the customer’s experience.