I don’t share this lightly…

The new year slammed hard on Tom. He is sitting in the office at 8:34 PM, consumed by the flood of tasks accumulated over a few days of break.

But he notices once again that his mind has drifted away, back to the conversation with Santosh.

Santosh was a long-time friend. They both started as junior project managers in the same company. Recently, Santosh got a new job, which was a profound step up.

On the other hand, Tom had a few demanding but much the same years. As a technical project manager, he had an ever-growing list of responsibilities. He felt like work consumed 120% of his life.

But what really worries him is that he is the same project manager as he was two years ago. He started feeling stagnant in his career.

Tom has no formal education in project management. He learned everything through his grit, trial and error, and googling.

It's always been a point of pride. But lately, it felt more like an Achilles heel. His professional growth has been slow and irregular.

Unfortunately, getting yet another year of experience doesn’t push the career any further.

Santosh explained how he landed the job. It sounded so easy. He said, “Right now, there are more jobs on the market than people. That’s a fact!” He sounded so energized by this new career advancement.

Then, he said something that sounded reasonable, “You must articulate your accomplishments. Everyone’s shy to do it. So, you’ll be the one to stand out.”

Santosh also said something that triggered Tom deeply. The term he had heard already but dismissed back that. Back then, when he was an inexperienced project manager, it didn’t feel applicable. But now…

The Imposter Syndrom. Again, it felt self-explanatory. Nevertheless, Tom googles the term and spends 20 minutes researching it.

That’s because, for many years, Tom had this voice in his head with one and the same narrative.

Every day, I lead a team of brilliant engineers. One of them is a data scientist Ph.D! Yes, I’m doing my job well. But this voice inside that murmurs, "What if they find out?"

What if they realize that beyond the confident exterior lies a man who's constantly grappling with the fear of being 'found out'? What if all they see is a manager with no formal degree? What if they disregard the years of experience and knowledge?

Then there's the unsettling thought of missed opportunities.

Each time I apply for a job or a higher position and face rejection, I can't help but wonder if it's the way my skills and accomplishments are presented on that piece of paper.

Suddenly, Tom becomes furious. Was it his own imposter syndrome that devalued all the hard work he did?

I've poured my blood and sweat into projects, turning them around from potential disasters to roaring successes! But what if these accomplishments get buried under poorly presented facts and figures?

He remembered all the stories (and whispers in corridors) of some undeserving colleague landing a role just because of a well-crafted resume. Now, Santosh and his new job. Damn it!

The weight of that thought – that I might be losing out just because I don’t have a powerful resume – is overwhelming.

It’s 9:13 PM. Family at home had already gotten accustomed to Tom’s long hours. Nevertheless, he can’t let it go. So, he logs in to his personal Google Drive.

It takes more than ten minutes to find the file. Finally, Tom opens his resume. The Last Modified field shows “two years ago.”

The resume feels like something from a different time, like an old movie from decades ago. Tom was embarrassed to admit that he stitched this resume together after graduation based on his mother’s tips.

Of course, he tried to improve it with random tips and tricks from YouTube. However, it didn’t tell the real story of all the hard work he was doing day in and day out.

This was the breaking point. Tom decided it was time to move forward and push his career to the next level.

(to be continued)

Could you please reply to this email and let me know whether you plan to make a career move this year? It could be a significant salary raise, promotion, or finding a new job.

Thanks in advance!

🇺🇦Dmytro Nizhebetskyi

IT PM School.

***

P.S. I preserved as much of the original story as possible based on Tom’s consent. I changed the names but kept as much of what Tom told me.

Moreover, I can relate to what Tom shared. I felt the same throughout my entire career.

On the one hand, you take a lot of responsibility as a project manager. On the other hand, you want to get more authority to make the right decisions and bigger impact.

That's why climbing the corporate ladder is part of the profession.

At the same time, the more you learn about managing projects, the more it feels like you know nothing about it. It feels like your work is nothing special in the project management world. Or even inferior.

I get it. I’m with you on these feelings.

That’s why, on Wednesday, I’ll share the practical challenges Tom had next. I’m sure you will relate to his story further because we get into the same (dis)comfort zone of our current job from time to time. As a result, getting career advancement becomes difficult.

Stay tuned.

P.P.S. Don’t forget to reply to me. I’m looking forward to hearing about your career goals for 2024.