Imposter syndrome at new job is more normal than anyone else cares to admit. I’ve definitely felt the effects of it from starting a new job. The expectations from you are high yet you don’t know what you are doing because you’re barely getting used to the new processes.
You’re not alone. One of my superstar close friend felt this when she moved to a new job. Although she could’ve easily gotten over the hump with time she still couldn’t handle the new environment. It was so bad that she felt that everyone was against her.
While it is hard to get adjusted to a new job, it isn’t impossible.
Take it from me, as well. When I started my new job in January 2022, I was so lost. I had no idea what I was doing. I got very lucky because I had such a supportive boss and supportive coworkers. However, a new job is always a risk. The new job could always be worse than the job you had before.
If my coworkers weren’t so good, I do not think I would have solved my imposter syndrome at new job. I would be forever wondering how things worked and what the company policies are. However, after months and months at the job, I’ve gotten much more comfortable at executing the tasks.
This isn’t the first job I’ve felt the imposter syndrome at work, either. Many times I’ve gotten over it. It may have taken a year or so at some jobs but eventually, I got over it. It may take a lot of time to overcome. However, it is more than possible and there are concrete roadmaps and steps to get there.
What is Imposter Syndrome at New Job?
Imposter syndrome at new job is when you feel stressed and lonely because you, deep down, know you can do the job but you just don’t feel like you can. It doesn’t help because your coworkers are completely new and foreign to you, as well.
Everyone goes through this feeling. You feel like you don’t deserve the job or deserve to be at the position you’re in. Out of everyone else that something that good could have happened to, why did it happen to you?
You’re secretly worried that everyone will find out that you are a fraud even though you are not.
Very prominent people have gone through imposter syndrome. Even Albert Einstein considered himself a fraud before he passed away. He was worried that someone was going to figure out that his competence, awards, and schooling was just him pretending to be good.
Not that he was actually good.
It hits everyone else. I got a job offer of a lifetime in early 2022. Throughout 2022, I began to wonder out of everyone in the world the company could’ve offered the job to, why did they offer it to me? Why did I deserve this job even when there were millions of more qualified people in the world?
Am I really even qualified to take the position? What if I fail at it? Will I be able to outwork everyone else which is how I advanced my career in the past? These were questions that I was afraid the answer would be because that I was a fraud pretending to be good and that everyone’s affirmation was just them pretending to be nice.
How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome at New Job
The first step to overcoming imposter syndrome at new job is to SMASH that social share button and post to your favorite social media! Imposter syndrome is not an uncommon feeling and the more people understand what it is, the better off your friends will be.
So with that said, let’s go into the concrete steps you can take to overcome imposter syndrome!
1) Give it Six Months
Six months is the minimum amount of time you need to give in order to ease the imposter syndrome off. That’s the minimum amount of time. If you’re complaining of imposter syndrome at the three month mark, then that’s nowhere near the amount of time needed.
All of my friends who started their jobs became more comfortable after at least six months into it. Myself included. It took me about seven months before I started to feel comfortable at the new job. It wasn’t even about the job, too, I was at a completely new place in a completely new city.
I felt out of sorts.
You need at least six months to stave off imposter syndrome at work. Any less time than that and it would be nonsense to evaluate whether you are doing a good job or not. It takes about a year before a company really sees the return on investment in you, anyway.
You could even review the 9 qualities of success as a reminder that you are doing just fine.
2) Talk to Your Friends
When I had imposter syndrome at work, I talked to my friend who worked there. I told her my concerns and she eased them. She went through the exact same thing that I was going through at the new job. For six months straight, she went to her boss and asked questions.
That’s exactly what I was going through the first six months of my job. Then I really started to feel like I wasn’t alone! If she, who’ve been working there a while, went through the same thing that I’m going through, surely I must not be doing so bad after all.
Your close friends will be open and honest with you on what they’re going through and what they’re struggling on. However, some not so close friends could try to mask what they’re going through and say everything is great even when it isn’t.
The vast majority of the time, it won’t turn out to be that bad.
3) Realize Everyone Feels This Way
Whether people want to admit it or not, when we are in a new environment, we have no historical evidence to base our decisions on. Everyone feels the imposter syndrome at some point. They may have feelings of inadequacy or feelings that they don’t belong.
Imposter syndrome at new job is a real thing people go through.
Even the most accomplished people at work will admit that at some point, they didn’t know what they were doing. They may still feel like that. The executives, at one point, I’m sure felt it as well. No one ever got to the top actually knowing what they needed to do from the start.
People got to the top not knowing anything of what they needed to do and figured it out along the way. You are not alone, truly. There are billions of people in the world. The chances of you being the only person on Earth feeling this way are just zero.
It’s normal to feel imposter syndrome at work.
