If you are in the tech industry or any career industry at all impostor syndrome is not a new word. Maybe you feel it or have felt it.

What is impostor syndrome?

Impostor syndrome is when someone feels like they don't deserve their success and worries that others will discover they are not as capable as they seem, even though there is evidence to prove their abilities.

Opportunity Market

I graduated from the university with a computer science degree and so much enthusiasm to face the real world with little to no technical skills. It didn't matter to me at that time, and blessed me, I got a beautiful job with a good software company as an intern for a customer support role.

It was easy for me because the company gave me a soft landing on my job. For three months I was taught properly before I was assigned major tasks.
After my internship, I was offered a full-time role as a customer support engineer. This was a huge milestone for me as my salary was increased almost three times what I earned as an intern, and I was happy for the term engineer being added to my role.

Unmasking the Fake Me

After working for a while, I got used to the process of my job and felt the need to expand my skills. During my time in school, I briefly dabbled in backend development using Python. However, I was intrigued by the idea of replicating designs with code, so I decided to give front-end development a try.

Learning HTML and CSS came easily to me, and I was excited to dive into JavaScript. Initially, grasping the basics was manageable, but as I delved deeper, I found myself facing more complexity, and my attention span began to dwindle. One fateful day, I mustered up the courage to approach my boss and expressed my desire to venture into front-end development and have him be my mentor, because I looked up to him. His response was encouraging, and he assigned me the task of designing a landing page.

The landing page I was tasked with replicating was the current face of our organization. Let me tell you, it was an incredibly demanding challenge. I did my best, seeking help when needed (more of seeking help will come up in the articles to come in this series), and managed to replicate the design to the best of my abilities. While I wasn't a professional, I felt a deep sense of pride in what I had accomplished at that time.

Filled with excitement, I messaged my boss to let him know the landing page was ready. His response on Slack read, "You can come." As I entered his office, he bluntly remarked, " I have reviewed your design and you do not have the eye of a frontend developer." He compared the Figma design with what I had built.

My boss is known for his honesty and directness, but that simple moment marked the beginning of my dealing with imposter syndrome.