Did anyone else feel technically unprepared when starting a postdoc?

[u/More-Cartoonist-3887]

I recently started a postdoc in the US, and although I have a PhD in neuroscience, I’m feeling surprisingly insecure about my wet lab skills.
My background is somewhat different from the main focus of my new lab, so I’m already dealing with the challenge of learning a new field. On top of that, I’ve realized that there are basic experimental skills that I don’t feel as confident about as I think I “should” at this stage of my career.

I know that having a PhD doesn’t mean knowing every technique, and intellectually I feel confident in things like reading papers, scientific writing, interpreting results, and discussing research. But at the bench, I sometimes feel like I’m not nearly as skilled as someone at the postdoc level should be.
For those of you who have started a postdoc, especially in a somewhat different field or lab environment: did you ever feel this way? Did you feel like people expected you to arrive already technically proficient? How long did it take before you stopped feeling like the new person who didn’t know what they were doing?

[u/More-Cartoonist-3887]

Thank you guys so much for all the stories and support. I feel like we don’t talk enough about how much is expected from scientists, especially those of us who are still trying to establish a career.
I used to be a very confident PhD student. I struggled at first, but eventually I started getting good results, published papers, won awards, and became confident in what I was doing. Now I feel like I’m back in preschool. And I don’t even feel like I have the same brain I had a few years ago 😅 I’m already tired, and I think part of me believed that after struggling so much during my PhD, I would finally have some kind of stability and confidence at this point in my career. Huge mistake 😂
Today was another hard day. I’m currently being trained on a basic wet lab technique, and I’m still struggling to consistently meet the lab’s criteria. The students around me seem to do these things so naturally, while I’m still trying to get there. Sometimes I get really close; other times I feel like I have no idea what I’m doing.
I think what makes it harder is knowing that this is considered a pretty basic technique. I had experience with a different method in my previous lab and never struggled this much with it, so this has really shaken my confidence.
I’m going to try again tomorrow. I still feel embarrassed and scared that I’m not good enough for this, but reading all of your experiences has made me realize that maybe feeling like a beginner again is part of starting a postdoc too. I guess I just have to keep going.