Struggling at my new job - help!

jimmyjazz

jimmyjazz

Well-known member
Ok fmttmers, need a little guidance here as I don’t seem to have anyone to talk this through with. So, in a nutshell… at 32 years of age I decided to pack up my job in construction and change career. I studied marketing at uni, I worked hard and got good results but I’ll be the first to admit I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed! I landed my first full time job in a marketing role about 2 months ago. It’s corporate and I was suprised they picked me as I didn’t think I was ready for the role. Thought I’ll give it a shot but now I feel like a fish outta water. I funk EVERYTHING up. I need to be shown how to do things a few times to learn. I can feel my coworker who I report to is getting sick of me. And the worst thing is I’m trying my funking best here! It’s starting to get me down and anxious and the road to competence looks so long. What to do 🤔
 
List the areas that you are struggling most with and put a plan together on how you can improve in those areas. If it's corporate you should have a development plan anyway.

Have a proactive conversation with your line manager - show you're willing to learn and work at it and you will feel better just having that chat in the first place.
 
Fake it till you make it isn't fair on your colleagues.

As tfg says, proactively speak to your line manager. If he sees you are addressing the shortcomings he will help.

You may be surprised at what he or she actually think. You may find that everyone at the firm struggle initially. You don't really learn much of use at uni. I certainly didn't doing a computer science degree.

It may just be par for the course but you won't know until you talk to your manager.
 
I spoke with my manager a few weeks ago and I told him it’s a huge learning curve for me and that I’m doing my best. He said he doesn’t want me to rush it and there has been some things put in place. I guess I’m struggling with feeling kinda useless and I want to contribute more and be accepted. But I end up just funking stuff up and look like a bit of a plonker.
 
jimmyjazz said:
I spoke with my manager a few weeks ago and I told him it’s a huge learning curve for me and that I’m doing my best. He said he doesn’t want me to rush it and there has been some things put in place. I guess I’m struggling with feeling kinda useless and I want to contribute more and be accepted. But I end up just funking stuff up and look like a bit of a plonker.
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I think everyone feels like this at the start of a new job mate, especially when it’s a drastic change from what you were doing previous.

I’d worked for Aldi for 10 years, applied for assistant manager position, they told me I wasn’t ready (despite having done the job through covid), then hired someone they wanted me to train. I handed my notice in, applied for a store manager position with another company on a whim. Got it. And I’ve had imposter syndrome pretty much every day since. However last month I passed my years probation and feel like I’m finally settling in.

You’ll get there 👍🏻
 
jimmyjazz said:
Ok fmttmers, need a little guidance here as I don’t seem to have anyone to talk this through with. So, in a nutshell… at 32 years of age I decided to pack up my job in construction and change career. I studied marketing at uni, I worked hard and got good results but I’ll be the first to admit I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed! I landed my first full time job in a marketing role about 2 months ago. It’s corporate and I was suprised they picked me as I didn’t think I was ready for the role. Thought I’ll give it a shot but now I feel like a fish outta water. I funk EVERYTHING up. I need to be shown how to do things a few times to learn. I can feel my coworker who I report to is getting sick of me. And the worst thing is I’m trying my funking best here! It’s starting to get me down and anxious and the road to competence looks so long. What to do 🤔
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TFG’s advice is really good.
 
The biggest thing is to show willing and not hide. Take notes when you’re being showed how to do something so you can refer to them later. If you ask a question write it down and note the answer as well so your not asking the same questions over and over again.

For me staff need 12-18 months to be fully productive in a new role and I generally give them that as long as I can see they are putting the effort in and with that give plenty of encouragement and reassurance along the way. As long as your attitude is right you’ll generally be fine.
 
You're trying and you're admitting when you don't know how to do something or when you've messed up. If I was your manager I'd much prefer that than someone trying to pretend everything is fine and hiding their mistakes.
Honesty and humility are two rare and very valuable qualities in the world in my opinion.
And remember succeeding is just failing better each time you try.
 
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Good advice here. I would just add that worry and anxiety over what other people think about you (ie colleagues/managers etc) is counter-productive.
Try to develop more of a "don't give a monkeys what you think" attitude and instead, focus purely on your own performance and your own satisfaction, or otherwise, with your own performance. The energy that you syphon off from worrying about what other people think and put into improving your own performance will be much more productive (and less stressful). Leave your ego at the door, for your own sake.

