Matt Walkley is the Talent Acquisition Partner for our IT teams in Head Office and has 18 years of recruitment experience covering the IT and Education sectors amongst others. Here, Matt shares his thoughts on Imposter Syndrome when applying for jobs and gives his advice on how to overcome it.

Have you ever seen a job you really liked the look of, in a company you really fancy working in, gone to apply and then stopped yourself? 

Why?

Maybe you haven’t got all of the technical skills the advert mentions?
Maybe you’re not working in a senior enough role at the moment?

Maybe you’ve applied to that company or similar roles before and not been hired and can’t face the rejection?

These are all possible of course, but maybe you ARE right for the role! Maybe there is flexibility on the specification needed, maybe you are the candidate they need! Maybe you’ll be successful this time!

If you’ve ever had these feelings of doubt, and I know that I have, you could be suffering from imposter syndrome. There are lots of issues within the work place regarding imposter syndrome, but I want to focus specifically on it’s impact on applying for jobs and the interview process.

At Jet2 we speak to hundreds of candidates a month, and often find out that they’ve got numerous achievements, skills and experience that they haven’t put on their CV’s.  If they do get to interview stage, we often get the feedback that the candidate just didn’t “sell themselves” enough.

Quite often this is because they feel like a fraud, like they’re undeserving of the accolades, or that they don’t want to show off.  However, when it comes to applying for jobs this is absolutely the time that you need to be brave and “put yourself out there.”  

If you’ve got some experience in a certain technology or specialist skill, make sure it’s on your CV. You don’t need to profess to be an expert, but don’t sell yourself short if you have some experience.  If you haven’t quite got all of the experience you think might be needed, but you’d like to do the job, and you think you’re capable then I’d strongly encourage you to have a go. It may well be that you’re not quite right for the role you’ve applied for, but you are perfect for something else, and the recruiter can recommend these to you. If you don’t make an application, then you’ve got no chance at all!

When it comes to the interview, you should never embellish what you have done, but also make sure that you do recognise the role that you played in the success of the team. Be proud of what you’ve done, and the impact you’ve had. If there are certain systems or technologies that you’ve used make sure you state this, and the level of proficiency you’re at. If you haven’t used  something there’s no point claiming you have, but if you’re self taught or have had limited experience (but still some) then it’s worth saying. We always recommend that candidates brush up on the STAR interview technique to make sure they really highlight the successes that they’ve had in their current role.  If you’re not familiar with this, you can read more about it here: The STAR method | National Careers Service.

Sometimes applying for a job will require real resilience and perseverance. When I speak to other colleagues here at Jet2, many applied more than once to a role before they were successful. Sometimes we can have 100’s of applications for a single role and have to decline candidates who are fantastic.  It’s no sleight on them not being successful first time around. The same applies for interviews.

Above all – be fair to yourself and give yourself the chance to get the job you really want. If in doubt, reach out to the relevant recruiter on something like LinkedIn or by directly emailing, and ask the question. You might be delighted with the answer.

To find out more about open positions and what life is like here at Jet2 you can reach out to Matt on LinkedIn.

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