
Ask HN: How to not be intimidated by people with higher credentials? - athesyn
I work in a place where nearly everyone has an ivy league degree, I&#x27;ve always been a slacker when it comes to education and not academically gifted at all.<p>How do I avoid becoming insecure about my background? I&#x27;m confident in what I do but sometimes I feel like I might be missing something critical that&#x27;s only found in elite circles.
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idunno246
I have a good degree and am fairly senior. I was on a team with a couple
peoples first job out of boot camps, and new grads, as the only senior person
on the team.

I’ve done mostly backend/devops type work, and this was a full stack react
project, and I’ve never done react. So I’m doing a new feature and pull one of
the boot camp graduates and ask for help. “Really you want my help?” This
person had no cs background but was way more knowledgeable than me in this.

My point being, everyone has something to add regardless of their background.
Up or down find people to learn from.

Also, I don’t know anybody’s resume - I may have read it while interviewing
but I read so many they’re totally forgotten. Really don’t care

~~~
matt_the_bass
> My point being, everyone has something to add regardless of their
> background. Up or down find people to learn from.

I strongly agree. By being open about this, to can also build team
camaraderie.

Also, there are a lot of “experts” that don’t actually know as much as they’d
like you to think. The best experts embrace this and work to always learn
more.

------
AnimalMuppet
What's "only found in elite circles" is being in elite circles. That's it.

You're confident in what you do. Do it, and do it well. Let that speak for
you. Let it be your "credential". Those who do it better, well, _they_ have
higher credentials than you.

An Ivy League degree _may_ mean a better education. Or, it may not. It may
mean that their application looked better than yours. Or it may mean that they
got in on a "legacy" application, because five generations of their family
went to that school. It may mean a wealthier family background, or a really
nice scholarship, or it may just mean a really big student loan.

Don't judge by the degree. If they flaunt the degree, it means that _they_ are
hung up on the degree, but it doesn't mean you should be. (And why are they
hung up on the degree? Maybe, because of a bit of insecurity. If you have to
show off your university credentials at your job, maybe you aren't convinced
that your job performance shows you off...)

But "I've always been a slacker when it comes to education"? Well, _don 't be
a slacker when it comes to your job._

~~~
athesyn
I'm definitely not a slacker when it comes to jobs and I know I have real-
world applicable skills. I've always pulled my weight and received great
feedback, I agree with everything you said. I got hung up on the credentials
because they're so important to _everybody else_ , but actually it's only half
(or less) the story.

Thanks for your perspective, you've given me a lot to think about.

~~~
scarface74
Everyone else like who? Once you've been in the field for five or so years, no
one cares about the college you went to - or more often whether you went to
college at all.

