Are people who are predisposed to imposter syndrome worse hires because this becomes a self fulfilling prophecy? Are there even indicators?
Is there a fix for impostor syndrome?
11–20 of 347 posts
Re: Is there a fix for impostor syndrome?
#12Are people who are predisposed to imposter syndrome worse hires because this becomes a self fulfilling prophecy? Are there even indicators?
> Are people who are predisposed to imposter syndrome worse hires because this becomes a self fulfilling prophecy?
That's an easy one: nope! All the best people I've worked with have struggled with not feeling good enough while simultaneously doing stand-out work.
Re: Is there a fix for impostor syndrome?
#13> I asked some of my male colleagues whether they also experience impostor syndrome and got a resounding yes. In researching the topic for this column, I read an article that suggested even Albert Einstein felt this way at times.
Damn.
It's hard to compare oneself objectively with others. Not that it's ever such a great idea. For others, you only know what they accomplish, plus whatever they're willing to share about the process. But for oneself, everything is laid bare. All the uncertainty, false starts, mistakes, dead ends, and so on.
Re: Is there a fix for impostor syndrome?
#14Are people who are predisposed to imposter syndrome worse hires because this becomes a self fulfilling prophecy? Are there even indicators?
I think that depends on what you mean by "worse hire." Reading the article, it seems that those inflicted by more severe (or studied) cases of imposter syndrome are more likely to work harder in order to combat their own feelings of 'incompetence' or 'inability. If someone puts in extra effort and hours, is that a "worse hire"?
Personally, I'm not stranger to this feeling. I've recently been hired into a new (well-renowned) tech company and wonder how that happened / whether or not this company made a mistake hiring me. The only way I can reconcile this feeling is to try and do my best at my new position, within reason, while trying to maintain a healthy work-life-balance that allows me to avoid the biggest detrimental effects mentioned by the article.
I don't think this is a self-fulfilling prophecy per se. I think the only danger that can result from an 'imposter-syndrome hire' is that they may burn themselves out easily if they don't find their footing in a new ground / new position and leave sooner than a "normal" employee.
Re: Is there a fix for impostor syndrome?
#15Funny story, in 15 years of professional software development I never experienced the sense of imposter syndrome until very recently when I decided after 12 years at one employer (on many satisfying projects) I needed to consider expanding my employment options. AKA I started looking for a new job. Once I got a whiff of the putrid state of hiring in our industry today holy hell... Sure, I’ve been successful at this f…
Similar situation: I have a history of obtaining lower level positions and then quickly rising up to higher level engineering position within the same company (this has happened with two employers). I don't think this can reliably be used as a general strategy, I just have been lucky with employers. This doesn't give me a huge amount of confidence when considering my chances at getting a new job comparable to the level I'm at now.
Also the past few times I have seen the job posting for a position I've held, based on the job posting I'd assume I was unqualified. There's a bazillion buzzwords and technologies in our industry and it's difficult to account for how experience carries across related technologies (or not directly related technologies) in a job description. So employers end up just listing every technology you may touch and add an 'X years experience required'.
On the other hand, having worked with several engineers of varying backgrounds at my company and our partners I don't feel like an imposter at all in my actual abilities, knowledge, and performance.
Re: Is there a fix for impostor syndrome?
#16I might have an impostor syndrome at work. And I am somewhat anxious about it. And I feel like it decreases my performance by quite a bit. And luckily, my managers understand it and are very supportive of me.
However, I have a question (and this is going meta). Maybe my managers are too understanding about it. Sometimes I wish they give me a harder time, and feel like I don't get reprimanded for failure enough and strangely, it exacerbates the feeling of being an impostor.
It's not like I would enjoy being wrong or beaten up for it, it's just sometimes I feel like I can afford being somewhat lazy because of that, and I don't think that's right. So I am not sure I entirely agree with the recommendation of the article.
Or to reword it as a question: Cannot the positive thinking actually hurt the person having an impostor syndrome?
Maybe we are all impostors, and I just happen to be the one most suited for the task.
Re: Is there a fix for impostor syndrome?
#17Are people who are predisposed to imposter syndrome worse hires because this becomes a self fulfilling prophecy? Are there even indicators?
"The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity." -- 1920 W. B. Yeats
Somewhat true of our industry.
Re: Is there a fix for impostor syndrome?
#18Yea, stop talking to yourself.
Re: Is there a fix for impostor syndrome?
#19The lack of the imposter syndrome for me as a programmer is a signal that I start to plateau. Therefore I kind of search to attain it by either negotiate a higher pay, or start working with a new technology, or switch jobs. I lived with this syndrome for the most part of my 12 years of professional programming.
Re: Is there a fix for impostor syndrome?
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
It sounds like you attended a toxic grad school. Was your program in Chemistry?
Is this a joke about toxicity/chemistry or is the field of chemistry known to be socially more toxic than other fields?
Chemistry has a reputation
https://www.nytimes.com/1998/10/21/us/after-suicide-harvard-...
> Eight graduate students have committed suicide at Harvard since 1980, officials said -- not an unusual rate for a university. > Of those, three have been in the laboratory of Mr. Altom's adviser, Elias J. Corey, a Nobel Prize-winning chemist. > But Dr. Long asserted today that by all indications, the first two deaths, one last year and one in 1987, had nothing to do with the students' work in chemistry. > One student, he noted, had been very successful in his work, and the other had barely begun.