Imposter Syndrome

For this week's one-minute climate snippet we're straying away from the traditional climate diction, and are focusing on a phenomenon that people in this space tend to know a little too well — imposter syndrome. 

According to Harvard Business Review, imposter syndrome can be defined as "a collection of feelings of inadequacy that persist despite evident success." People who struggle with this often experience extreme self-doubt that prevents them from taking control of their careers and/or future endeavors.

A few months back we conducted a survey that pinpointed what was preventing people from taking a job in climate solutions. Respondents agreed that climate jobs were beneficial and the majority of them said that they wanted a job in the space. People believed that there was a massive range of jobs and these jobs gave them hope for the future, but they didn’t necessarily see a space for themselves individually nor did they unanimously agree that every job could be a climate job.

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This analysis leads us to believe that imposter syndrome is preventing people from transitioning their careers to climate. The number one thing that was preventing people from transitioning their careers to climate had very little to do with extenuating circumstances and everything to do with their validity of themselves. 

Climate tech is a relatively new industry and hands-on climate experience is not a requirement for success. We need people from all backgrounds, industries, experience levels, etc., to even begin to address the issues at hand.

We encourage job seekers to focus on the skills that they bring to the table rather than dwelling on what they are lacking. The only way to get a job is to put yourself out there, make connections, and ultimately apply. We recently conducted a webinar on this very topic.‍

Organizations like Terra.do, Work on Climate, MCJ Collective, ClimateTech Careers, and Project Drawdown have incredible insights to get you started.