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Coach Caroleen
I help women in tech grow their careers by landing better roles using my Career Makeover MBA.
I see you over there. Faking it. Being an IMPOSTER.
I felt like an imposter waltzing in from my small manufacturing jobs to the big ol’ world of corporate America. I could barely get a recruiter to give me the time of day and 18 months later, I was being recruited by Microsoft. What just happened?
It’s scary. I felt like an imposter going on those interviews. I felt like an imposter walking into those big corporate jobs. Most of my career was spent working at a family-owned place with less than 50 employees. I’m small fry!
I totally felt like an imposter making more money than I’d ever seen in my entire career. Who I was to get paid like this? I was just a single mom scraping by for years. Now, I’m commanding six-figure salaries because… because what? because I said so? What an imposter.
You’re not alone. Everyone feels this way whether or not they admit it out loud. Imposter syndrome is real but it doesn’t have to be paralyzing.
Remember that every job has on-the-job training and there is time to ramp and learn. No one new on the job is expected to know 100% of processes, the tools, and already know everyone on the team BEFORE you start the job. That’s ridiculous.
So think of yourself as a job seeker with a strong growth mindset. You are capable and eager to grow by learning new skills and experiences on the job. This doesn’t make you an imposter. This makes you just like every other person (like me!) that starts a new job.