How to Navigate a New Career With Confidence
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Most of us plunge into adulthood sometime in our 20s without a clear understanding of what we’re doing.
You chose a path, did the work, and now you’ve landed the big job you prepared for.
No matter how well you impressed your employers at the interview, most of us still walk into our first few weeks feeling underqualified and like an imposter.
We beat ourselves up for not being an expert on day one. We fear that the way we are isn’t good enough so we must change our personality, style, and interests in order to fit the mold of who we think we’re supposed to be in our new role.
In my book, Teachers Are Human Too, I share my experience starting my career as an elementary school teacher. Although my experience is in teaching, my internal struggles and fears around starting a new career have resonated with readers in different professions.
Whether you’re in you’re early 20s and just beginning your first career, or you’re making a transition later in life, this article will guide you through how to stay true to yourself in your new professional role.
Imposter Syndrome Cure
When I accepted my first big job as an elementary school teacher, I was terrified. I immediately questioned my readiness and feared getting in trouble for not being the perfect teacher.
During college, while learning how to become a teacher everything felt easy because the pressure was off. With my own class, everything was completely up to me to pull off.
When I was handed the keys to my classroom and sent on my way I thought…
Wait… Isn’t someone supposed to tell me what to do?
I was afraid that parents would take one look at me, a 22-year-old, whom many adults viewed as a child, and decide that I was not fit to be their child’s teacher.
Although I earned the required credentials for the job, I didn’t have much on-the-job experience, so I felt unprepared.
How are you supposed to get on-the-job experience before you have the job? You can’t and you are hired with your boss knowing this.
One way to combat imposter syndrome is to admit that you are a beginner. When I tried to hide the fact that I was a young, new teacher, I felt like a fraud. Once I could admit and own the place I was in, I felt free to be myself which made me better at my job.
As you get started, don’t try to pretend like you have everything covered the way an experienced person does. Ask questions and be eager to learn. You are not bothering anyone. As a new employee, no one expects you to step into the job and know it all without training. Many jobs where you’re hired upon graduating from a program intended to prepare you for that profession, like teaching, throw you right in with no additional training period.
However, everyone there has once been in your position so they know you’ll need guidance. Find at least one trusted mentor and do not be afraid to collaborate with them often.
Those who succeed the fastest are the ones who seek support from experts.
They Hired You for YOU
When I got my teaching job I somehow “knew” without ever being told that my personality, appearance, and interests had to change.
I assumed that to be professional I couldn’t wear clothes I felt good in. I had to buy a whole new wardrobe of “teacher clothes”. I couldn’t listen to the music I liked. I had to play either Kidz Bop or soothing instrumental music. I couldn’t talk about shows and movies I liked because I wouldn’t want children to think I was recommending they watch something that wasn’t G-rated. I had to lie about my weekend plans because going wine tasting with my boyfriend is double inappropriate. I couldn’t let anyone know that I thought most math, science, and history lessons I was required to teach were a complete waste of time.
I jumped into this career that I was excited about because I love working with children, only to sense that me, as I am, is not allowed.
It’s a fine line between being professional in your job and being yourself, especially when working with children. To be professional, I’d say, do not wear revealing clothes. Do not speak or play music with cuss words. Do not play movies or shows that aren’t child-friendly. Do not talk about drinking alcohol. And try to make all the required learning as fun and meaningful as you can.
It’s a lot to ask and there’s no rulebook or training on how to do it.
However, you are hired for YOU. Trying to live separate lives is not sustainable and will leave you feeling disconnected and unhappy.
Your unique personality and way of moving through the world are allowed to be expressed in most professions.
You were brought in to bring your magic to the job, not just to be another body filling a role, although it sometimes feels that way.
The way we were taught in school to get all the right answers trained our minds to fear stepping out, fear being different from the pack.
Your unique take is exactly what your profession and our world need. We need people who are fully themselves and feel lit up by the work they are doing. Not people who are hiding their true selves and desperate to get through their workday so they can finally stop pretending.
This unspoken understanding that we can’t be ourselves is not real. It’s a pressure we put on ourselves trying to become the employees we think we are supposed to be. There is no supposed to be. You were hired for you. You are qualified and you can be yourself.
Unless specifically asked to not do something, bring your whole self to your job. Wear what you like. That alone will help you feel better. Don’t lie about your interests. Share your joy with those you work with.
