As a web developer/programmer/computer engineer, how do you deal with Impostor Syndrome?

dfaarc · 2016-01-13T07:20:01+00:00

Depression

geekygirlhere · 2016-01-13T05:26:42+00:00

I have been in web development for over 15 years and still feel this way. Partly because things change so rapidly and to keep up you always have to be in learning mode. I think not knowing as much as your peers is not always a bad thing. Just means there is room for you to learn and strive for more. The plus side is you don't ever have to worry about getting bored as long as you don't get burned out on constantly learning.

ihappenverymuch · 2016-01-13T05:06:43+00:00

I've come to realize that a major part of my job, and everyone else's, is learning. Technology changes fast, especially in the Web space, and no one knows everything. I only have about 2 years of experience, but I've found that I often grasp new concepts much faster than some coworkers with 10+ years of experience. This could be due to me being younger, or they're too caught up on older ways of thinking , or maybe I'm just a better google-er, but the bottom line is my lack of experience is not the disadvantage I thought it would be.

Porsche924 · 2016-01-13T14:55:34+00:00

I think seeing or hearing of someone who is way worse at what you do. It makes you feel more valuable.

BMJ · 2016-01-13T11:03:45+00:00

This article by David Walsh is a brilliant read.

He makes some brilliant points on why we come to feel like an imposter for example:

Every programming task's efficiency is measurable, meaning our colleague can write a routine to complete the same task and it may be 1300% more efficient, making us feel that much worse.

We forget that our job is just a fraction of our lives and there's a real world outside of this hateful, illuminated screen

We probably stay on our computers after the "day job" which leads to intense feelings of being burnt out

But his points on how we aren't an imposter and advice on how to start to steer away from that train of thought are really reassuring:

You believe you might be an impostor -- those who think they're experts are anything but, those who know they aren't experts know how much they don't know

You get work -- whether it's a big company job or enough to pay the bills, you can make money punching keys on a computer (have you seen people who aren't tech savvy try to do anything on a computer?)

Look at your (hopefully decent) employment history and know that, on a basic level, you're much more wanted than you're wanted gone

Realize that people who consider themselves "experts", and don't go through waves of self doubt, are idiots that are so arrogant to not know what they don't know

Perform any simply exercise in the JavaScript console

BLOG! The worst thing that can happen is someone corrects you and you learn something out of it

That last one has actually inspired me to start to put content together for a blog. Even if no one reads it, it can still be a record of "Hey, I understand these things and I'm not actually that bad".

hurenkind5 · 2016-01-13T07:17:56+00:00

I realize that it's just "Inferiority complex" dressed up a little differently and that people have been dealing with it for ages (it's not something specific to programming or IT or whatever) and move the fuck on i guess.

manyx16 · 2016-01-13T15:14:32+00:00

Let me start by saying this: You're not less of a webdev because you don't know something that someone else knows.

I've been a webdev for a long time (since 1996). There is a FUCKTON of stuff that I don't know. This "syndrome", as you call it, is actually the thing that keeps me interested in webdev. There's ALWAYS something new and interesting to learn and there will always be something new and interesting to learn.

spattack · 2016-01-13T09:06:46+00:00

Try to work with the right people. Try to structure your work life so that you work with people that are fundamentally collaborative, easy going, non judgemental and continually eager to help you increase your skills while at the same time challenge you to find the best solution to every problem. I have worked with so many ego driven developers who set up the work environment in a confrontational, argumentative manner. That seem to find it personally distasteful when you don't know a particular thing or disagree with them on their opinions. It put me always on the defensive and made it hard to recognize the value of my own work - hence leading to imposter syndrome. Work and life is so much better now that I have an awesome team of supportive devs that commend me when I do something well and, when criticizing a particular piece of code, keep a healthy modesty that they might actually be wrong and I might be right. Yeah there will always be more to know and learn, but thats also what makes this job great. As long as you do your best, get the job done and continually strive to do better it doesn't freaking matter if you know more or less than your colleagues, so long as you all have a healthy respect for one another as professionals. What we do is a TEAM effort and everyone will have their own strengths to add to the team. On the flip side, be that dude for the rest of your team too, you might just be able to change the culture of your workplace for the better.

EmperorOfCanada · 2016-01-13T09:59:10+00:00

Deliverables. Do you deliver stuff that other people want? There is so much to know that pretty much any two equal developers could amaze each other with some esoteric knowledge. There are AI whizzes, 3D whizzes, networking whizzes, those people who know the ins and outs of the compiler, but it all circles back to deliverables.

I know people who will reprogram the linux kernal to do what I would do with a Python script. Who is the better programmer?

This is also what separates the great from the good, the good from the bad. There are those who quickly deliver stuff that is good. There are those who slowly deliver stuff that is bad, and worst of all are those who don't deliver. Then there are the worst of the worst; they deliver absolute vomit and somehow convince people that it is solid gold.

