#Imposter Syndrome

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

dry hamlet
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I just applied for my first job as a Junior Developer.

As a self taught developer, I've always had a feeling as if I was impersonating developers. I've done the work and know how to program without much help, but still can't seem to shake the feeling.

So i figured, i'd come here and ask y'all. Have you ever ecountered Imposter syndrome? Or has someone you know? What are some things you or they have found to help solidify your own confidence in your skills an abilities?

jolly scaffold
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I did extremely well in a 4 year degree program and am also applying to a lot of junior roles...I also have extreme imposter syndrome...mostly around the notion of interviewing...I'm confident in my abilities to eventually figure something out...but mostly because I'm stubborn

dry hamlet
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I feel the same way. Interviewing is a huge portion of it for me. I think something that comes to mind for me is because I've never actually had any formal training, I'm not sure my code is up to industry standards.

jolly scaffold
dry hamlet
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Well that certainly makes me feel a little better lmao. I just try to stick to making sure its, efficient, documented (comments, etc), and has relevant variable names.

final robin
jolly scaffold
jolly scaffold
dry hamlet
jolly scaffold
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For me it's hard too because my degree is half electrical engineering, half computer science...so while I did well, I feel under-prepared in the CS/SWE world as well as the EE world

final robin
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But the short of it in my opinion is that, it's not impost syndrome your feeling but normal rational feelings we all actually feel its just no one talks about them. Since talking about it isnt normalized you feel like the odd one out. But everyone experiences struggles with learning or performing all the time. You just need to be open and talk about it, also do some self-reflection and pay attention how far you have gone 6 months, one year, two years, etc.

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Your not an imposter, its not some mental syndrome you need to cure. Its just the normal life struggles we feel and will always continue to feel, dont trick yourself you can "cure" it, just learn cope with it.

dry hamlet
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I was just looking at the updated version of the package i'm working on compared to the first version i released over a year ago now. It did give a nice confidence boost, to see the difference from the time i released the first version to now, its incredible. Neither is perfect by any means and most definitely has bugs, but im far from those Spaghetti string, single-file projects lol

jolly scaffold
final robin
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NICE! "We do the best we can with the knowledge we have" always something to say to yourself when looking at old code. Even if your at the most experienced developer, shifting requirements will always cause you to change your code even if at the time you were like "This the best design EVA, YASSSSS"

dry hamlet
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lol

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And yes, I will remember that line. That's very good advice, thanks.

jolly scaffold
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@dry hamlet out of curiosity, have you had any interviews yet?

dry hamlet
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No. This is the first one i've ever applied to. I usually look around find acouple that are interesting and talk myself out of it. "I should do some schooling first", "I really don't have as much experience as I'd like" type crap. This one I just said screw it and filled it out.

Its entry level, and they really sound like they'll take anyone. But still, anxious nonetheless. lol

jolly scaffold
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I completely bombed my first interview

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But I learned a lot from it

dry hamlet
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I look at it as, the more you do the better you get. I've interviewed for other positions, but those have all been more general positions.

dry hamlet
jolly scaffold
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Yeah

dry hamlet
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That was actually really helpful. I get much the same way in interviews. Foggy and disconnected from the information I know. I may take up that trick of yours and at the very least use some type of memory game to help get some of this stuff in there to easily rattle off.

Confidence, is definitely key. Kinda relates to the other post where they speak about great qualities in a developer.

jolly scaffold
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I really like anki flash cards for nailing down certain things. It’s not great for say, specific leetcode problems, but it takes a lot of the stress out of other types of questions and I’ve definitely found it helpful

jolly scaffold
sage bluff
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This is a rather timely post since I took just starting applying to my jobs myself as a self-taught developer.

Best of luck out there and please share whatever you learn along the way!

I feel like a phony for sure. Whether it's me doing open-source work, sending a proposal to a potential freelance client, etc. Imposter syndrome is real.

jolly scaffold
sage bluff
bold perch
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I encountered imposter syndrome a lot. Literally at every step from learning to the first job. At each tech meetup, my first tech conference, working as a teacher assistant at a tech bootcamp, several hackathons, volunteering, and so on and so on. My point is that I think it's natural no matter the situation. You meet people you are impressed with and in a space you are barely knowledgeable of and the air is sucked out of your lungs. My only advice is to endure and ride it out.

At each step of my journey I’ve set up plans to face imposter syndrome head on. Going to an event, bring a buddy. Have an interview, do tons of mock interviews to build confidence and do your homework on the company. Entering a hackathon, prior to the event build 3 projects in shorter and shorter time periods. AKA, tackle imposter syndrome like it's a coding problem and build confidence through experience.

I used to be so nervous about building things in front of others. So I set out on Jan st to build 20 side projects starting from Hello World to several apps that can be used by others. This prepared me for hackathons, it prepared me for take home assignments, and I was gung ho for any practical technical interview question. Case in point, my first tech job my technical interview question was a CSS question that I nailed because I’ve done it dozens of times at home.

Practice makes perfect, and repeat success builds confidence. If someone else can do it, so can you with intentional effort.

dry hamlet