Boudjie - Independent Blog

Growing Pains

by Joycelyn Foster

You may be the youngest or most junior at your place of work.

They’ll call you, guuurl, youngster, nana or some other light-hearted flirt.

Sure, I can only speak for myself (& a few work friends of who I’m quite fond)

But what does it mean to be the “fresh talent”

versus “a tadpole in the big pond”?

An interviewer has said: I like your attitude, but your portfolio worries me.

Obvs, you need the job to get experience.

But you also need experience to land the job,

It’s a bit of a Catch-22, wouldn’t you agree?

Now, there are positives to being The Last One Hired.

You add a fresh, new perspective to the old and (pun intended) retired.

If you listen to BTS, practise Krav Maga or buy Chappies from the Babi shop,

You bring in something that your older co-workers absolutely cannot top:

The Currency of Youth. *

*Shout out to Fleabag.

They’ll let you get away with being cheeky and say, Classic, Sassy Joss.

Then you’ll push it too far and your senior asserts authority with I’m the motherfucking boss.

Always. Always. Always speak up to the collars and the ties. Especially when your voice shakes.

Believe that what you have to offer is invaluable.

Believe spoken and emailed compliments.

Believe that you grow through all of your m i s t a k e s .

One thing to lookout for is The Royal We.

There’s a big difference between:

We break you down and build you back up again.

versus

Didn’t we do this for last year’s campaign?

If you can, choose: Collectively we rise. Collectively we fall.

The world is upside down, so maybe this didn’t find you well.

But I hope it’s left you with a guide

to debunking

that

Imposter Syndrome Manual.

~ JF ~

TreesSA