As TFG says, note and address the areas where you need to learn most and apply yourself to making those improvements. Don't try to improve everything at once ... that would feel overwhelming. Pick smaller goals and tick them off as you achieve them.

And, as advised by others, talk to your line manager and also, if you get on ok, talk to your colleagues. Engage them for their help and tell them that you value the help they give you ... and, if they are picking up the slack that you leave due to your inexperience, let them know that you appreciate it. That way they feel less competitive with you and might have a more nurturing approach to you.

If you have good managers, hey will appreciate this approach and will help you along. New staff are, after all, an investment.
 
Just focus on the main things, not the chaff around. You can get caught up in things that really aren't important. Sounds like you have a supportive manager, that is huge. And be kind to yourself, it is all new, you aren't expected to know everything ever, mate.
 
Hi Jimmy, in my late 30’s I had a work accident that forced me to quit heavy industry and go back to college and university. I ended up working with young people and their families and making decisions about their future. Like you, I was insecure in my role and was scared I was making the wrong decisions about the future of the families I worked with and relying on my colleagues too much by continually asking if I was doing the right thing.

I met with a senior manager who assured me I was doing ok and she put the support in place that I felt I needed. I read countless books to support and improve my role and enrolled in numerous courses to help with any shortcomings I felt I had. After a while, my colleagues were coming to me to ask for support and running scenarios past me.

In a nutshell, it was all my own feeling of insecurity and wondering if I fit in or was a fraud. I have always questioned if I was good enough and I think that can be healthy to a point to improve and keep you performing at a high level. I would advise you to follow the advice given above, look at the areas you feel you need to improve on, and work at improving these with the help of others.

I know it is difficult to get up and go into a role you feel you are underperforming at, but get the support needed and keep your chin up, the people around you also started in the same position you are in and the interview panel obviously saw something they liked and your potential.
 
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Firstly, give yourself a break. The fact you are trying your best and giving it your all is a positive.

As said above, list the areas you are finding difficult, raise these with your team leader and ask for some help/guidance, take notes.

Most importantly, give it time. Changing any job brings challenges, changing career completely will take a little while longer.

Believe in yourself, look how far you have come. I have no doubt you will also get over this latest hurdle.
 
It sounds like a really basic thing but, if you're struggling to pick up processes and needing to be shown more than once, write down step by step how to do something.

Go as basic as you can and keep a log of all of your tasks. You can refer back until it becomes second nature.

Secondly, ask for help. You'll probably find others have shared similar experiences and you'll find people who can help too.

I started a new job in July last year and it seems I've had a similar experience to you. Had the whole imposter syndrome and nearly jacked it in too. Just starting to feel like I'm getting it. Speaking to colleagues in different areas it ended up seeming 'normal' to struggle.
 
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I assume you have objectives? If not maybe speak to your manager and agree some. Make sure they're specific, achievable and measurable and put a reminder in your calendar to check progress against them with your manager regularly (eg monthly) and to review them as you develop as you'll probably want to change them and make them a bit more challenging over time.

That way you know exactly what you need to do, you and your manager are the same page, you can see your own progress and if you're struggling on any of them you can flag that with your manager before it becomes an issue and agree what you need to do to develop on that area.

If you do have objectives already make sure they do all of the above and you understand and agree with them. It's quite common for them to be a bit of a meaningless box ticking exercise, but they can be really useful, particularly for someone brand new in a role.
 
It maybe partly down to being the newest person in the team. It's not until they take on someone newer than you, and then you start seeing that they are doing things wrong that you realise that actually you have picked up some stuff yourself.

At the end of the day, unless you lied on your CV, they should fully expect you to need some time to get up to speed.
 
jimmyjazz said:
I spoke with my manager a few weeks ago and I told him it’s a huge learning curve for me and that I’m doing my best. He said he doesn’t want me to rush it and there has been some things put in place. I guess I’m struggling with feeling kinda useless and I want to contribute more and be accepted. But I end up just funking stuff up and look like a bit of a plonker.
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You've 100% got imposter syndrome, I struggle with it daily. Look it up and you'll find loads of advice beyond what is in here already
 
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