Age and experience are just numbers
How you think matters. Take it from a 24-year-old.
When I was a teen I couldn‘t blend in. To my classmates I was the nerd, who was always ruining the fun. I was that person who considered the logical consequences and acted as if an adult was undercover in the teen gang.
I had more topics of interest with people that were older. Yet I was still perceived as a child whose opinion, however logical it sounded, should not be taken seriously . I was too mature to hang out with most of the people my age and too immature to be considered equal by people slightly older than me. Annoyed. That‘s another thing I was.
At this point of my life I started believeing that when I turn 18 that would change. Guess what? No. It didn‘t change when I turned 22 either.
I had a degree in Marketing and 4 years of relevant experience behind my back. True, it was part-time or volunteering, but I learned a lot and shaped my way of thinking, which is the most important asset in that field.
I started job hunting. People who interviewed me didn’t care about my way of thinking. The common perception is that if you don’t have X years in company Y, you’re intern material.
I finally started a job in an adverting agency. Actually a 3-month internship that later evolved into a job. Everyone there underestimated me for my young age and lack of X years of experience.
I kept hearing how much potential I had, yet that I still had much to learn before my voice could be heard. That went on for 6 months until I’ve had enough.
In a moment of epiphany away from that toxic place I realized that I had started accepting myself as not mature enough, not experienced enough and ultimately — not good enough to even share my thoughts. I realized that I never said my honest opinion about anything in the presence of my colleagues.
I thought that what I had to say was stupid or irrelevant just because I was 22 and I didn’t have those precious years of experience they did.
Funny things is that during that period I was also on the other side. I joined a Mentor program to help a girl in 11th grade create her entrepreneurial project from scratch. I was so impressed by how mature she was for her age and by her ability to find solutions to problems with ease.
Working with her on that project made me realize what I’m telling you now — age and experience are just numbers and no one should feel like their opinion matters less just because they’re younger.
It turned out we made a great team. My experience was useful because I only shared it when she asked for it. I did that because I saw that she was a self-starter and was able to find solutions I never even considered. I gave her freedom and that boosted her creativity.
After we finished the project I realized it was time to claim my own freedom and stop suppressing my thoughts and ideas.
I said to myself that I would not compromise on being underestimated ever again and I quit my job at the agency.
Truth is there‘s always going to be someone out there who will see you as the young, inexperienced person, whose opinion should not be taken into account. And you will probably allow that to happen for a while as I did. Unless you see the signs as I failed to do for 6 long months.
Ask yourself…
Get a piece of paper, write down those questions and answer them honestly:
- Does going to work make you feel constantly physically drained? It’s true that even when you love your job you get tired at times, but not ALL the time.
- Do you count the hours until your days off?
- How do you feel in the morning knowing you have to go the office?
- Do you feel okay sharing your opinion with your colleagues?
Let me give a postive example. Here’s how I felt this morning going to my current job. I was sleepy, I didn’t want to leave my cozy warm bed BUT then I thought about my daily tasks and got excited. I remembered a stupid joke we exchanged at the office the other day and smiled.
Going to a place where you’ll spend the day doing something meaningful is a blessing. I now work with people who don’t brag with their experience and expertise despite having impressive achievements. My voice is heard, my opinion is taken into account. They value that I can bring to the table solutions they didn’t think of.
Take it from a 24-year-old that had crappy jobs and bosses. When someone is constantly trying to prove a point and their arguments is the years of experience in the field– don’t work for that person. Don’t become that person even when you get X years of experience in company Y. You can shape logical problem-solving type of thinking at a very young age. Combine that with experience and there’s nothing you can’t achieve.
Every generation is better than the previous one, that’s a scientific fact. A 14-year old can start a company and be more succesfull than you or I will ever be by the age of 25. That’s the world we live in today.
Like I said in the beginning- age and experience are just numbers. Don’t let others underestimate the value of your opinion.
