Have you ever felt like you’re not good enough for your tech job despite having the right qualifications? This could be a sign of imposter syndrome.
Imposter syndrome is a behavioral issue in which people in advanced industries—like medicine or tech—feel like frauds.1 They constantly doubt their already-proven expertise and feel like they don’t deserve their success or high position. As a result, they often overcompensate for their wrongly perceived incompetence, leading to anxiety, burnout from overworking, and depression in the long run.
If you think this is you, don’t worry; you’re not alone. Imposter syndrome is a common problem in the workplace, affecting over 58% of professionals in the tech industry alone.2 But with the right mindset and support, you can lessen the impact of imposter syndrome and regain confidence in your expertise as a tech professional.
Read more: Overcoming Imposter Syndrome: Building Confidence in Your Tech Brand
Common Indicators of Imposter Syndrome
Imposter syndrome looks different for everyone. To address this issue, it is crucial to first identify how it can show up specifically in your job as a tech professional. See which of these situations matches your experience:
1. A Cycle of Doubt
Do you keep doubting yourself before and after you do a task? This imposter cycle is an exhausting loop of questioning the validity of your abilities. It typically goes like this:
- You face a task, whether it’s as small as querying a system or as big as launching a new software.
- You doubt your abilities, so you either over-prepare or procrastinate.
- You accomplish the task and feel good for a short time.
- You quickly go back to doubting your abilities.
2. Perfectionism
Do you have this nagging thought that you must always be the best? Perfectionism means setting unnecessarily high standards for yourself. This could mean spending long hours on your mobile application project to make it “perfect” or aiming for flawless code in the first run. As a result, you become extremely critical of yourself and believe that your mistakes mean incompetence.
3. Overachieving
Do you often find yourself doing more than what’s necessary? Overachieving is when you overwork to prove your abilities, sacrificing well-being and work-life balance. This overcompensation may look like a positive trait at first because of the level of productivity it creates. But in the long run, overachieving can lead to burn out.
4. Fear of Failure
Are you terrified of making mistakes? The fear of failure makes you highly anxious while doing tasks because you dread being judged or shamed if you fail. You may think that failure will expose you as a fraud, even if no one else thinks this way. This fear often leads to avoiding challenges like holding leadership roles or sharing your workflow process even though they’re helpful for growth.
5. Fear of Success
Do you avoid being too successful? Ironically, you can also be afraid of success if you have imposter syndrome because it can lead to higher expectations or more responsibilities. For example, you’re afraid of leading the launch of a major software update because once you succeed, you will be pressured to do better in future projects.
6. Denial of Competence
Do you often deny that you’re doing a good job? Struggling with imposter syndrome can often look like downplaying your skills and achievements because you think your success is due to things you cannot control. For instance, instead of acknowledging your technical skills, you might say you were just lucky to solve the problem, but other people would have fixed it more quickly. This makes you focus more on your failures regardless of how much you’ve accomplished.
How to Overcome Imposter Syndrome in Tech
Feelings of doubt and anxiety can be particularly overwhelming for tech professionals, especially because the industry constantly demands fast and high-quality results. Here are some strategies to overcome imposter syndrome:
Challenge Your Negative Thoughts
Imposter syndrome involves negative thoughts that are often based on false or unproven beliefs. Instead of letting them fester, you can help remove or minimize them by first acknowledging them out loud. Then, respond by questioning their validity.
For example, you might be telling yourself, “I’m not really a great coder; I just often get lucky with my solutions.” Instead, ask yourself, “Do I really just get lucky? But I don’t think that someone without the proper tech skills can do what I was able to do just now.” This will help you get a better sense of what happens at work instead of interpreting your achievements because of random chance.
Celebrate Your Achievements
In the fast-paced tech industry, it’s easy to overlook accomplishments. Your team may just have solved multiple major bugs while deploying a new app feature in a span of hours. Immediately after, you already start preparing for tomorrow’s system upgrade without even appreciating what you’ve done.
By taking the time to celebrate achievements, you give yourself solid evidence that proves your competence. For instance, you’ve just solved a critical software performance issue that affected the entire organization. Instead of brushing it off as “just doing your job,” take a moment to recognize its impact by celebrating with your team or adding it to your portfolio.
Learn New Things Continuously
The tech landscape constantly evolves, so it’s understandable to feel overwhelmed as big industry changes happen yearly. Staying current with new programming languages, frameworks, and best practices will help you feel less inadequate. The more you learn new things, the more confident you will feel about your updated skills.
Start building a growth mindset by regularly reading tech news from reputable sources like TechCrunch or Wired. Consider attending online workshops and acquiring certifications relevant to the tech industry, such as the Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) or the Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) certifications. You can also start personal projects to practice software development tools you’re not yet familiar with, like using React Native or Flutter to create your own experimental mobile application.
Seek a Good Mentor
Good mentors offer guidance, share their own experiences, and provide constructive feedback. Ask a trusted higher up, such as an executive or a director, about your strengths and abilities. You may have doubts about your own self-image, but you can trust the words of someone who objectively knows the tech landscape more than you do.
A good mentor can also point out areas for growth, which can boost your confidence once you’re able to achieve them. For example, a manager may receive tips on handling a new and unfamiliar project, while a data scientist struggling with certain machine learning algorithms might get advice on breaking down complex tasks to achieve goals. Consistent mentorship not only strengthens your technical abilities but also helps you believe in your ability to succeed in your career.
Read more: Navigating the Digital Frontier: A Roadmap for Tech Leadership Success
Pursue Passions Outside of Work
What other interests do you have aside from tech? Imposter syndrome usually stems from experiences within the workplace; so overworking won’t fix the problem. By doing non-work things you enjoy or excel at, you help remind yourself that job-related mistakes don’t define your value and capabilities as a person.
A good place to start is hobbies that allow you to create something, like cooking, photography, or playing an instrument. These creative activities will help you feel a sense of accomplishment that counters your imposter syndrome. You can also join interest-based groups where you can build confidence by sharing achievements with people outside of work, like finishing a book with a book club or painting a portrait in an art class.
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Maintaining a successful tech career is not easy, especially if you’re trying to conquer imposter syndrome. But despite the doubts, we know you have already established your expertise as a tech professional—let Raso360 make things easier for your career growth.
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References:
- Huecker, Martin R., et al. “Imposter Phenomenon.” National Library of Medicine: National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls Publishing, 31 July 2023, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK585058/.
- Teamblind, Inc. “58 Percent of Tech Workers Feel like Impostors.” Blind Workplace Insights, 5 Sept. 2018, www.teamblind.com/blog/58-percent-of-tech-workers-feel-like-impostors/.
