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Discussion on: A Conversation About Imposter Syndrome

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ozone72 profile image
Orin Fletcher

I went to a coding bootcamp and had no idea what impostor syndrome was. When I finished the program and started looking around at what I could do, I realized I had been in a bubble, and that I had no idea how to talk to engineers and professionals in tech. I could rip out some keystrokes and Google like a champ, but that's not really the job... Hit me like a piano from heaven - I was clearly a fraud and wasted all this money and effort just to prove it.
I went back a year later for a post-grad support meeting with a mentor. Impostor syndrome was the first thing brought up, followed by the Dunning-Kruger Effect. To be honest, I was pretty angry. I kind of felt like I had stumbled into a cultivated mental illness that nobody told me about yet it was affecting my everyday life. So after a year of crippling self-esteem issues, I found out it was a thing. Not cool. This was early 2015. Since then its become a heavy topic of conversation in my tech town. I feel that this should be the FIRST thing brought up in these types of programs.
Thanks for talking about this.

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rickluevanos profile image
Ricardo Luevanos

Wow! That's quite the journey Orin, thank you for sharing your experience. And I acknowledge your resolve in pushing through it.

I agree with you, Imposter Syndrome should be talked about earlier in careers and education programs. Honestly, I think mental health should be something we all get an education on when we are young.

I'm still running into senior engineers and managers who have dealt with this and thought they were alone. I'm happy it's talked about more now than it was before - still needs to be a bigger part of our career conversations and overall growth in my opinion.

Thanks so much for sharing your story!