When I talk with job seekers, they nearly always undervalue their experience. They judge themselves based on how their organization valued them.

“I was only an account coordinator.” “I was only an intern.”

Then we dig into what they did every day and what they accomplished. It is always more significant than they think it was, because no one ever told them “You do an incredible job, and add so much to this place.”

They might say, “I supported two account managers.” What did you actually do? “We had 150 accounts between my two AMs but 30 of them always needed something. I kept those clients calm. I juggled priorities. I put out fires, 5 or 6 a day.”

What kinds of fires?

“An order might get held up because the AM transcribed the order from voicemail. I was always scrambling. I called the warehouse, checked on orders and became great friends with the folks in Shipping. We used temps, so I was always training someone.”

Have a story about a time when you rocked your job?

“One of my AMs was on maternity leave when a massive order came in, so I did her job. I had a dozen conversations with the CEO of the client company. I shepherded his big, complicated order through the system. It felt amazing.”

(Everybody has stories like these but we’ve been trained to say “I have two years of experience in X,” which signifies nothing. We’ve been trained to downplay our experience and minimize our triumphs.)

It takes time and reflection to rise out of the brainwashing and gaslighting that makes us think we are a dime a dozen. It’s not true, but you have to see it before anyone else will