#ImposterSyndrome #CareerGrowth #MentalHealthMatters #WebDevelopment
Hey everyone! I’ve been wondering, how many years of experience did it take for you to kick that pesky imposter syndrome to the curb? 🤔 What was your job title, and what salary were you making when you finally felt like you belonged? Let’s break it down!
For me, I hit that turning point after 5 years as a mobile and web application developer, with a nice $130k salary. But let me tell you, getting there was a bumpy ride!
Here’s what I learned along the way and how imposter syndrome can really do a number on us:
– **Mental Health Matters**: It’s hard to feel like a champ when you’re wrestling with mental health issues. Therapy helped me tremendously—seriously, it can change your perspective! 🌟
– **Experience vs. Depth**: I jumped around different frameworks like a kid at a candy store, which gave my resume a boost but left me feeling shallow in knowledge. Pick a framework and dive deep! 🐠
– **Personal Growth**: At some point, I had to stop being a “Man Baby” (yes, that was my reality check at 29!). Embracing hard work and honesty helped me feel more confident and less like an imposter. 💪
– **Focus on What Matters**: All those tools, frameworks, and platforms? They don’t define us. What counts is being able to solve problems effectively. System design is key to that, so we need to learn it well, not just churn through basic coding classes! 📚
In a nutshell, after therapy and gaining deep experience in TypeScript, React, and React Native, I finally felt like I’d shed the imposter label. 🦸♂️ But it’s an ongoing journey!
**Now it’s your turn!** What experiences led you to feel more secure in your career? Did you face any similar challenges? Share your stories or tips here! Let’s learn from one another! 😊
Never had imposter syndrome, I started at the bottom, worked hard, and have moved up.
17 years at the same company, so every step up was small and incremental.
Started making 35k a year, now make 250k.
College cured me of imposter syndrome after seeing that even in a top 10 CS program, most were struggling while CS classes felt like easy electives to me.
10 yoe, senior software engineer, have always have imposter syndrome. I’ve just always worked with bigger fish than me so constantly makes me know I could learn so much more.
7 yoe, full-stack React/Java developer. Recently my managers have told me I’ve shown lead level performance and are vouching for my promotion. I don’t feel like an imposter anymore but I still accept that there’s always something new to learn in the job or from others around me.
I haven’t reached a spot where I do not have imposter syndrome.
I do not think this goes away with experience or income.
0 years, SWE1, 120k.
I had imposter syndrome when I started Uni. I stopped getting imposter syndrome after seeing the dumb students get coop jobs at FAANGs. My first job was at a small company where I was the only data scientist. I made a lot of mistakes but nobody was there to point them out.
Stopped getting imposter syndrome after maybe 20 years.
I realized my imposter syndrome was actually just cognitive dissonance between believing I was very good but not necessarily progressing as fast as I wanted. The “delusion” wasn’t the feeling of inadequacy but rather my self assessment of ability. It took a job change to an environment where I was *clearly* not +90th percentile to shake me out of it. And once I got over myself I was able to actually improve which in turn led to the type of career progression I wanted to have (and believed I was entitled to).
I don’t think this is all that uncommon. If imposter syndrome is delusional feelings of inadequacy while rationally knowing you are adequate I think a good chunk of people actually experience delusional feelings of adequacy coupled with rational knowledge of inadequacy.
Really depends on the situation. I have 12 years at a company and almost 18 years overall experience. Sometimes, I feel like I’m the champ – I know way more than most other people in the room, have efficient solutions to hard problems, and would be killing it!
Then there are days when I’m in a meeting and am humbled by an executive’s depth of knowledge on systems or by the intelligence with which a junior engineer solves a problem in a way that I’d not paid attention to. And on those days, I feel like “do I actually belong here?”
Truth is, as you get more senior and experienced, the confident days are a lot more than the ones that make you feel like an imposter, but the latter never goes away entirely
3 years , titles were not a thing yet, the ones we had were more horizontal.
The company that hired me assigned me to work in a BPM, it was a project that kept on failing for over 5 years, I managed to get it to work.
Before this gets too uplifting , I will add.that I suck at getting a good pay, so don’t feel bad about yourself.
There’s always a bit but it stopped being a frequent thing when I finally joined a company that was terrible and I managed to get us somewhere (of course with some mistakes) with greenfield work. About 4YOE.
It was fine until “become a manly man” part, then just pure cringe.
I like to think of imposter syndrome like depression or anxiety, there is a situational general version.
A good friend of mine likes to say, “You’re either the statue or the bird. You feel stuck and get shit on, or you feel free and get to shit on everything.” That’s the situational one. If you’re competitive, it feels like you take a loss.
To resolve my general imposter syndrome… 2.5 years, Web Developer, ~50k. At some point you either take on a problem, ticket, or project that changes your confidence and outlook. Or, you start to realize you’ve made it this far and overcame all the other BS you didn’t know shit about, and that’s gotta mean you can figure out whatever is next too.
“Chump”
I can’t relate with impostor syndrome; in my mind the concept implies skills are always static and that success is a farce or an undeserved fluke. In reality, there’s always new challenges and learning opportunities and if I’m struggling with something, it *is* because I’m actually still inadequate at it, until I get better at it. And conversely, achieving something is because I worked hard and earned it.
My career had humble beginnings, and I learned and worked my way up. I’m doing quite well now, but I know I can still continue to grow, and I find the idea exciting rather than anxiety-inducing.
CTOs of Fortune 500 companies still have impostor syndrome. It never goes away.
I get imposter syndrome hard when I’m interviewing. Otherwise day to day I feel pretty confident , or rather , I feel less stressed handling the unknowns. I still stress but I think it’s less. I think I started feeling better around 6 YOE
Probably about 6 years before I landed my first position.
I have 7yoe and still get it when starting on a new team. But I’ve learned to mostly ignore the anxiety of it and focus on my work. It always goes away…until the next new job 🙂
Are you in the US or UK? If 130k in uk u are rocking it
Its all bull shit and in your head.
I never had imposter syndrome. I think it’s because I come from a poor background and came to tech with the attitude that I needed to convince the corporate world to give me as much money as possible.
Whether or not I “deserve” my position has never felt relevant, personally. If my employer and co-workers are convinced that I’m worth paying a decent salary, I’m good. If they end up being wrong, well, that’s on them and hopefully they don’t realize anytime soon.
You will never get rid of imposter syndrome. its always there. its part of it. You will only get use to it and somehow accept that. Its actually a good sign. That means you are being challenge. Remember this quote from Richard Feynman.
*If they think I’m good, and I turn out to be bad, it’s clearly their (the universities) fault for believing so much in me. I will just do what is fun and interesting to me*
Even as brilliant as him get imposter syndrome
I feel your last sentence every time I solve a leetcode or fix a bug.
Then I get to the next problem and I’m back to saddoge.jpg again
I’ve been in the industry 12ish years now. It comes and goes.
Do you have a computer science degree? There’s a very obvious reason why System Design should not be taught as part of a CS degree, which is that it’s not computer science. The point of this degree is not to make you ready for the workforce, but to teach you the mathematical foundations of the field.
If you have a Software Engineering degree, okay sure, I would say some System Design class could be relevant. Otherwise keep CS as CS, don’t turn it into a vocational degree.
0yoe
If the lead is an absolute dick, yes.
If the lead is not an absolute dick, yes.
If the lead does not exist, yes.
If I am the lead, yes.
6 yoe, after getting my second lead promotion