Timbaland featuring Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado “Give It to Me”
At 25 1/2, 3 1/2 years out of school, in the business arena, I am considered a young professional. As a young professional, I am expected to dress and play the part. But few people expect me to really know what I’m talking about. It’s an interesting conundrum. I’m being paid (entry-level pay, but pay nonetheless) to be a relative expert BUT most people consider me to be a younger/newer version simply regurgitating what someone more seasoned has already said. And while it’s true that we all learn from the more experienced, that experience is relative to the topic and may be no more than a few months of experience. In many cases, I may in fact be the expert but my familiarity with pop culture, ability to stay up all night and wrinkle-less face all largely discount anything I have to say.
I realize there’s little to nothing I can do about the perception. My only options are to play the clueless-under-30 part OR calmly, consistently make my point in a non-defensive way. The LAST way I want to be perceived is as a temper tantrum throwing 20-something.
But on the flip-side, how do you deal with the insecurities of agreeing sometimes you don’t know what you’re talking about or being asked? No matter how much you think you know, someone’s always going to know more. And even worse, someone else is going to know you don’t know. What do you do then? You have a handful of options but what I’ve found to work best is simply admitting your ignorance AND asking questions. Both actions are very important. Without the questions, you just appear dumb and indifferent. By doing both, you appear interested. As much as some people enjoy embarrassing you, more people enjoy telling/teaching you something, acting the expert.
A few suggestions for encouraging your career experts:
1.) Don’t assume to know anything you really don’t. Deer in the headlights is a dead giveaway you’re trying too hard. And sometimes signals it may not even be worth explaining to you.
2.) Don’t be afraid to ask questions. No one’s an expert on everything. Don’t assume you have to be. Nobody likes a no-it-all. Most conversations are teaching lessons. Be open to being taught.
3.) Ask a few questions you already know the answer to. After they’ve answered, you can explain it in a different way, making them feel they’ve taught you something AND signaling you’re intelligent enough to view things in different ways. (This strategy also works well with professors you may be having a hard time with.)
4.) If the conversation is stalling, ask an open-ended “state” or “direction” of the industry question. Most people love to share their opinions on what’s wrong and how THEY’D fix it.
5.) Follow-up with something intelligent. Collect a business card (or at least an email address) and follow-up with next steps, relevant articles, something. Prove you were paying attention and worth staying in touch with.
Most importantly
6.) Do your job. Whatever it is, you were hired for a reason. Someone had faith in your abilities. Don’t prove them wrong. Because you have to remember the quality of the people they hire reflects directly on them.
Separately there’s nothing wrong with being young or a professional. Together, however, they should just mean you’re good but the sky’s your limit. I’ve got 45 years or so until retirement (if I’m lucky). I can only hope I have a lot to learn.
Listening to Justin Timberlake while packing my suitcase,
Jo’van
The Truth: According to Jo'van 