Imposter syndrome

[Regular.Cyclist]

I was recently in a training session for those looking to move to even higher levels in their career. One of the first tasks was to explain why you were attending the training and what you hoped to get out of it. Due to where they started in the room I was one of the last to answer the question.

Truthfully I said I wanted to validate where I had reached already an, once I had that, the confidence to go further and was the first to raise the topic of imposter syndrome. Once I had, over half the room ack that you be in there mind too.

How common is it really?

 

[cisamcgu]

Tremendously common, I would say

 

[Drago]

Very.

Although with modern HR practices its probably quite justified in many cases where they facilitate completely unsuitable candidates into posts beyond their abilities.

 

[Jameshow]

Yeap imposter at work despite having been there 9 yrs! 🤣

Imposter with family having had a divorce...😥

 

[Beebo]

No one really knows what they are doing.
Almost everyone is making it up as they go along.

 

[stephec]

No one really knows what they are doing.
Almost everyone is making it up as they go along.

Can you imagine if the surgeon says that to you just as the anaesthetic kicks in?

 

[SpokeyDokey]

No idea how common it is.

Never experienced it personally or witnessed it around me?

Is it driven by lack of confidence or low self-esteem?

 

[Alex321]

No idea how common it is.

Very

Never experienced it personally or witnessed it around me?

You usually won't really witness it, because most people aren't going to say or do anything to make it obvious.

Is it driven by lack of confidence or low self-esteem?

Only to a small extent. It is driven more by starting something new, and thinking you are expected to know more than you actually do.

 

[Regular.Cyclist]

For me I guess it stems from being a child from a home where both parents were alcoholics and unemployed but somehow making it into decent employment straight from school. I was forced into seeking new employment 6 years later when I was made redundant and saw an advert in a newspaper for a job I never knew existed and new nothing about what it entailed.

Fast forward 33 years and I somehow find myself in senior management with a wide field of influence at a national level.

 

[Punkawallah]

Can you imagine if the surgeon says that to you just as the anaesthetic kicks in?

Come now. That’s not something a surgeon would -say- . . .

 

[wafter]

Interesting thread.

I think this is very common and have experienced it myself many times. I think it comes from two core sources - one not rational, emotionally-driven and dictated by factors relevant to the individual (such as low self-confidence, low self-esteem etc for whatever reasons).

The other is people literally not knowing what they're doing, because they're insufficiently trained or simply lack the interest in the field to feel they have a universal grasp of everything involved.

Confidence is a funny (not funny) thing - I have a mate who's so confident (read has a low aversion to risk and a propensity to paper over his lack of knowledge / skill with bravado and bullshit) who, on occasion has had me questioning my own knowledge in fields where objectively I'm very aware that he knows next to nothing and I know a lot.

Likewise this was a conversation I used to have with my ex a lot - who worked in a field where she was clearly better at her job than her contemporaries, yet because they were more confident / better at playing the cynical corporate networking game tended to progress further than she did.

Finally I see a stark difference myself between an old job I used to be very good at and am still sought out by people in this field for advice / work, and my "new" job (now about 4.5yrs in) that I had to learn from scratch and, while I've got better can't really speak with authority on / frequently have to wing it / ask a grown-up.

Tbh I think it's rare to find people in employment who aren't just going through the motions; probably more likely to find competence in more niche or enthusiast-led fields since this actually garners interest and a desire to learn.

Obviously as a punter you want someone who's competent at the job, but actually identifying if this is the case can be difficult.

 

[All uphill]

Imposter syndrome is just a negative spin on humility?

 

[richardfm]

No one really knows what they are doing.
Almost everyone is making it up as they go along.

Years ago I had a conversation with an HR manager where we agreed this. We went on to say that the trick is to recognise when others are going to spot it in you and then to change jobs.

 

[wakemalcolm]

Having been chucked out of university for something as lame as failing exams (I mean, really?) I somehow managed to blag my way into a career path where I was corralled with some fairly clueless graduate recruits.

Somehow I managed to retire 30 years later without being exposed as a complete fraud although the nagging sense that I was about to be found out meant that I lived pretty lean which ultimately resulted in my being able to retire at 49.

One moment when it did come to my rescue was when I was asked to reapply for my job (or a job that was bizarrely similar to my role which was becoming redundant) I was able to point out that I didn't meet the minimum education requirements for it. Even though I walked out with a sizeable redundancy fee, I left the building looking over my shoulder expecting someone to be following me asking for their cheque back.

Maybe I was actually an imposter.

 

[Beebo]

Can you imagine if the surgeon says that to you just as the anaesthetic kicks in?

I suspect a lot of medical stuff is educated guesswork.