4) Take Care of Your Health
One of my friends put it brilliantly. The goal of exercising isn’t to sweat, lose weight, or anything else. The goal of exercising is to get your heart rate up. When we work a corporate, desk job we live a mainly sedentary lifestyle. We don’t get our heart rate up, which is what matters.
I recently bought a heart rate monitor so I can see exactly how my heart acts throughout the day. It cost ~$40 and knowing my heart rate information has been crucial for me. When your heart health is very good, you don’t feel stressed throughout the day.
I tried meditating regularly and while it helps, it doesn’t help as much as regularly exercising to get my heart rate up. Exercising 5 days a week benefited me tremendously. My resting heart rate now sits around 70 bpm, which is considered good.
I know as I exercise more, it will calm me even more. Exercise can solve imposter syndrome at new job.
5) Have Regular Chats With Your Boss
You have imposter syndrome at work because you have feelings of inadequacy. Your boss can either confirm or deny your fears. Your boss may say nice things just to make you feel better. However, more likely than not, your fears will be unfounded.
It may turn out you’re doing just fine. If your boss confirms as such, then it’s time to trust what the boss says instead of second guessing even more. My boss currently regularly chats with me and I know we can have even more regular chats about my performance as time passes on.
Your relationship with your boss will matter the most in you moving up the corporate ladder. Your relationship with your boss will matter the most in calming your imposter syndrome at work fears as well. If your boss tells you areas that you can improve on, then it’s time to take the advice to heart.
For the most part, you may be doing just fine.
6) Write Down Weekly Accomplishments
You may not be doing as bad as you think. Every week, you should be getting better. We humans aren’t dumb. We know how to adapt to our situations because it’s our way to survival. When you write down your weekly accomplishments, you can objectively evaluate if you are improving or making progress.
Imposter syndrome at new job is solved when you realize just how well you are doing every week. It matters. You are making progress and moving forward at work. No one ever expect you to have all the answers from the start.
However, once you start to know how to find the right answer, everything falls into place.
It doesn’t have to be a long list of accomplishments to make yourself feel better. It can be 3 – 4 bullet points every Friday to look over and evaluate whether you are learning new things and how to do things more efficiently. You’ll be amazed at your progress after just a few months.
7) Realize You Have Every Right to Be There
Out of every other candidates they could have chosen, they chose you. You have every right to be there. You have every right and deserve a seat at the table. They didn’t choose you because they just wanted to be nice to you. They chose you because they thought you could solve their problems.
It may not look like it, but you earned your seat at the table. There are no free lunches and no one hands out money for free, especially not corporations. Corporations don’t hand out money to people because they are nice and they want to.
Corporations hand out money to people because they want people to make them more money.
The company saw something in you and that’s why they gave you a chance. There’s less imposter syndrome at work once you realize that you deserve everything good that’s going your way. You deserve to make more money and you deserve to have a good work life balance on top of it.
Imposter Syndrome at New Job is Expected
Imposter syndrome at new job isn’t anything new. Many people go through what you’re going through right now, myself included. So many people don’t think that they deserve the good position that they earned and worked their hand to the bones for. There are no free lunches.
When you have something good happening to you, it’s because you deserve it. Someone saw something in you that others didn’t. Too many people feel guilty about the good things that happened to them. Many leaders around the world felt the exact same thing that you’re going through.
World leaders won the support of other people, whose support is hard to obtain in the first place. Then once they actually get the job that they said they were ready for, they suddenly feel inadequate. Even though they are more than capable of getting the job done.
It’s expected to have imposter syndrome at new job. Especially when the compensation is already so high to begin with. My new job came with a ~30% increase in compensation. I am more motivated than ever to earn that bread every single day.
I am motivated to do a good job, even work weekends and nights if I have to.
The smartest and most accomplished people in the world had imposter syndrome at new job. People who move departments within companies even have this feeling. As long as you let time pass by and you do a good job along the way, everything will be just fine.
How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome at New Job
- Give it six months
- Talk to your friends
- Realize everyone feels this way
- Take care of your health
- Have regular chats with your boss
- Write down weekly accomplishments
- Realize you have every right to be there
I had a boss with a stern manner in my first job. After about six months I went to see him and have a talk. I asked him straight out how I was doing, that I felt he might not be happy with my work. To my surprise he said I was the best young engineer he had ever had and that I was doing an excellent job. After that I was able to control imposter syndrome by keeping track of all the big wins in my career, the bonuses and raises and positive performance reviews and compliments from my boss and his bosses. I never changed jobs and eventually ran that company before retiring slightly early. The fact is everyone feels imposter syndrome, particularly early in their career or when they are promoted to a new position. But because everyone feels it then it’s not really a fact, it’s just a misplaced fear or feeling.
Whoa… That’s a great boss!!
I always kinda love hearing stories from your career, Steve. They help guide me a lot in my roles and my current job.
I really do hope I have a successful career like yours! I’m definitely going to keep you updated and/or post on my blog. It’s really appreciative.