How long did it take you in your position before you truly felt like you knew what you were doing?

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A movie line Ive never forgotten: “It’s the world’s biggest secret: nobody feels like an adult.”

To whatever degree, I think everyone is just acting like theyve seen their favorite people act....or guessing....or seeing what they can get away with. Theres always somebody doing better than you—and that person probably doesnt have it figured out either.

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I feel mostly comfortable with things but there are certain situations where I’m like oh god where’s the adult or have some sort of impostor syndrome

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I totally agree with this!

likehelpful
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80% of our job is a guess.
Including the 80% number.

likefunny

I 125% agree.

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When you feel like you don’t know what you’re doing think back to all of the things you didn’t know how to do 1, 3, 5, 10 years ago compared to today.

likeuplifting

Our MD told me something like: it takes 6 mos to feel like you're starting to get into a swing, 12 mos to feel like you've gotten the grasp of everything/stable footing and 18 mos to really feel like a total expert on your account. We have some really process heavy clients who are simultaneously always changing process so maybe it's faster/easier to get there on other accounts but this is holding pretty true for me so far.

In general, career-wise, I feel like I'm always googling or making it up as I go through 🤷‍♀️🤣 I like to think of it as, if I'm uncomfortable then I'm learning.

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+1 on this timeline as well. Totally agree. Although one of the perks(?) of agency life is that things and clients are always changing.

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I can’t say this makes me feel any better, but at least I know most people are just as lost as me 🤷🏼‍♂️...

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First, I agree with everyone lol. It never quite feels like you know what you're doing. It's the magic of the industry. In my experience, most people who make a show out of knowing how to do their job aren't doing it well. Second, there are so many factors that play into this - like the nature of your role, having a manager that's actually smart and helpful, working with a team that also knows what they're doing, and most importantly, time. It also helps if you don't hate what you do. And honestly, it might change every time you start a new team, account, role, etc.
Give it time 🤷🏻‍♀️

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Hey OP, appreciate you making this post.

Tbh I’ve been at my role for a little over 5 months now. There are days where I feel like I’m on top of all of my tasks. And there are days where I feel like I haven’t learned as much as I thought I did.

Hope you’re not beating yourself up too much. Just know that if your level confidence isn’t quite where you want it to be, you’re not alone.

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6-12 Months for a totally new job for management. 3-6 months for a more junior role that provides hands on or mentored training.

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I feel 100% confident in my skills but navigating the advertising waters I am like a fish with no head

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It took me 14 years for me to feel more comfortable and confident with what I’m doing. But I still have my days of feeling like a hack.

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I’ll let you kniw

likefunny

I still feel like I have no idea what the hell I’m doing on a daily basis.

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About 2-3 years. Then elevated my role and another 1-2 years. Then changed roles 2x and another 1-2 years. The point is to never stop learning or growing in your career. Once you think know what you’re doing 100%, challenge yourself again

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Well. Six months at a new place. Still learning very day. Imposter syndrome is easy to get into.

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10 years and counting.

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Do you think most of your colleagues have been this self aware?

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I still keep wishing I wasn't the adult in the room

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Agree with SD1. Confident in my skill set. Pretty comfortable with most projects (always with room to learn). But I got my current title a about a year and a half ago and I still haven’t figured out what the appropriate balance is between being hands-on and managing more 😳

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To be honest, 6 months

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But I think I got really good at my job after 5 years 😄

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