You’ve heard it, I’ve done it. No, I’m not advocating for dishonesty, or faking people out about what you can and can’t do on the job.
What I mean is that if you are confident you can figure it out, and that part matters, be clever about it. Telling an outright lie, saying that you have skills you actually don’t, is not the game in my humble opinion. Presenting your confidence to the world, without dishonesty but with integrity and honesty is better.
This is from personal experience. In advertising courses in college, which was my minor, we learned to do things from the basic levels of design, not by using computers to help us. They weren’t around yet. We were designers, artists, sculptures and just learning all of the available tools and ways to get a job done. At that time, computers were not the way. And in general you are taught if you don’t know something, go figure it out. Simple.
Then out in the “real world” as I began looking for work, and computers were beginning to surface with Quark Xpress, Pagemaker, Freehand, Photoshop and others, if I wanted to get a logo or brochure done, I went to Kinko’s, rented their computers with the new software on it, figured out how to use it and did my design projects that way. My boss didn’t know how it got done, exactly, but it did get done and that was what mattered.
Eventually in the 90s in Pittsburgh while freelancing and working at Mac temp agencies when that was a thing, and when new software came out, a few times I didn’t know how to use it, but neither did the others there. When they asked if I knew how to work in some kind of new software, I didn’t say “yes” when I really didn’t, I said “I’ll figure it out.”
Not even “no.” Just that I’ll figure it out. You do need to have actual skills and get things done. Even if it’s on your own. Customers also just want to know things will get done, confidently.
Watch others who know. Learn from your own mistakes, don’t cover them up, just FIX THEM. Treat everyone with respect.
People can get caught up in the blame game, and on the surface it might seem to work. Mistakes get made, we’re human. Not having an answer, also human. Being honest about both, makes a better human. In my humble opinion.
This along with a few other minor tidbits, like the ability to listen, and hear people rather than project our own insecurities onto the process, open up our minds to learn, and use time properly and to organize all of this; becomes the straightest line to successfully finishing things, making the deadlines and accomplishing goals.
