I’ve been guilty of saying “fake it 'til you make it” only because I’ve noticed that when new employees basically advertise the vast depths of ignorance (especially if they are stigmatized minority), it often takes a long time for them to shake off the image of incompetence. This is especially true if they ask a lot of questions they could answer themselves with a discrete bit of googling and always looked puzzled in meetings. Even if you don’t understand what is going on around, for Pete’s sake, act like you do. That’s what wild animals do so they don’t want to get attacked by predators. The ones who let their lameness show are easy pickings.
When you’re in a position in which you feel out of your depth, there are really only two things that can save you: 1) being able to mask your lack of knowledge well enough so that people don’t pigeonhole you as an incompetent imposter while at the same time 2) being resourcefulness enough to rapidly acquire the knowledge so you don’t have to fake it anymore. “Fake it 'til you make it” works for anyone who is adept at balancing these two things.
Omg. Twins DO think alike. Especially about the ‘stigmatized minority’ thing. Way too I often I see women self-deprecating all over themselves. It is like they dont see that everyone is totally bullshitting their expertise. Including me.
That’s the problem with the mindset, for me: people who don’t have that ability. It has its uses in situations like you describe, but I’ve met too many people who were running ahead of Peter’s Principle - they had barely started to make it in their current level of faking and they were already faking the next one; mind you, I work in consulting, a sector where people who sell themselves well while being completely incompetent is an endemic problem. Too many of those with the impressive CVs got all those big names not through short contracts that reached their natural end, but through getting replaced as soon as their managers woke up.
The biggest issue we’re having in my current project is a guy (hired by the end client, not by my team) who is so hellbent on faking it that he never thinks of asking any kind of questions. The rest of us, we’re always asking questions of each other - because we are sure enough in our individual areas of expertise that when we’re going to touch somebody else’s, we don’t try to fake it. We ask the expert.
Personally I think thats crap made up by college professors wanting more students to major in worthless areas.
Sure I love history but what the hell good is being a history major. Same thing with people who major in say archeology, or paleontology, or even marine biology. You just dont always make much money in those fields.
I think people misunderstand the “do what you love” thing. It’s not “do what you love, and the world will magically become amazing and fairies will fly pit of your behind while you rake in the millions.”
It’s more like “IF one of your life goals is to do a particular thing, the only way you are going to have a chance of doing it is if you consistently, through good times and bad, with intention and strategy, while constantly reassessing and realigning your plan with your values, skills and opportunities.”
It’s a statement about the long game- sometimes the very long game, and it never promises things will be easy or your will get any particular reward.
Thank god I listened to this advice. Growing up in a poor area, I was constantly told to aim low and take the safe route. Maybe it’s different for people from middle class families, where the “safe route” is more like “go to college and get a desk job” than “get an AA, work your way up to store manager and get on the Section 8 list young,”’ and where the things that you are told you “can’t” do are more like “rock star” than “lawyer.”
Trust me, it’s epidemic where I work too. In these cases, I blame the hiring officials who ignore the cardinal signs of poseur-ism.
Like the person who uses 100 words to convey a 10-word concept because they bloat their speech with fluffy adjectives and eyerolley corporate buzzphrases. For instance, my boss has been shoehorning “level of effort” into every conversation for the past month now, irrespective of whether it adds meaning or clarity. And. I. die. inside. every. time. I don’t see this behavior from other managers who have been here for years, actually know what they are doing, and aren’t trying to prove that they are the smartest in the room. She does this to cover up her lack of competence and its embarrassing.
A sign like this should have been apparent when she was interviewed. So I blame her boss.
I believe hiring officials are responsible for this in another way as well; posting ridiculous lists of ‘required qualifications’ for entry-level jobs. I see it constantly.
They are looking for a junior web developer with 4-year degree and 5+ years relevant of experience. Knows every programming language ever written, including Subject C#++. 5+ years experience in each, please. Expert in HTML/CSS, Flash Actionscript 2 and 3, extensive experience with PHP and MySQL, excellent Photoshop skills a must, ability to work in a fast-paced environment (tight deadlines and no time-off!), excellent verbal and written communications skills, a team-player and must be very detail-oriented. Adobe Indesign and MS Access skills a plus, even though they have nothing to do with web development. We’re offering $27,500 salary, no benefits, you pay for your own healthcare.
Only slightly exaggerated. . . Even if a person exists who matches all the skills and qualifications, they are going to be worth a lot more than the junior level position on offer. So candidates are essentially forced to ‘fake it’ in order to even be considered. They know the list is crazy or nonsensical, and most likely compiled by an HR person with no actual familiarity with the job. They feel the only hope is to bluff their way through until they know what’s *actually *required, and then pick up those skill along the way. The job listings actually encourage a certain level of poseur-ism.
I don’t think “do what you love” is violated if you don’t currently love anything. The violation is when you are encouraged to do what you love even when it’s impractical. Sometimes, you have to have just a good job and then do what you love as a hobby.
That’s why I was not cut out to be a music education major. I love music, I love kids, and I love teaching, but the actual job was not a practical consideration for me.
I had a job like that- I loved to go to work every day, even the hard parts were fun and if my living expenses were taken care of , I would have done it for free. Here’s the funny thing- I had no idea I would love it until I was doing it. I took it because it was a promotion, it paid more and I was pretty sure I wouldn’t absolutely hate it. But I made damn sure my kids knew that I was very lucky and they shouldn’t expect to be able to support themselves doing what they loved- it probably wouldn’t happen unless they were not only very good at it but also happened to love a field where it was relatively easy to get a job. It’s a lot easier for someone who loves accounting to support themselves doing what they love than it is for someone who loves playing baseball.
I’m kind of in this position right now. I love doing data analysis. But I didn’t know that when I took the job. I took the job because I love to eat.
Back when I was in college, I didn’t know that statistics would be my thing. In fact, calculus had convinced me that I hated math. I chose environmental science as an area of study because I liked field work. I had no idea that it was so math-intensive until I was already knee-deep in it. If I had known that up-front, I probably would have run away from it.
That’s why I think “do what you like” makes more sense than “do what you love”, especially for a young person. I suppose if you’re already passionate about something, it doesn’t hurt to chase it (within reason). But don’t wait for “love” to kick in before deciding what to do. There’s nothing wrong with going with “like” and seeing where that takes you.