
Imposter Syndrome Amongst Recent Graduates in the Workforce
What is imposter syndrome, and how can you overcome it?
On paper, it looks like I have it together and am living a successful life. I have completed three degrees, done multiple internships, held high level leadership roles, undertaken several volunteer roles, and I'm currently in a position where my title has the word "Executive" in it.
Yet my imposter syndrome will rear its ugly head and tell me that I'm not remotely near the definition of successful. Even as I write this article my mind keeps questioning if I'm the right person to be talking about imposter syndrome amongst recent graduates in the workforce.
Transitioning to the corporate world is hard enough without the added stress of constantly wondering whether you're good enough. Even after advancing through a rigorous application and interview process, you're left questioning whether they really meant to hire you.
As a recent graduate in the workforce, I've dealt with this self-doubt all too frequently.
So, imposter syndrome, what is it?
Imposter syndrome makes you feel like you don't deserve your success or position, and that everything you've achieved is because of luck.
You tell yourself you were lucky to be chosen for the job, despite having the experience and knowledge they were looking for. You're simply waiting for your luck to run out, and for the moment when you'll be exposed as a fraud.
Sadly, this feeling of uncertainty and self-doubt is not unique to me. According to a review article published in the International Journal of Behavioral Science, an estimated 70% of young people experience imposter syndrome at some point in their lives. While imposter syndrome can be experienced by anyone, in the past few years it's been discussed as a millennial issue, blamed on "ambition addiction" and the overuse of social media - the comparison of glossy highlight reels on Instagram catching up to us.
Imposter syndrome can manifest itself in many different ways. It can be editing and editing a report until it's absolutely perfect, or not applying for a job because there's one requirement you don't meet – even if you meet the other 90%. It can manifest itself as over-planning or procrastinating until you've stressed your way through a whole tub of Halo Top ice cream.
It's debilitating anxiety that is shouting at you, pleading you to give up and go to bed because you have no bloody idea what you're doing. Who are you to be doing this job when there are other people with actual degrees and expertise in this topic? They know what they're doing but you're just a fake.
In their book We: The Uplifting Manual For Women Seeking Happiness, actress Gillian Anderson and journalist Jennifer Nadel liken this critical inner voice to an "internal propaganda machine generating feelings of fear and inadequacy so that even when things are going well, the machine is at work warning us that it will never last. It's what we believe about a situation, rather than the truth, that influences our responses."
It's not just everyday people who experience imposter syndrome. Emma Watson, Serena Williams, and Alexa Chung are women who I view as role models and are at the absolute top of their game, yet they've all confessed to doubting their abilities or feeling out of their depth.
How do I overcome my imposter syndrome?
Overcoming your imposter syndrome is a journey only you can take with yourself.
When I mentioned my experience of imposter syndrome to a friend, she told me not to self-diagnose and put labels on myself, but I had to respectfully disagree. Once I was able to acknowledge the patterns and indications of imposter syndrome in my thoughts, it became easier for me to change the way I spoke to myself.
Every time I found myself thinking that I was out of my depth, I would bring the thoughts back to what I did know. I knew that I was hired for a reason. Out of 48 people who applied for the job (I checked), I was offered the role because they saw potential in me from a half an hour interview. If they saw my skills and talent, then why couldn't I?
Learning to befriend my inner imposter will be a long journey, but it has to start with acknowledging and understanding why I feel this way. It has been, and will be, reminding myself that this is my first full-time job and that I am still learning.
I'm constantly repeating to myself that no one, not even Beyoncé, has it all together. We're always learning in this wonderful thing we call life. I'm finding there is value in my voice – no matter how small or inexperienced I deem it. I'll take a look at my resume and tell myself that I am successful in my own right, without comparing myself to individuals I deem more successful.
Success is not a definite scale we can measure our lives on.
Plus, last night I received a message from the director and founder of our company saying that he appreciates my hard work and likes the content that I'm producing. While external validation isn't the be all and end all, it's confirming what I've been telling myself – I've got this.
- 5 Pieces of Job Advice for New Grads - PowerToFly Blog ›
- How Zapier Director of Compensation Jocelyne Wright-McLemore Is Tackling Imposter Syndrome as a Black Woman in HR - PowerToFly Blog ›
- How Zapier Director of Compensation Jocelyne Wright-McLemore Is Tackling Imposter Syndrome as a Black Woman in HR - PowerToFly Blog ›
Want To Build Partnerships In Remote Environments? Follow These Tips!
