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Actual impostors don't get impostor syndrome

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Re: Actual impostors don't get impostor syndrome

#281

Post by Spooky23 »

polote wrote: post #131
deanCommie wrote: post #77

A lot of the discussion here is treating impostor syndrome and qualifications as binary: You're either qualified or not. And your evaluation of your skills is either above your actual skills or not. But it's more nuanced than that. I'm a Principal Engineer at a FAAMNG company. I have impostor syndrome all the time. Why? Because I measure myself against 1) role models that are ahead of me in many ways - I've always do…

Honest question, imagine if at your company tomorrow they decide to fire one principal engineer. Would you find it fair that the one is you? Would yo find it fair if you were among the 10% they fire? The 20%? The 30%? I ask you that because it is much simpler to answer to a binary question like, do I have imposter syndrome? Or put in other words, am I modest? You can make the link with how people see themselves. A lo…

Many people accept as virtue what is more luck or fate. In many, many cases stuff like layoffs are determined by inscrutable factors.

Hiring too. If you’re not in the magic club of universities or don’t have an in, your abilities don’t matter at all.

Re: Actual impostors don't get impostor syndrome

#282

Post by alsetmusic »

polote wrote: post #131
deanCommie wrote: post #77

A lot of the discussion here is treating impostor syndrome and qualifications as binary: You're either qualified or not. And your evaluation of your skills is either above your actual skills or not. But it's more nuanced than that. I'm a Principal Engineer at a FAAMNG company. I have impostor syndrome all the time. Why? Because I measure myself against 1) role models that are ahead of me in many ways - I've always do…

Honest question, imagine if at your company tomorrow they decide to fire one principal engineer. Would you find it fair that the one is you? Would yo find it fair if you were among the 10% they fire? The 20%? The 30%? I ask you that because it is much simpler to answer to a binary question like, do I have imposter syndrome? Or put in other words, am I modest? You can make the link with how people see themselves. A lo…

Imposter syndrome can also manifest via factual evidence even when it isn’t indicative of being an imposter.

I got a FAANG position without completing a degree. All my peers had degrees in CS. I thought I didn’t belong because I lacked formal accreditation. Having skill wasn’t as measurable as having a degree.

Thankfully, I’ve learned to see getting there while self-taught as validation since then.

Re: Actual impostors don't get impostor syndrome

#284

Post by capeterson »

eru wrote: post #262
polote wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honest question, imagine if at your company tomorrow they decide to fire one principal engineer. Would you find it fair that the one is you? Would yo find it fair if you were among the 10% they fire? The 20%? The 30%? I ask you that because it is much simpler to answer to a binary question like, do I have imposter syndrome? Or put in other words, am I modest? You can make the link with how people see themselves. A lo…

> Honest question, imagine if at your company tomorrow they decide to fire one principal engineer. Would you find it fair that the one is you? Would yo find it fair if you were among the 10% they fire? The 20%? The 30%? That's an interesting thought experiment. Though not as straightforward as it sounds like at first. For example, I think I'm pretty good at what I do, but I'm also pretty expensive. But more important…

Furthermore, it's unlikely that a company would simply drop X% of employees based on performance.

For example, one could be better than 90% of employees, but if they're highly specialized on a team/product that is getting phased out and they don't have transferable skills to move internally, they may get laid off even if they're not in the bottom % of whoever was getting laid off.

It definitely is an interesting thing to think about, but I agree that there are some holes to the logic.

Re: Actual impostors don't get impostor syndrome

#286

Post by surajs »

deanCommie wrote: post #77

A lot of the discussion here is treating impostor syndrome and qualifications as binary: You're either qualified or not. And your evaluation of your skills is either above your actual skills or not. But it's more nuanced than that. I'm a Principal Engineer at a FAAMNG company. I have impostor syndrome all the time. Why? Because I measure myself against 1) role models that are ahead of me in many ways - I've always do…

i agree i think who you're measuring yourself against is responsible for it. comparison is the thief of joy but in a professional competitive setting it becomes a rather vicious and pernicious thief, thankfully once you realise the only competition is with your past/present self, it subsides.

Re: Actual impostors don't get impostor syndrome

#287

Post by hsn915 »

I object to the concept in its entirety.

Your feelings of "inadequacy" are there you to motivate you to get better at what you do.

If you label these feelings in a way that makes them seem like some sort of psychological ailment that needs cured .. you are just making life harder for yourself.

Of course, if you have reached your limit and can't get any better .. it makes sense to just accept that.

If you _can_ get better and you it, then these feelings will stay there as long as you are not working on improving yourself.

Re: Actual impostors don't get impostor syndrome

#288

Post by justicezyx »

deanCommie wrote: post #77

A lot of the discussion here is treating impostor syndrome and qualifications as binary: You're either qualified or not. And your evaluation of your skills is either above your actual skills or not. But it's more nuanced than that. I'm a Principal Engineer at a FAAMNG company. I have impostor syndrome all the time. Why? Because I measure myself against 1) role models that are ahead of me in many ways - I've always do…

> I'm a Principal Engineer at a FAAMNG company

Since when one's employer becomes a secret?! And in fact, a principal engineer title in these corps mean vastly different skill and prestiges.

For example, a principal engineer in Google is usually treated as equivalent to a Google director. While a principal in Amazon is just a more senior engineer than a Senior engineer. Because there is no staff level at Amazon, while Google has staff and senior staff...

In msft, a principal probably means just a senior engineer in other places.

Re: Actual impostors don't get impostor syndrome

#289

Post by galaxyLogic »

" I'll never know what was going on inside his head, but I don't think he spent a moment questioning himself. "

I hear statements like this on TV often, like "Trump clearly believed himself he won the election". That makes me wonder, isn't an impostor someone who's trying to con us all the time. So of course they would do their best to make us think that they believe their lies themselves. But if we think they do then that probably just means they have succeeded in conning us into thinking that.

I would think that in fact you can NOT be an impostor unless you can make it look like you yourself totally believe what you are saying.

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