Illegitimacy syndrome: what is it and how does it affect us?

The illegitimacy syndrome leads us to feel that we are at a disadvantage in the labor market.

As life happens, one may start studying psychology and then go on to study engineering. Others start with graphic design and end with a degree in classical philology. Quite a few people accumulate disparate training courses just for the mere desire to learn, but forgetting to envision a clear and objective educational path.

The illegitimacy syndrome is increasingly present, especially in people whose minds are restless and want to know a little about everything, but nothing in depth. This syndrome usually occurs when we resort to a diffuse and heterogeneous academic formation.

This syndrome can be an obstacle when looking for a job, both because of the fact that the labor market tends to look for specialized profiles and because of the self-perception of feeling that one is less expert than others. Let's take a closer look at the characteristics of the illegitimacy syndrome..

What is illegitimacy syndrome?

There are more and more people whose curricula vitae are of the most varied, accumulating titles that do not seem to have much relation between them. People who, for example, first studied engineering and then decided to try fine arts. Or people who first studied Hispanic philology and then Psychology. There are those who first studied chemistry and then philosophy. The list of examples is endless, with all possible combinations.

What all people whose educational backgrounds are so disparate have in common is that they know a lot of things but not to an expert level. they know about many things but not to the level of expertise that would be expected as would be expected of someone who has followed one and the same path.

Their passion for studying and not wanting to fit into a single profession or branch has meant that they have ventured into learning many different things, sometimes giving them the feeling that they have not even mastered the knowledge they do possess. They feel that their thirst for knowledge has made them worthless, and so they suffer from the illegitimacy syndrome.

The illegitimacy syndrome can be summarized in one sentence: I like everything, but I am not good at anything..... This peculiar syndrome defines more and more people, restless minds that want to know everything but in practice feel they know nothing in depth. It happens when we have been studying everything, having a scattered and heterogeneous academic training. Without realizing it, we accumulate short courses on very different subjects, carried out for the mere desire to learn, but losing sight of the clear and organized professional direction we should have.

For example, a person who has studied psychology wants a change of scenery and now decides to prepare to become a physical education teacher because he really likes sports. He finishes these studies and decides to continue his education, this time with a language. He starts studying German but, after a short time, he opts for another, simpler language. At the end of all this and despite having the training, he has the feeling that he is not an expert in anything and, when he goes to apply for a job as a psychologist or gymnastics teacher, he feels that he has to compete with many others, he feels he has to compete with many other professionals whose resumes are more specialized..

This dispersed and, why not say it, chaotic trajectory ends up being problematic because a lot of money and time has been invested in being a person who is basically an expert in nothing. And in the world we live in, having extremely scattered resumes is a huge disadvantage, even though the more knowledge we have, the better.

Society is becoming increasingly competitive, offering all kinds of extremely specialized positions. There is a need for very specific profiles, expertly mastering a particular discipline or branch of expertise.. We need people who, after finishing their degree, training cycle or any other training, have continued studying along the same path and have become more and more expert professionals in a given field. In labor terms, the more expert in something, the better.

Clinical psychologists, electrical engineers, pharmacy assistants, otorhinolaryngologists, early childhood education teachers... all these and many other professions are profiles of people who first studied a career and then went on to study something related. In this way, they have become professional experts in subjects that they had already studied previously, thus consolidating their knowledge.

The opposite is the case, people with a wide variety of studies do not necessarily have to have little success in the labor market.. However, the feeling that they may have studied everything will contribute to the idea that since they are not experts in something specific they are not worth it and, as we have mentioned, this plays against them.

In addition, if your resume is extremely varied and there is no evidence of expertise anywhere, your job success will be less likely. It is unlikely that you would need a psychologist who has a degree in Catalan philology or a doctor who has a degree in economics, for example.

Generalist studies

Having reached this point, we understand the importance of having completed several training courses that are related to each other, but it also happens that there are careers that in themselves are very generalist. One such case is psychology, whose university degree offers a Wide range of subjects that cover everything about the mind and human behavior: clinical psychology, educational psychology, statistics, biology, social psychology, psycholinguistics...

Psychology students, once they have finished their degree, have the feeling of many things, but with little depth, that is to say, they feel the syndrome of illegitimacy. And if on top of that they have the feeling that the psychology degree is too big for them, another famous syndrome, that of the impostor, this can discourage them from seeking employment and gaining experience.This can discourage them from looking for a job and gaining experience. It can even cause them to consider starting another career, believing that the four years they have dedicated to obtaining their psychology degree have not been of much use to them.

