Sometimes I think I have imposter syndrome. Then this person shows up.
this post was submitted on 22 Sep 2024
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Are you even good enough to have impostor syndrome?
Now you're just fucking with me
Are you even worth it to be fucked with?
Absolutely. That's the one thing I got going for me - an absolutely unjustifiable amount of self esteem.
can i have some pls
Nooo, I'm not. hangs head in shame
So you feel like you're an imposter syndrome imposter?
A poser poseur
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My advice for anyone in a similar situation is to go for a job in a different field.
Tell them that you reached the goals you had set for yourself in your previous field (PhD, published peer reviewed works etc). Tell them that you feel it is time for you to explore other fields and that you have an affinity with the one you're applying in. Then tell them the most important thing you learned during your previous endeavors: you have the capacity to learn and adapt
I'm following this dude from now on. Who knows when he burps out another wisdom nugget from his mouth.
Edit: I'm following this dude/gal/person/dragon/alien/chair from now on. Who knows when he/she/they/it burps out another wise nugget from his/her/their/its mouth.
Still learning to be all inclusive. It'll take me a while.
Don't worry, I'm pretty sure dude has basically become a gender neutral term at this point
It’s actually gander neutral now. We’re all just silly geese.
It won't be gender neutral until a straight man can say he hooked up with some dude last night and not be assumed gay.
Woah, good point! I guess I didn't think of it that way
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Man, that edit is super weird lol
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Bingo
This guy's cover letter
Dear Hiring Team,
I would like to be considered for this role, I have a PhD and have all of the qualifications on paper. I've even published in the area you are hiring for, but really you should consider me as an entry level engineer. I don't know a lot, and I get confused sometimes. But, please hire me.
Best,
- The Guy Who Applied, PhD
This absolutely happens in real life. Guy I worked with was at a large telecom company that liquidated in the 2000s. Dude was high up and had a beach house.. you know, rich people stuff.
After the 2000s recession he had major trouble getting hired because he earned too much before and potential employers would think he would leave if they gave him a lower offer.
He ended up working for me building hydroponic farms for about a year making shit pay.
You paid him in shit? Why not use that shit as fertilizer?
He made shit pay? Does shit even have money?
Shit make for shit money
Shit has to be processed first or else everything you use it for will be contaminated with O157:H7 and people will die.
Shit is like a long term investment and not entirely applicable to monthly stipends, at least when one is starting out.
I was just assuming it was horseshit
This was also the plot of The Company Men, where Ben Afleck’s character took a construction job to make ends meet. It was a good movie.
I have a friend with a PhD in linguistics, worked for years in the SF tech world in i18n, not quite a PM, not an engineer, not a CX person but somewhere between the three. He got laid off and found it impossible to get another role, I think in large part because he's super over qualified by education and years of experience, but in such a niche skill set that doesn't really fit into traditional tech company roles. He ended up taking a job at the airport doing plane loading and such!
Let me introduce you gentleman to Doug Prasher.
https://www.science.org/content/article/man-who-wasnt-there
He was years ahead of the field in molecular biology but was parking cars when his work won a Nobel Prize...for other people.
This guy: “There you are!”
He grabs some tubing and starts squeezing the air out of it.
“You’re gonna pay!”
I feel like you all are misplaying your hands. Find contractors that work for the govt.
They can bill the govt much higher rates because you have a PhD. They don't have to pay you the extra. You could literally tell them that. Pay me at a junior rate and keep the difference until I prove I'm worth more.
You'd be straight revenue/profit for them. and it gets your foot in the door and you start getting actual experience.
This. As someone who runs a consulting business that works extensively with New Space startups doing business with big aerospace contractors and government entities, my only question is "What's your PHD in?"
We probably won't need you to really do much work. Just learn about our projects and come to meetings so you can talk about them. Heck, I'll write you scripts and give you a sheet of the softball ass questions we expect and the answers to them we want you to give.
Could you tell me more? I’m in this situation and would love to learn more.
Me, looking for technical writing jobs after writing a highly fucking technical dissertation: I have a PhD but I'm pretty burned out on being a try-hard so I'm just looking for a straightforward 9-to-5.
Them: We're worried you'll be bored.
Me: Anyone would get bored doing this, at least I'll be good at it.
Them: No.
What is my greatest weakness?
I’m aware of my own gaps in knowledge. I have a PHD but the more I ponder on what I learned and the program I was involved in the more I realize what I don’t know.
My greatest strength?
My willingness to not give too much weight to what I know and focus on what I don’t know.
if i was hiring, you would be the top candidate
But you DO have a PhD. Claiming it is somehow not valid is a criticism of the establishment that awarded it to you. You're just suffering from impostor syndrome, that's all.
Also, no employer will consider someone fresh out of education, even someone with a PhD, to have vast quantitites of useful real-world experience, so even declaring a PhD won't see you land your first job with the expectations that you'll ace every bit of it from day one.
It's good that you realise you know nothing. That is both accurate and useful. But don't take it too far. What your PhD proves is that you have an ability to learn, understand and communicate, and THAT is what employers are looking for.
What your PhD proves is that you have an ability to learn, understand and communicate, and THAT is what employers are looking for.
Yes! It also shows the ability of straight hard work. It's easy to come out of college with a degree or two and not learn this. I've only got a BA in math so i have no idea what it takes, but i would imagine earning a PhD is on a different level of work ethic.
Plot twist: they’re applying for a barista position.
Just... Say that you have a bachelor's degree and that's it? You really have it anyway for fuck's sake!
The question is how to explain a five year gap in employment.
"i was caring for my dying family member."
Skills based resume format rather than a chronological format. If they still ask just say the intervening years weren't relevant to the position.
Fake it till you make it. That’s what everyone else does.
This is unfortunately the way of the world, the only difference between you and the others, is, that many people do not feel like charlatans, and believe their own bullshit.
Hrm, ngl this username probably helps? 😜
Say you spent it working in McDonald’s. They won’t bother checking.
Same goes for ToysRUs or Radio Shack— the absence of findable evidence would work for you here
Welcome to the teeter totter of employment. Best you can do is be 100% honest about your situation and hope they are looking for that more than a sheepskin
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