Ducks Attack Message Board Forum

My company and another are planning a merger, so rather than stick around and see if my job is going to be eliminated or not, I'm applying for other positions.

An acquaintance is pushing me to take a fairly high level position at his company, but skill-wise, I would have a lot (emphasis: LOT) to learn. That said, the compensation would be great.

So I'm curious - Has anybody ever taken a job that they felt they were they were un- or under-qualified for? And if so, how did it turn out? Stories welcome.

StevensTechU wrote:My company and another are planning a merger, so rather than stick around and see if my job is going to be eliminated or not, I'm applying for other positions.

An acquaintance is pushing me to take a fairly high level position at his company, but skill-wise, I would have a lot (emphasis: LOT) to learn. That said, the compensation would be great.

So I'm curious - Has anybody ever taken a job that they felt they were they were un- or under-qualified for? And if so, how did it turn out? Stories welcome.

If your confident in your ability to learn then why not take a chance. In 1985 i took a job starting in the
warehouse. Three weeks later the purchasing agent left the company. I was offered the job. I had no
clue what i was getting into. After 34 years im still with this company doing the same job. I now train
others to do this job within the company. I was confident in myself enough to take that chance.

I did when I first got my job but then I met other people in the IT field and found that it's pretty common. I've found that as long as my work ethic is good and I'm willing to learn then it usually isn't to big of a deal.

The imposter syndrome is a psychological term referring to a pattern of behavior where people doubt their accomplishments and have a persistent, often internalized fear of being exposed as a fraud.

Yes I have, I was seriously under qualified for, lots of stress and learning at first, but I never guessed, I did fine until I left after many years, even moved up the ladder some. Just ask questions after you have exhausted most or all other research options. As you know a question before a mistake and set back is always best. I know of others that have done the same. Good luck!


When I read the subject line why would I think this was about Pac 12 refs or Larry Scott? Lol

I took a job operating cnc water jet, used to precision cut steel, based on Bobcad programming. I had NO experience with that type of work, just a chip on my shoulder. The guy who was supposed to train me hung around for a couple days, walked in one morning and said "screw this" . Seems his contract didn't specify how long he was supposed to stick around, and the company I worked for PAID HIM UP FRONT! He took the money and ran.

Luckily I was able to read the manuals and decipher what I needed to do.

I did quite well, in fact began editing previous programming, and refining the setup of the machine.

I think sounds like you have a buddy with a fair amount of confidence in you. That's not a bad place to start



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Appreciate the stories.

I'm probably more advanced in my career than a question of this nature would let on. I've held different finance roles over the years, and the position in question is essentially being the head of finance for a start up company. A lot of the responsibilities I think a caveman could do, but others require specific guidance. Though I've got some solid experience, I'm working on rounding it out still, and am not sure how I feel about being the guy you look to for answers when I'm learning on the fly, so that's my hold up. That's probably pretty unique, so I purposefully omitted all the details in the original post, haha.

StevensTechU wrote:Appreciate the stories.

I'm probably more advanced in my career than a question of this nature would let on. I've held different finance roles over the years, and the position in question is essentially being the head of finance for a start up company. A lot of the responsibilities I think a caveman could do, but others require specific guidance. Though I've got some solid experience, I'm working on rounding it out still, and am not sure how I feel about being the guy you look to for answers when I'm learning on the fly, so that's my hold up. That's probably pretty unique, so I purposefully omitted all the details in the original post, haha.

No surprise. I was in the business with the CNC operation for 23 years before I took that job. Technically it was a lateral move, salary wise, but the benefit was I got to be in my own shop, and was virtually independent from the rest of the operation. That was pretty sweet.

StevensTechU wrote:Appreciate the stories.

I'm probably more advanced in my career than a question of this nature would let on. I've held different finance roles over the years, and the position in question is essentially being the head of finance for a start up company. A lot of the responsibilities I think a caveman could do, but others require specific guidance. Though I've got some solid experience, I'm working on rounding it out still, and am not sure how I feel about being the guy you look to for answers when I'm learning on the fly, so that's my hold up. That's probably pretty unique, so I purposefully omitted all the details in the original post, haha.

I can relate. 4 years ago I took the job of an Executive VP and Chief Risk Officer for a pretty large insurance carrier. We are just north of 17,000 employees. I came to the position from a Director position in a regional office and I was way out of my comfort zone in the new role. That said, it’s worked out great. The hardest part for me, even though I was a seasoned manager in a similar field, was leading people with more experience in a new area. In the end, I threw caution to the wind and jumped in and created my own vision and people followed. I was lucky to have that freedom and luckily, I adopted a good staff.

Good luck!

StevensTechU wrote:Appreciate the stories.

I'm probably more advanced in my career than a question of this nature would let on. I've held different finance roles over the years, and the position in question is essentially being the head of finance for a start up company. A lot of the responsibilities I think a caveman could do, but others require specific guidance. Though I've got some solid experience, I'm working on rounding it out still, and am not sure how I feel about being the guy you look to for answers when I'm learning on the fly, so that's my hold up. That's probably pretty unique, so I purposefully omitted all the details in the original post, haha.

My advice would be to find a mentor, possibly within one of your investors (if you have any). If you're going to be working with VC firms they're going to expect you to have a really sound grasp of the business model, key metrics for success, ability to put in sound financial controls etc. Check around in your area, specifically within the SBA services to see if there are any CFOs out there willing to provide some guidance. Just a lunch every once in a while with someone that has experience to use as a sounding board would be very beneficial. Also if you plan on sticking around for a while (up to and including acquisition/IPO) you're going to need some serious experience in that process in making sure your financial/accounting systems are rock solid.