~~~
athesyn
Everyone else as in people who are in charge of hiring, don't misunderstand
but many startup people are from privileged backgrounds who only hire people
from the same alumnus as themselves.

~~~
scarface74
There are plenty of companies where you can make good money without having to
deal with the startup culture.

------
seanwilson
> How do I avoid becoming insecure about my background?

The only people that care about that stuff are insecure themselves. Don't care
what people like that think about you.

Focus on what you know now, what you need to learn and how you're going to
learn it. You don't have to go to a well known university to become good at
something.

------
kickaha
You may be confusing class with credentials. (Leaving aside the accustomed
confusion between credentials and ability.) Sorry to sound flippant, but I
found it to be true: spend a lot of time with top level talent and you get
used to it. On the other hand, if you have bad teeth or a regional accent, you
might never overcome even the internal barriers.

------
rajacombinator
Ivy League schools aren't that special, academically speaking, at the
undergrad level. With exceptions, of course, the students aren't really held
to any special standards different from elsewhere. You might have missed out
on meeting some rich kids, but they probably missed out on having a good
football team.

------
path101
Remind yourself that while they're really good at something, you can certainly
beat them in something else. No one is perfect and we all have or strengths
and weaknesses. It never fails me!

------
ddingus
Keep it all about the goals. Where you are strong, don't hold back. Nail it.

Where you need help, ask for it unabashedly. Where you can give help, give it
unabashedly.

Put real time, some fraction of your personal time, into continuing to be
relevant. This will give you skills you need, and things, projects, interests
to talk about and show off.

Once, I got a call from a friend: "I'm the dumbest guy here." Reframed that,
with a quick reminder about what smarts are, what wisdom is.

What he really meant was he was the least experienced person there. I told
him, "good, you are gonna grow a whole lot." And he did, then moved on to
something else after finding that particular role wasn't for him. And that's
not inability to perform either. He just felt more strongly for something
else.

The truth is, most of us are smart enough. You are, and being here to ask
about this in the way you just did shows it too. The rest is work, and a chunk
of that work is just caring enough about the things that matter. Time spent
sorting that, from things that probably don't is high value.

From there, the amount of that work depends on a whole lot of things too. We
all have the choice to either do it or not.

So do the work. It will show.

All of that will net you the advantage or at least garner favor, respect, a
very significant percentage of the time. That's really as good as it all ever
gets.

Say you did have a degree. What would you change about these basic dynamics?
I've been through this process a few times now, and have learned it's not
worth changing a thing. Attacking your worries this way can work. Worked and
continues to work for me.

Play very strong in your lane too. Whatever that lane is, make sure you've got
your basic priorities in order.

Others, who should be playing in theirs, sometimes don't. Sometimes you won't
either. Stand ready to help, and let that be known you treat people on your
team right. Nobody wants to fail. It just costs everyone.

Be flexible in these things, and I'm speaking to that help we all might need,
or perspective we want to share, or help we may need to give.

An example of what I'm trying to convey here might be past experiences. Right
now, I'm in a technical service, support position. It's technically an
executive role, but the company is small, so mostly it's a lot of work and
looking hard to make the right calls consistently right now, model the future,
because it's coming soon kind of thing.

This means putting out a lot of fires, saving asses. I've had a number of
roles, and gladly share those experiences with people who hold them now. IT,
training, consulting, manufacturing, engineering...

Others know this, and know I'm there to advise, help, share, and expect the
same in return. After a time, once the team solidifies, begins to really run
well, everyone who modeled these things are well respected, own the culture,
and newbies as they come in can tell all of that, and the ones who get it,
seek that, and their own place.

What typically happens is people will come and find me to talk. What they
really want to do is think through or past something. Great, let's do that and
find out what we think makes sense and act on it.

Often, I think of this as working with people, mutual respect, mutual
consideration. Has paid off for me many, many times, and yes! Among people
with credentials far greater than mine. Sometimes, it mattered a little early
on. Maybe a proof or two, or some deft management of office dynamics were
needed. Nothing too tough, unless I made it tough. Sometimes this is just
automatic, rote behavior, the product of old, or shallow norms in play in that
particular organization.

In most of the cases, I got the opportunity to really help, or add value and
just did, no worries. The trick is to be there, not judgmental, just
observant, ready. Doesn't take many of those for most people to get what you
are about, and the moment they get it, they value you differently from that
point on.

Honestly, this is human work any of us has to do. And some of us learn better
by doing, or when focused. I am one of those, and always have been. You
probably are too.

Just know there is room for all of us, and by that I mean diverse teams, broad
in experience, deep in skills, and who communicate are strong, likely
successful teams. Most people get that. A few won't, and that's true for all
of us no matter our credential status or other.

What I've come to learn, and I'm later in my working career now, is the cost
comes down to making those personal investments needed to just nail whatever
we do, and to manage the tougher case people away from being problems you, nor
your team need.

Good mentors help too. I've had those off and on, and I can't understate the
value of both being one and having one. Most became friends, and we talk
regularly, those conversations have run for years now, decades, transcending
what role we are in, or which company we are at, or starting. They are about
the journey, challenges, experiences, wins, losses, the stories. They are
about making those good, or the best of stories as much as we can manage.

For some perspective, I am a mentor for a guy headed into a post grad program.
Wrote my first letter of consideration. Just paying the good I got forward.
He's headed into an awesome career. It's gonna be great to keep in touch.

You will experience these things too, given you seek them. I very strongly
encourage you to do that.

Also, laugh. It helps, and it's catchy.