Fortunately, this can be easily solved by deciding to go for postgraduate training, a master's degree or by looking for a job in what they have studied directly. The feeling of illegitimacy syndrome will eventually fade away once they see that they are building themselves as experts in a certain field, whether as psychologists or psychologists.whether they are psychologists or any other career.

What does the illegitimacy syndrome consist of?

The syndrome of illegitimacy can manifest itself in many ways. It is important not to confuse it with the impostor syndrome, a condition in which a person is an expert in a certain subject but feels that he/she does not have enough knowledge or experience with it.

In the case of the illegitimacy syndrome, there is actually there is no expertise or, if there is any, it is hidden under other titles and training that have nothing to do with the subject matter.. There is a feeling of knowing a lot but with little depth, as we have already mentioned.

People suffering from the illegitimacy syndrome have profiles perceived as too generalist, accumulating many competencies, studies and skills. As it ends up giving them the feeling that the one who covers too much, covers too little, they begin to perceive themselves as a fraud. This overly heterogeneous and shallow training, combined with their insecurity, can put them at a certain disadvantage vis-à-vis professionals who do have a specialized profile.

Today, the demand for specialized professionals is increasingly high, something that has its origins in World War II.This demand has its origins in the Second World War. After the conflict many cities were devastated, so much so that while all labor was welcome, people were needed who knew how to rebuild them intelligently and efficiently. Skilled, expert and efficient labor was needed in specific areas. This perspective gave rise to a new framework in the field of work and training, which is still in force today.

Illegitimacy syndrome and talent

As we were saying, people with illegitimacy syndrome are perceived as individuals who know a little of everything but nothing in depth, as a result of having wanted to study a wide variety of things. The problem with this, leaving aside the employment implications, is that they think they lack talent because they don't excel at something specific. They are not mathematical or literary geniuses, but curious minds that jump from one subject to another.

This perception is the result of a misconception of what talent is. It is common in schools to say that a child is talented when he or she excels in a subject. However, research in this area points to something important regarding what talent is, as is the case with research carried out at Mendel University in Brno (Czech Republic).

From their study talent is understood as a skill that must be educated through motivation.. Without effort and will, an aptitude can come to nothing. People with varied and heterogeneous knowledge are driven by curiosity, by the desire to have knowledge, what happens is that if there is something that motivates them at first, after a while they become interested in something else and for that reason their curriculum can be so varied.

When a person has knowledge in several fields but does not feel that he/she excels in anything really they may perceive themselves as a fraud. This can have the negative consequence that he or she may opt for jobs that require less training than he or she has, inferior jobs that he or she considers suitable because he or she perceives him or herself as a "non-expert" and, therefore, will be able to perform them.

Repercussions when it comes to finding a job

The illegitimacy syndrome is experienced by many students who have just finished their degree or other training, especially if they are psychology-style careers whose educational curricula are already very varied.

This makes them perceive themselves as not very valid. When they look at job offers, they feel they are not up to the task. Lack of experience and the perception that they have not yet acquired the required skills hold them back when applying for any job offer. when applying for any job offer related to what they have studied.

This happens both to recent graduates and to those with very heterogeneous backgrounds. When one has experience and knowledge but with a scattered background, one assumes that it will be difficult to be hired. These are people who doubt their legitimacy because they do not believe they are experts in anything. This is where social comparison comes into play by Leon Festinger, a social psychologist who explained very well how people sometimes become obsessed with thinking that others are better than us. We minimize our capabilities just because we do not have a trajectory that we believe would be the specialized one.

• You might be interested in: "5 keys to successfully look for a job (and not die trying)".

Heterogeneity as an advantage

While the ideal is to have a specialized resume, this does not mean that being a curious person, avid for knowledge and interested in all kinds of things should be a problem. We live in a time in which, although specialization is valued, we also need professionals who are flexible and willing to learn new things, either to expand their field of intervention or to update their knowledge.

In a dynamic society, generalist and heterogeneous profiles are valuable.. It is true that a profile that is too heterogeneous may indicate that the person is undecided as to what he or she wanted to study, but it can also happen that he or she is interested in so many things that he or she has simply been doing a bit of everything at his or her own pace. It may be that he or she has multiple competencies and cross-cutting skills, that he or she is actually an expert in some of them, and that what has happened is that he or she simply has a curious mind that has wanted to go beyond a particular field of study.

People who are interested in many things and excel in them are what have been called T or renaissance personalities, skilled in several areas. Behind them there may be high capacities and talents, or also a great effort and motivation to learn. They are growing in number and can be a labor gold mine, a diamond in the rough that should not be ignored.. Specialization is not everything in this life.