I’m 43 and just started a new state job and I feel completely overwhelmed. I came from a lower-grade agency where I knew my job, but now I’m surrounded by highly educated people and I feel like I don’t belong. I struggle with Excel, I misspell things, and my anxiety (and sweaty hands) make me feel like everyone is watching me.
Outside of work I’m confident — I run my home and my life — but at work I feel small and unsure. I could go back to my old job, but that feels like failure.
( thank you guys for your encouragement. I will come back in a few weeks and let you know how it's going.)
they’d not have hired u, if they didn’t think u could. You can Google etc stuff,& watch tutorials on-line for how to use Excel. I know lots of phds/engineers whose CVs have misspellings/who misspell.
randomly got this. You can stay & learn, & move foreward, eventually you’ll know it, just be patient & always continue to learn outside your job :)
AI has its downfalls, but it’s absolutely excellent at suggesting things like how to do a specific task or function in Excel, or for proofreading and suggesting edits to emails/documents for spelling and professional tone. OP, you can use ChatGPT, CoPilot, or whatever AI technology you have available at work to help with mastering these kinds of more menial things while you learn to be proficient in the actual day-to-day things like what larger tasks to do for your job and when. What people really care about is, do you know what you’re supposed to be doing and can you get the job done. Remember that every job comes with a learning curve, so give yourself some grace while you learn the job and recognize that most reasonable coworkers/managers will not expect you to know all this without some time to get your footing. But, as the poster above said, they wouldn’t have hired you if they didn’t think you could do it. You’re a smart cookie, and I’m sure you’ll be able to figure it out! Just make use of the handy tools that can help you figure it out faster.
(ETA: Be careful about putting confidential or private information into AI, though, so if you’re going to drop a document into an AI interface for proofreading, make sure to anonymize it and remove proprietary info first.)
Thank you so much
Great advice here!
Thank you so much
I think starting any new job is hard. Keep in mind that they hired you because they have faith you can do the job. Now you just need some of that faith. They probably all seem smarter than you because they've been there a while, not because they are ACTUALLY smarter. "Highly educated" is not always a sign of more adept. I've worked with some folks with PhDs who were worthless (and others who were amazing).
YouTube is a great resource for Excel tips. I use it regularly and even one of my old bosses (who was a whiz at Excel) told me once that he doesn't really memorize anything, he just looks up what he needs.
Make sure to run everything through spell check before it leaves your hands and in six months you'll look back and say "Whew! I made it!"
I work in that kind of job.
We are careful in our hiring, and that means every person comes to our team was really skilled in their old job.
And utterly frustrated at how long it takes to get up to speed in this new one.
But, they all get it. Eventually.
You are clever, and competent, and you will get it.
It's just a huge HUGE mental adjustment to go from being highly skilled to being totally out of your depth.
But you've got this. Give yourself patience.
Thank you !!
Congratulations on your new job! First, even though it doesn't feel like it, this is a moment to celebrate yourself! Take a some time, maybe a hot bath, and allow yourself to feel very proud of yourself. Let those feelings swell up inside of you. It may take a little bit of time before you feel comfortable, but that's ok. Excel can be tricky! Give yourself permission and space to learn how to use it well. Know that you have more time than it feels to get tasks done. Take your time and breathe. I have full confidence in you and am rooting for you!
You Tube is your friend. seriously - Every time you need help with excel just put it into YouTube
Thank you!!
Be not dismayed! You're going to be just fine. There is always a learning curve with any new position, but you've got this. Your employer hired you because they believed in you. We do too!
Every new job feels like that, usually for like 6 months. You will get the hang of it!
In the meantime—Google is absolutely your friend. Put in your excel issues and it really will help you find the solutions.
Take a minute to re-read your emails and documents/slides shows before you send it publish them. I find it very helpful to read out loud to myself as I find those mistakes.
It will get better!
I feel the same way. I have to push myself to stick with it. The older I get the harder I feel it is to learn things and keep up.
I told my son to stick with his new job until one day it will just "click" and he will be used to it. Sure enough he's still there after a year and a half.
Hang in there, wait until it clicks for you. You can do it!