Imposter syndrome/no confidence

LegacyUser

Hi all,
I know this is a common issue but I'd love some advice. I graduated one year ago and I have been struggling with grad life. I know my course was very tough, and I came out with good grades. For some reason, I constantly doubt myself, my abilities and what I know.
This leads to me not pushing my opinion forward at work, as I am afraid of being wrong and of people thinking im stupid.
I think it came from being good in school naturally when I was a kid, so I'm not used to dealing with being wrong or receiving criticism at work. Now I find myself holding back and keeping my head down, going with the status quo to avoid drawing attention to myself. Meanwhile my classmates display themselves as the experts we are, and the confidence they have in their opinion means they are seen as being correct. I know we are all equally the same and got the same marks but I cant seem to portray myself in this way.

It even affects when I learn. When I try to learn the 100% facts I find myself doubting what I remember after, and am afraid to say things in case it's wrong.

Does anyone have experience dealing with this? Help with learning would also be really great as I feel like it's getting harder for me to recall things.

Imposter syndrome is hard to shake. In my experience it tends to affect more thoughtful people (like myself, if I'm honest). However, as I get a bit older, I realise that it is extremely common. That makes it a bit easier to manage.

Also, don't worry about knowing 'nothing' one year after graduation. At that stage of my career, I certainly knew very little, and I turned out okay!

stuboy01

I've always felt that it takes 6-12 months to truly settle in a job and feel comfortable. I'm in my current position 4 years and still have loads to learn about this business after a career change, having worked in a totally different industry for almost 15 years. being a good bit older than you, i no longer care what colleagues think so i tend to speak my opinion right or wrong. A year after graduation you are not expected to know everything, indeed you are expected to know very little, you're only starting out. For some reason many recent graduates come out of college thinking that they should know everything now, and be paid big wages. It's a myth, actually you're real learning only starts now.

LegacyUser

I get hit with this too . For me what really helped was 1 realising how common it is and 2 taking control of my work where possible ... lists setting meetings etc . I'm at director level

stuboy01

Look into goal setting techniques, set yourself SMART targets. prioritise quick wins, even simple easy completed tasks can help you to increase confidence and demonstrate to management that you can successfully complete task.

eeguy

I constantly get imposter syndrome.

Ive found that the more you learn the more you realize that there's so so so much more to learn.

This was especially true when I was straight out of college. Now after a few years experience I realise the people who i though knew everything were really good bullsh#tters and I've great fun correcting them.

Just fake it till you make it!

James Bond Junior

I found it was only after a few years in the job that I truly began to say I know what I am doing. Hang in there!