Imposter syndrome, success stories

[AmoungUs]

I have found a few posts of people going through recruitment processes discussing their imposter syndrome. But they don’t come back to say “it was all fine, turns out I’m amazing at my new job”
Does anyone have any success stories of when they feared they were not good enough for the new role but it turns out they are in fact really rather good? Or even just fine and coping well.
I’m currently applying for a promotion at a rival organisation and my imposter syndrome is running wild.

I think imposter syndrome is completely normal and more people suffer from it than you realise and not just at recruitment time.

I suffer in my day to day job and I don't think it ever goes away, however I love my job and what I do, I just have to balance those thoughts of doubt against all the good I do and how much I enjoy it.

Same here. I suffer from imposter syndrome every single day!

As @bookwormcrazy said, I love my job, the people I work with and my team leads etc have often said they see a big difference in me since I started working in my current role. There's always room for improvement (I know that VERY well) and I don't get it right all the time, but 9 times out of 10, we're not nearly as bad as we make ourselves out to be.

I used to suffer from imposter syndrome, but as I climbed the corporate ladder I realised that pretty much nobody knows what they're doing. I may be shit, but I'm not as shit as they are.

Keep in mind that most senior people rise to their natural level of incompetence. Take Post Office, Fujitsu, and countless others. Did they set out to ruin the lives of others? Probably not. Did incompetence manifest in truly disgraceful ways? Absolutely.

Good luck with your promotion, I expect that the fact that you feel as you do probably means you'll be really capable. It's the arrogant that's that think they know everything that can't actually do the job usually.

I interviewed for a temp role about 20 years ago and interviewer fed back I was a bit "lightweight". Anyway, they didn't find anyone else so I went for 3 months.... extended to 6 months, went perm and stayed 8 years. Salary significantly higher than previous perm role.
There were still times when I felt like I wasn't good enough, but a calm exterior plus talking to people around me got me through.
Most women I know have felt like this at some point, be brave and good luck.

Thank you all
I was reading the psychopath thread a few days ago and people claimed most senior leaders are psychopaths, I’m not (I’m reasonably sure) so that made my imposter syndrome even worse! 😂
@HappiestSleeping your post was a rollercoaster for me… am I rising to my natural level of incompetence? Oh no, maybe I’m self aware enough. I think I landed in the right place.
The post office scandal is really front of mind for me. Being able to admit you are wrong is a real skill. I hope I have it.

The fact that you are even thinking that way suggests you are not rising to your natural level of incompetence.

All those I've met who have do not think for one second that they could ever be wrong. You'll be fine 👍

Yep, they’re all shit and panicked too. And if they’re not, they’re arrogant. I can vividly remember sitting in a meeting a few years back watching all these people giving their opinions aa if they were right and it suddenly dawned on me that they weren’t - it was just an opinion they were throwing out there as randomly as I might. No one really knows what they’re doing all the time.

I think I’ve actually got better at work since then. It was oddly validating to realise that my guess is probably just as good as their guess.

I suffer from this. It’s become very bad last few weeks. I have two young kids but I’m suicidal. I can’t do my job. It’s too big, too stressful. I’m quitting. I don’t know what comes next.

Good advice and good way to look at it 👏🏼