Imposter v. inexperienced
Hi All,
Imposter syndrome is the new buzzword in professional circles. It is the feeling of doubting yourself or feeling like a fraud. This can manifest itself in several ways. You may feel as though your accomplishments are because of luck. You may question whether you have actually earned the success or recognition that you have achieved. Another way imposter syndrome can manifest is feeling like your peers or colleagues are more qualified, experienced, or simply better than you are.
Imposter syndrome is something that affected both of us very significantly in law school. When you are put together in a competitive circumstance with the highest achievers from various aspects of life, feelings of inadequacy and not measuring up are commonplace.
Despite us having different paths to law school, this feeling of not being good enough hit us both. Although we talked about it at the time, our friendship was still new and stress was high. We both see now how isolating our imposter syndrome was and how it permeated our law school experience.
But we made it through school, passed the bar, and got hired as attorneys. Here is where we learned about the important difference between imposter syndrome and inexperience - they are definitely not the same thing. As we started out we knew that we were inexperienced and that could have lead to even more imposter syndrome.
For us it was gaining the practical skills to put our education to work that helped both of us overcome our law school imposter syndrome and thrive as we went from inexperienced to experienced. This is NOT to say that we have never felt that imposter syndrome creeping back in, but we were both more equipped to deal with it before it got out of control.
Are you feeling like an imposter? Say it out loud! Write it down! Identify your feelings. Once you have identified how you are feeling you can evaluate why you are feeling that way and how you can change it. Do you need a check in with your mentor? Would a class help you gain more knowledge? Do you need more practice with a skill?
Let us know how you deal with imposter syndrome!
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Thank you! Haley & Amy
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