Winning the Battle Against Self-Doubt and Conquer Your Inner Imposter Today
We have all experienced this: we always feel that everyone is much better than us and ahead of us regardless of the job position or age group.
As compared to my colleague, I am just someone who joined less than 2 years into the company … so he/she is definitely gonna perform so much better than I do.
Why did the company hire me? They are going to regret it soon and realize that they have made a huge mistake in putting me into such an important role.
Urghh … I messed up in the meeting today. My manager must have already found out that I am just an imposter among these high-quality engineers on the team!
Well, I am not going to throw you the scientific terms that people have been defining the ‘imposter syndrome’, instead I am gonna share with you how I overcame this and be more confident in myself. I do really hope that this could help any of you who are struggling with this.
A bit of my story
I am a software engineer, a self-taught one. Let me put it in another way: I do not have a Computer Science degree.
When I decided to pursue a career as a software engineer, I had no idea if I could make it. I didn’t have a CS degree, and I felt like an outsider in the field. But I was determined to give it a try. I bought a course on Udemy and promised myself to finish it and learn as much as I could. I stopped worrying about whether anyone would hire me, and focused on improving my skills every day and night.
To my surprise, it paid off!
I applied to several jobs and got invited to interviews. I was lucky enough to land a software engineer job in my first-ever interview, and I accepted it with joy. But did that mean I had overcome my imposter syndrome? Not quite…
When I started working, I was terrified of not being able to catch up and getting fired within my probation period. I struggled with the tasks and the expectations. I couldn’t sleep at night, especially when the COVID-19 outbreak started. It was killing me. But then, I decided to change my attitude. I asked for help from my technical director, my manager, and my colleagues who had more experience than me. They were supportive and did not judge me for asking questions. They helped me grow and learn from my mistakes. Gradually, I became more confident and independent. I realized that I was not an imposter, but a valuable member of the team.
How to overcome
Here are the three tips that I want to give you on how I overcame my imposter syndrome in my software engineering career (or any other scenarios, they are the same):
1. Ask someone for help.
Imposter syndrome hit me the hardest when I was alone, thinking about how incapable I was. Are you facing some issues that you can’t solve at the moment? There are reasons why managers or seniors exist in your company. Talk to them and learn from them. Most of them are more than willing to share with you the first few times, but make sure that you do not ask the same question too many times. Take down the notes if you need a second brain. Doing this in the long run will make you one of the most knowledgeable people on the team, and well, probably you can start dealing with the imposter syndrome in other aspects of life (cry).
2. Focus on completing the current task.
Sometimes our mind wanders in the wrong way, therefore we have to keep it occupied in the moment. When imposter syndrome hits, just start doing something. Think of the most important task to be done for now. How can I do that? Do I have the skills that I need to complete the task on my own? (if not, you can refer to the first step) Once you have completed the task that you have been assigned, you will feel much better and the feeling of being an imposter will be relieved. You are more capable than you think!
3. Understand that the company hired you for a reason.
The interview process was meant to be a step to carefully select the talent that the company wants to hire. I assume that you had been telling the truth in your interview, there must be something of you that caught the hiring manager’s attention. Is it the communication skill that you have? Or were you asking great questions and showing off your logical thought process throughout the interview? Try to think of the “unfair advantages” of yours and know how to utilize them. This could really bring you further in your career.
The final tip that I would like to give you: learn it! Learn everything you can from the people who you think are capable of, and make that knowledge yours. There is no way that it can be better when you are still lying on the couch and complaining about the things that could not be changed.
If you enjoy reading this article, consider following me on Medium or Linkedin! I shall be writing more about career and personal growth in the future, so stay tuned!
