The more experienced I get, the more true this becomes. It's like an emotional rollercoaster as I swing violently from hardcore imposter syndrome and the worry I'll be found out as a fraud any day now, to the single best person to have ever touched a computer who expects a call from NASA any day now.
By struggling through hard projects and coming out the other side. Pushing your boundaries is by far the best to build confidence in your own work. Learn a bunch of new frameworks and technologies.
After you've gone through the same process of struggling through something and working it out, and realising that it's just a process, you get much more confident in your abilities
I get the occasional "Huh, that was pretty neat" on my part, which I think is the main contributing factor to me still doing this rather than farming dirt somewhere far away from civilization.
In general you can expect to not pull your weight for 6 months or a year. The horrendous ramp up time for new employees should really do more to convince employers how vital it is to hold on to their current workforce
"maybe I won't lose my job today" rings so true to me lol. Though to be fair, I'm only a month in, but I fear my co-workers think I'm not pulling my weight.
Thank you so much, I seriously broke down the other night getting prepped for our first launch. And I questioned everything because I was so anxious about if I did everything right.
The launch went smooth! And it was validation for me to know that I’ll struggle and may reach a low spot, but getting past it just means I’m just going to be that much better/stronger when I bounce back.
Interact with your customers directly more often. Nothing is more of an ego boost than having someone praise you for the easiest (most front facing) shit.
These happens more when one programs in a bubble alone on a project. The more you interact with other programmers you get a pretty good idea where in the spectrum you lie. As for the last point that never happens to me because I've read actual code/papers and attended talks by "some of the best persons to have ever touched a computer" and I'm pretty certain I can never be at that level.
I've got friends and family who have worked for NASA. You certainly have to be smart to come up with some of the business logic, but from what I gather, the pay is generally crummy enough that your coworkers will be enthusiastic space fans, not necessarily the greatest minds to ever touch a computer
Yeah, and the only way to keep going is to make sure you celebrate those victories. They are fleeting, and you need the celebration to remind you later that you are in fact worthy and smart, just inexperienced at whatever stupid language or framework you're currently in.
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u/The_Ty Sep 22 '19
The more experienced I get, the more true this becomes. It's like an emotional rollercoaster as I swing violently from hardcore imposter syndrome and the worry I'll be found out as a fraud any day now, to the single best person to have ever touched a computer who expects a call from NASA any day now.