đź’Ž Partnerships in remote environments is one of the most important aspects to construct in a company. Watch the video to the end to get good tips on how to do it successfully.
📼Wondering how to create partnerships in remote environments? Play this video to get three top tips that will help you to achieve it. You'll hear from Olga Shvets, HR Business Partner, and Viktoriia Litvinchuk, People Team Operations at Unstoppable Domains, who will explain the essentials of this process.
📼How to build partnerships in remote environments? Tip #1: Communicate Effectively. Communication is the key to enabling your remote team to be successful. Choose the channel that works best. For this, chat with your employees and see what they use to communicate, that's how you find the best solution. Also, make sure your team is on board with your internal tools and they know what, how, and where they need to use them.
📼A requisite for building partnerships in remote environments is Tip #2: Show appreciation. Appreciation is shown through your actions. Let your employees know that you value everything they do for the company. Create a special gratitude channel where everyone can share their appreciation for their colleagues for some contribution. Celebrate some wins, promotions, and everything that is important for the company. If you appreciate the employees, employees do the same for the company.
Create Partnerships In Remote Environments Using Trust - Tip #3: Give Honest Feedback
Use engagement surveys! They are a quick and effective way to receive honest feedback from your team and you can see what's working well and what needs to be improved. Your main priority is to create spaces where managers and employees can share honest, relevant feedback.
📨 Are you interested in joining Unstoppable Domains? They have open positions! To learn more, click here.
Get to Know Olga Shvets
If you are interested in a career at Unstoppable Domains, you can connect with Olga on LinkedIn. Don’t forget to mention this video!
More About Unstoppable Domains
Unstoppable Domains is bringing user-controlled identity to 3 billion+ internet users by issuing domain names on the blockchain. These domains allow users to replace cryptocurrency addresses with human-readable names, host decentralized websites, and much more.
By selling these domains direct to consumers for a one-time fee, the company is making a product that will change cryptocurrency and shape the future of the decentralized web by providing users control over their identity and data.
Careers in Web Development: Which One's For You?
We all have our favorite websites– the ones we frequent, bookmark, and recommend to others. You might even enjoy some website features so much that you’ve found yourself wondering why they aren’t more popular. Or maybe you’ve experienced times where you were frustrated with a website and wished you could add features or even design your own!
If you’ve ever found yourself intrigued at the prospect of designing and developing your own websites, then a career as a web developer might be just for you!
As a web developer you would be responsible for coding, designing, optimizing, and maintaining websites. Today, there are over 1.7 billion websites in the world and, in turn, the demand for web developers is on the rise. In order to figure out what kind of web development work best suits you let’s start with an introduction to the three main roles in web development that you can choose from.
The Three Types of Web Development Jobs
Front-End Web Development: The Creative Side
Think of front-end development as the décor of a house. The color scheme, furniture, manicured lawns, and overall aesthetic. In terms of a website, front-end development is laser-focused on the appearance of a website and its presentation on different devices. If you’re considering a role in front-end development, it’s important to learn programming languages such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. These three languages go hand-in-hand. HTML allows you to create user interface elements, CSS helps you with stylistic elements, and JavaScript allows you to incorporate online tools and connect your website to back-end functions.
In addition to programming skills, front-end developers need to be detail oriented, creative, willing to keep up with the latest trends in web development, cyber security conscious, and geared toward user-friendly designs. The median salary for a front-end developer can reach well into the $90,000 to $100,000 range.
Back-End Web Development: The Logical Counterpart
While a house can be beautifully decorated, it’s incomplete without a solid foundation and efficient infrastructure. Similarly, a well-designed website depends on logical and functional code to power the features of that website. Back-end web development is code-heavy and focused on the specifics of how a website works. If you enjoy the analytical challenge of creating the behind-the-scenes code that powers a website, then back-end development is for you.