Once I allowed myself to bring my personal interests into the classroom, my job felt more purposeful.
I didn’t think some of the required curriculum was super useful in life, but I knew how journaling, yoga, reading people’s life stories, art, and music had positively impacted my life. I decided to bring in the practices that were helping me in my personal life to my students.
The extra time to do things I love felt incredible and seeing my students find meaning and comfort in some of the practices was something I knew they could take with them throughout their entire lives.
Everything You Want Is Within Your Reach
When you start something new, it’s easy to look around at everyone who’s more experienced and put them on a pedestal.
You think they’re somehow smarter, better, more qualified.
I used to look at writers who had written bestselling books and thought, “I could never. Those people just have something special that I don’t have.”
This perspective without a reframe would have stopped me from ever writing anything. It wasn’t until I started writing that I realized, I could create something great too. All I have to do is work on it a little bit, every day.
When you listen to anyone who has some kind of career success, they all say similar things. Something along the lines of, “I’m not special. I just had the idea and decided to go for it. I ignored all the no’s and continued working towards it until I got the right yes.”
One person who has the status and qualifications to give you a big break does not make you an overnight success. You already had the talent and skills because you’d been working and creating for years. It just took time for the right opportunity to come and be the reason the world could recognize your greatness.
For me, college did not make me qualified to be a teacher, although that was all my employer verified before hiring me for the position.
They didn’t check any of my work, or ask for me to present a lesson. They checked my degree, enjoyed my answers to a few questions, and gave me the job.
Everything I needed to know about being a teacher, I learned while teaching. There is very little that I took from my college classes that translated into the actual on-the-ground work.
I was terrified and I felt underqualified for a whole year but quickly, I got used to my role. This is the case for everyone in every job.
Doesn’t matter if it’s a position you think only the smartest people in the world can do or an entry-level position.
Eventually, with experience, you learn what needs to be done and you do it. Simple as that.
What Happens if You Realize It’s Not for You
When you work for years towards a degree that is meant for a specific job, get the job, and pour your whole heart into it for years, it can feel like your life is set.
You chose a path and it can feel like you’re stuck on that path because of how much time you put in to get there.
Thinking that trying something new means starting over from zero, makes it seem like all your previous work was a waste.
That is not true.
Every single experience in your life contributes to a lesson, a skill, or a perspective that you will need for your next journey.
The whole idea that you work when you’re young to get a certain job, then coast out at that job until retirement, is outdated.
It encourages people to not live up to their full potential. It keeps people small and full of regrets down the line.
All of your experience is a part of your portfolio. You are never stuck in a job. You have never wasted years in a profession all for nothing.
Change is a beautiful way to continue to grow, learn, and create a more beautiful life no matter your age. All of your experience and portfolio go with you and become the pillars for the next path you choose to take.
When I was about to start my second year as a teacher, I already knew I didn’t want to be a teacher anymore.
Of course, this is scary. I never planned to go into teaching and then quickly decide to not teach. Looking back I’m so grateful to my past self for listening to my internal desires and doing something about it.
Instead of settling at a job I now felt comfortable at, but not inspired, I chose to listen to the voice that told me I could achieve more.
This change did not happen overnight. Not even close.
I spent the entire year working as a teacher, completing tests, observations, and going above and beyond for my students. I also slowly, slowly spent a few minutes every single day working on finding the lifestyle that would make me happiest, learning new skills, and trying things out.
After months of exploration, I decided what I wanted. I made a plan and held myself accountable.
Small steps every single day create massive results over time.
You are not stuck. You are not too busy, too old, too broke, too whatever to go after the life you want to live.
Just decide what you want and then take the steps that will bring you there.
My Story and Yours
Teachers Are Human Too is my career story. I started teaching at an extremely challenging time and learned on the job how to navigate an environment that was beyond what I could’ve prepared for.
Once I realized that the job was not providing the lifestyle that I feel deserving of, I made a plan to exit.
I found a way to have fun in the classroom while knowing I was working towards something more.
I discovered that being a teacher gave me the exact skills I’d need to confidently try something new.
You have the power to write your story and every single chapter is important to lead you to where you want to go.
For more on my career story, check out my book, Teachers Are Human Too.
🤍 Jaclyn
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