To ask if you’ve ever taken a job you weren’t confident about being able to do…?

[Redskyatnight01]

And if so, did it work out? Were there teething problems?

I might be offered a job. However, it is a daunting prospect because the majority of it I haven’t ever done before (they are aware of this) and there is an awful lot of maths involved…Maths has never been my strong point!!

If I were to be successful in it though, it has really good career prospects and the salary is very good. I’m just concerned I’ll get in there and not have a clue, struggle to grasp duties required and get sacked :cries: It is a very busy, fast paced role and there is no time for stragglers or for people to carry me really (not that I’d want anyone to be carrying me!)

A part of me says if I’m not confident about being able to do it, I really should just walk away now…the other part of me says if I never push myself I’ll never really know what I’m capable of.

Yes I absolutely have done this. It was terrifying for about 3 months but was ultimately the best thing I could have done and really set my career up for life.

Quite often when I was younger - I say give it a try.

Were they accommodating? Did you have to ask lots of questions & feel stupid, lol?

This role would be VERY s/sheet heavy. And complicated, intricate s/sheets too with A LOT of data! I am tempted (if I get it) to book myself onto an Excel course before I start (at my own expense obviously) in order to get myself up to speed. I use Excel daily now in my current role, but they're fairly basic s/sheets with basic formulas etc, for anything more advanced, I really think I'd need to book myself onto a course and swat up!

It is also legislation heavy, again, a lot of it I'm not familiar with so, again, it would probably require some heavy swatting prior to starting the role. Argh, I don't know. It all daunts me!

Yes - all the time. I am a freelancer so no corporate back-up and no guaranteed stream of work and resultant income. If I am offered something, as long as it is not outrageously outside my field, I say yes and frantically learn all I can before I do the job. That's how I have learnt, built my skills, become more confident etc.

Obviously this advice is not the same if you are a junior nurse being asked to cover for the neuro-surgeon for the afternoon or the flight attendant offering to land the Jumbo Jet if the pilot is busy!

Yes, my current role. I was stepping into very popular shoes and stepping up into a managerial role. The first couple of months I considered leaving on an almost daily basis.

Fast forward a year, I have a very happy team, have certainly made my mark and have received amazing feedback and recognition for the changes I have made.

I absolutely love my job, I would say go for it :-)

All jobs I take are like that! I don't see the point in taking a new job which isn't a challenge. Don't get me wrong, I craps myself for the first 6 or so weeks and feel totally out of my depth for a further 6 weeks or so but slowly that feeling fades. I've never not been able to learn the bits I don't know.

I always think that if they give you the job they must be pretty sure you have the required skills, and for me to apply, I feel it's a job I can at least learn.

Yeah, all of them! I was fine and you will be too.

You can find free Excel courses online.

I was cacking myself about exactly that when I started my current job - I now love it and am very good at it.

Is it a large organisation?

Have you ever heard of imposter syndrome? I basically had it:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome

Go for it! Group on do cheap excel courses too- I got one for£19!

Yes! It took doing it for me to realise that I wasn't for the job and the job wasn't for me.

However, it looks great on my CV and I learnt loads that helps with my current job!

Do it!!

This is me at the moment.

Went for a promotion (although just a years secondment actually) and began in October.

Im finding it hard as it's only two days a week. I just feel like a fish out of water as it was so different to anything I'd ever done before.

I keep thinking I'll be found out, and that I haven't really got a grasp of what I'm meant to be doing. In my more rational moments, I reassure myself that actually I've only been in the job about twelve days, given the two days a week thing.

My manager is pretty cool about it, but I feel a bit of a fraud and get a bit anxious about going in. I also rather oddly don't want to let my old boss down, who I know (not from him) recommended me to my new boss. So I have that going on in my head too.

Hopefully itll start to make sense to me, I'll find my feet, and all will be well- before I get the boot

Yes, I just have! I figure I will put in the hours learning over the first few months, but that they wanted to hire me so overall it will be fine.

Go for it!

God, imposter syndrome describes EXACTLY how I feel

Yes and it was a data heavy role too I would reccomend doing an advanced excel and access course in advance.
I did find my feet but if I'd have done the courses in advance it would have been less stressful.
I would go for it :)

In my early twenties I was doing all manner of temping work to make ends meet. Was offered a job doing reception at a big publicity company. when asked if I could use a switchboard I said yes having never even seen one.

Spent the whole week answering phones and telling each caller the person they wanted was on another call and taking messages which I would then either run to that person or email them as I had NO IDEA how to transfer calls. (Also took the whole of the first morning trying to turn the computer on as I'd never used a Mac before).

At the end of the week they asked me to stay permanently! Didn't take it for fear of getting found out.

Definitely take the job.

Mine was a technically tricky role - legal specialism I'd not really done before. I did loads of reading, asked lots of questions and just got stuck in.

Do it!

It’s the maths bit that is really worrying me…. I literally just scraped (and I mean just) a C in my GCSE all those years ago!

I do basic maths in my current role and have done basic maths in my previous roles but that’s all, they haven’t required a lot of intense mathematics so I’ve never really done it, therefore have got a bit brain dead where maths is concerned over the past 8 years! I wonder whether there’s an online maths course or something I could do too before I started if I were to get offered it?

I just really want to be as confident as I could be before going in there and starting the role, new roles are hard enough to grasp, let alone if you’re genuinely struggling mentally with the tasks too!

Try it.

Chances are it'll be like most jobs, which means just winging it from day to day.

No doubt the job description has been pumped up to make it sounds like you need a PhD in statistics and actuarial science.

Seriously if you can use basic Excel formulas, you can use the complicated ones.

GO for it, OP!!!

Yes. I got a job somehow which required advanced level excel, I'd never used it before

Luckily all the spreadsheets had been created so it was just data entry in the end and I asked to be sent on a 'refresher' course before I was asked to actually create any

I think most people feel like that at some point.

Imposter syndrome is scarily accurate for me too!

I have applied for a job I would love and have been honest about the experience I have on the form, and I have an interview this week I am terrified but I would love the job and give it my all, but I'm scared they wouldn't give it too me as I will be so disappointed and if I do get it I'm scared I will let them down by being rubbish

I keep thinking I'll be found out, and that I haven't really got a grasp of what I'm meant to be doing. OMG welcome to my world

Fake it till you make it!

I scraped a C in GCSE maths..... You're jaw would drop if I told you what I do now.

Anyway, Excel does the maths for you these days. Just google 'how to....in Excell' whatever you need to do.