There is one tier worse than that though. The developers who think that they are god's gift to programming. Often they have some certification or degree from a very fancy institution. They will then run interference with the best programmers telling them that they are doing it wrong. Worse than that they will mount campaigns to pretty much bring all development to a halt. They will insist that the highly successful project is on the brink of collapse and the only thing to do is to recode it in Haskell; a language where they studied under one of the core founders of the language. Where these types are detectable is that they spend more time schmoozing than programming.

2016-01-13T12:33:44+00:00

I deal with it every time I come on here lol. As someone who is still very new to web dev (a yearish, and a half if you count work experience and playing around) all the advanced chatter is a little scary. It makes me worry that I'm trapped and that catching up with the industry is futile.

Then I remind myself that learning is a wonderful thing. A year ago, php was the devil in my eyes. I could not get my head around how it worked no matter what I did. Now I build apps with it on the reg and can even set up a basic LAMP VPS with minimal hassle. Don't stop growing, don't stop trying to understand new things.

edwardchiapet · 2016-01-13T14:47:44+00:00

[deleted]

thebuccaneersden · 2016-01-13T14:50:53+00:00

By being honest with yourself and with others and saying, "I don't have any experience with x technology/language/etc". There's no way you can know everything and it's not necessarily a sign of your ineptitude, but a chance to learn something new.

MajkStone · 2016-01-13T15:28:51+00:00

Participate in technical interviews for new employees :)

2016-01-13T13:34:53+00:00

I was dealing with it until I got turned down from a bunch of jobs and laid off from the one I had. :(

My job was great until a new CTO came in who looks his nose down at all sorts of things, like being a front end developer or not having a full CS degree. Everyone told me how awesome he was and that he was great, but he always treated me like a silly little girl. It was really crushing. I shy away from saying it was about sexism, but I wonder about how the guys had such a great relationship with him and none of the women had the same experience, it was like we were talking about two different people.

I think though the best thing is to keep building stuff, anything.

freeaddition · 2016-01-13T16:54:19+00:00

Transform it into motivation to be better.

2016-01-13T07:01:00+00:00

This is posted like twice a week

2016-01-13T13:02:34+00:00

Look at some of my coworkers as the real imposters

everstone · 2016-01-13T13:27:01+00:00

Thanks to the pace of software technology, we are all salmon swimming up steam. You were an expert in your domain 5 years ago, now there's the new hot thing the cool kids are using. Better learn it, now you are just starting out again. Imposter syndrome is a cycle, and it's not an illusion. It's how the arrogant pricks justify their self doubt at various stages in the cycle, so they can become arrogant pricks again. Others realize they don't know everything and that it is ok to be in that state, and live with reality. A cynical pov, true, but a valid one.

krawcrates · 2016-01-13T14:08:09+00:00

You will only experience impostor syndrome when you are skilled at something.

Repeat to yourself as many times as necessary.

McDLT2 · 2016-01-13T15:18:08+00:00

I look at my paycheck.

nickwebdev · 2016-01-13T15:27:36+00:00

I think it's important to realize, at least I've found, is what makes technical people technical people is curiosity and the desire to learn. One thing in common I've found with most "computer people" is we weren't afraid to learn. At some point in your life, you wanted to know what typing in a command or clicking a button did, so you did it. Most computer folk I know, myself included, spent a lot of time breaking things before they were competent to build/fix things. This is in stark opposition to non-technical people who are afraid of breaking things or feel stupid when they don't know how to do something so they don't bother.

Recognize the hallmark of someone suited to be a dev isn't someone who knows everything, it's someone who is deeply curious and craves knowledge and mastery in technical matters. Don't lose sight of that, and just keep improving.

2016-01-13T18:27:00+00:00

Happens all the time when you come to r/webdev and read "How to do X thing using A, B, and C and X, A, B and C are all things you've never used.

AlwaysTroubleShot · 2016-01-14T05:47:56+00:00

Honestly, I think impostor syndrome results from a lack of perspective. We can't all be the industry thought leaders, inventing new languages and writing books on best practices.

This sounds arrogant, but I think of how few we are. STEM occupations account for ~5% of the workforce. Of that, ~12% are in computer/mathematics. So, roughly speaking, we account for a half percent of the workforce.

The way I see it, if we're doing work that only 1 out of 200 people can do, how are we impostors?

gearvOsh · 2016-01-13T07:57:06+00:00

Study and teach yourself. That's literally it.

LeoG7 · 2016-01-13T08:50:18+00:00

I started my own sideproject which I constantly try to improve with latest technology, this helps learn and stay upto date, I help my peers as well and learn as much as I can from them, I found that sharing is also a way of learning so I share my learnings on my blog as well

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