Since this role is more code-heavy, it’s important that you learn numerous programming languages and understand algorithms and data structures. Some languages that are essential to back-end development are Ruby, Python, SQL, and JavaScript. Back-end developers also ensure that users can successfully retrieve and access data. This requires creating and using APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) which act as messengers that relay data related requests. Additionally, developing the code for the inner workings of a website also requires back-end developers to be conscious of the user interface features designed by front-end developers and to internally mitigate potential security risks. Due to the increased technical aspect of this position, back-end developers normally earn higher salaries than front-end developers. The average median salary for this role is around $118,000 per year.
Full-Stack Web Development: A Little Bit of Everything
A full-stack developer is essentially the Jack (or Jill)-of-all-trades in web development. Full-stack developers need to be knowledgeable about both front-end and back-end roles. This does not necessarily imply that you would need to be an expert in both roles, but you should fully understand the different applications and synergies they each imply. In order to work in this position, you will need to know the programming languages used by front-end and back-end developers. In addition to these languages, full-stack developers also specialize in databases, storage, HTTP, REST, and web architecture.
Full-stack developers are often required to act as liaisons between front-end and back-end developers. Full-stack developers need to be both problem solvers and great communicators. The end goal for a full-stack developer is to ensure that the user’s experience is seamless, both on the front-end and on the back-end. In return, you can expect to earn a median salary of $100,000 – $115,000 a year for this role.
Taking the Next Step
Web development is both in-demand and lucrative! All three roles described above contribute to specific aspects of web development and the scope of each one can be customized to the industries and positions you feel best suit you. Regardless of which role you choose, all of them need a foundation in programming.
To gain the programming skills needed in each role, you can enroll in courses or learn independently. Coding bootcamps are a great way to boost your skillset quickly and efficiently.
Click here for some of our highly rated programming bootcamp options! Make sure to check out the discounts available to PowerToFly members.
Want to join the engineering teams at Workiva? Learn more about them!
đź’ŽWant to know what engineering teams are like at Workiva? Watch the video to the end to find out!
📼 Engineering teams at Workiva are constantly hiring. Marie Yue, Senior Engineering Manager at the company, tells you what they look for in a candidate and what the dynamics of teamwork are like.
📼 The typical path in the engineering teams at Workiva is that you grow into a senior, and then you move into a lead role. From there, there are a few different tracks that you can take depending on your interest. You can become a staff engineer, an architect, or even an engineering manager. What are you waiting for to apply?
📼In the engineering teams at Workiva every member should feel empowered to do their job effectively. For this, each has to understand how the work they do day to day solves customers’ problems. Managers will always seek to be aware of members’ career path aspirations so that they can look for opportunities and projects to help each person reach the next step in their career.
Engineering Teams At Workiva: A Safe Space
Marie Yue’s team is a safe space for people to make mistakes and ask for help, and each member feels a sense of belonging and inclusion. She wants to make sure that everyone is individually empowered to lead and make decisions. For this, the team has regular meetings where they do fun things like play virtual games or eat lunch together, and they also like to re-review and add to their team working agreement once a quarter.
đź§‘đź’Ľ Are you interested in joining Workiva? They have open positions! To learn more, click here.
Get to Know Marie Yue
If you are interested in a career at Workiva, you can connect with Marie Yue on LinkedIn. Don’t forget to mention this video!
More About Workiva
Workiva was founded to transform the way people manage and report business data with various collaborators, data sources, documents, and spreadsheets. Today, people all over the world use their platform to seamlessly orchestrate data among their systems and applications for transparent and trusted connected reporting and compliance. At Workiva, they are innovative in everything they do—from how they build their software, to how they serve their customers, to how they treat their employees.
Never Done Shining — ​Introducing the 2022 NIKE, Inc. Internship Program
After two years of remote programming, we’re excited to welcome the 2022 NIKE, Inc. Internship Program back to our U.S. offices this week!
This year’s class of 318 represent the top 1% of 34,000+ applicants from 113 universities – including 10 Hispanic Serving Institutions and five historically Black colleges and universities. And that’s not all! Many of this year’s interns are Division 1 student-athletes, representing Track and Field, Rowing, Soccer, and Volleyball, to name a few.
During the nine-week internship – built around the theme of Never Done Shining – interns will work across Nike, Jordan and Converse taking on meaningful projects for the business areas they’re supporting. We can’t wait to watch this talented, diverse group kick off their Nike journey and shine!
Want to learn more about the program? https://jobs.nike.com/internships
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