Yes, Impostor Syndrome Is Actually Good for Software Developers

Running away from it will not help. Embrace it

Photo by Chris Yang on Unsplash.

Thinking that you are unqualified for the work that you are doing is common amongst many of us. It is a feeling that haunts everyone from time to time, and it is just so hard to shake it off. It makes you feel that you are not doing enough, not learning enough, or you don’t know enough. These are a few indicators of impostor syndrome:

• You don’t speak up at meetings and are always a passive participant.
• You make this assumption that others in the room know more than you.
• You always question if your input is valuable.
• You never sit in the front row at large meetings.
• You look to others to validate your opinions.

I will never forget meetings where I felt so scared that I couldn't speak up, and when I spoke, it did not make sense. And that was never because I did not know what to say. In my head, I could say a hundred words to answer a question, but in reality, it was just sheer silence and weird sentences.

At some level felt, I that I did not belong there and I was an impostor.

The Dynamics of Impostor Syndrome