Imposter syndrome

It’s talk about the “elephant in the room”-time!

I have had several (yes, people I’ve talked to - you are not alone :)) conversations with people here at Salt that feel like they are not good enough, not as good as everyone else, that you shouldn’t have passed the course, or that it was lucky that you got the job you got.

Now listen to me: we all (70-80%) have this. it’s well documented and is called the Imposter Syndrome. It’s even on Wikipedia. Yes, that feeling that you have right now, is so common that it’s on Wikipedia (psychological pattern in which one doubts one's accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a "fraud")

And if anything, we here at Salt have probably increased the risk of you feeling this because what we have done is something that would be natural to be skeptical about:

What?! They are developers now? After only 3 months of proper training… That cannot be true.

What?! I am a developer now? After only 3 months of proper training… That cannot be true. But it’s probably only for me.

Ok, the best way of tackling this is to know a bit about what the Imposter Syndrome is. Because it’s, in essence, something good, a sense and urge to try to be better. This is not bad - but it can become something that paralyzes if we let it go further.

Here are a few places where you can learn more

• A short introduction on what it is
• This is my friend Gitte doing a presentation on the Imposter Syndrome, especially as found in the tech industry
• Scott Hanselman is one of the .NET worlds greatest bloggers and tech people, sharing his and others experiences with the imposter syndrome
• And a TED talk from Lou Solomon with some good tips on how to handle it

Imagine this: imagine a person without any feeling of being an imposter, ever. what kind of person would that be?

For me this comes out as someone that is either very unaware of their abilities or never goes out of their comfort zone, always plays it safe.

You are all good enough as you are. You don’t need to be more than that. I know because I know all of you.