Imposter Syndrome
Brian0787
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Joined: 19 Aug 2024
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Posts: 928
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
I'm guessing I can put this here but not sure if this should be under "work". Has anyone experienced what could be called "Imposter Syndrome?" I always heard about the term before but never realized some of the things I've been going through are symptoms of it. Some of it is because of a new job I will be starting in a couple weeks and just experiencing symptoms of inadequacy and that I'm "in over my head" and "I need to know certain skills perfectly before I can do the job". I think I have some fear of failure as well. I never quite knew anything about it until I happened to research a little on it. I'm just curious if others experienced symptoms as well. I'm guessing this is a psychological condition but maybe I'm making it bigger than it actually is.
Yes...and also the opposite.
When I used to hitch-hike everywhere I would adopt personas to suit/impress whoever picked me up.
I had the language skills to pretend to be almost anything and I think it was all an effort to perfect my masking. I never impersonated in an employment setting and was careful to choose roles which were unlikely to be detected... And I don't think I ever was, yet in several jobs that I was actually qualified for (and even overqualified for) I often felt substandard despite being the best in the company at what I did.
Brian0787
Veteran

Joined: 19 Aug 2024
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Posts: 928
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
When I used to hitch-hike everywhere I would adopt personas to suit/impress whoever picked me up.
I had the language skills to pretend to be almost anything and I think it was all an effort to perfect my masking. I never impersonated in an employment setting and was careful to choose roles which were unlikely to be detected... And I don't think I ever was, yet in several jobs that I was actually qualified for (and even overqualified for) I often felt substandard despite being the best in the company at what I did.
Thank you for sharing! Some of that sounds like me as well. I definitely mask alot and think I adopted a persona different than I actually am on the job. I think I am qualified on the skills side but perfectionism makes me think I don't know certain programs or skills perfectly so I think I'm not adequate for the job. I appreciate you sharing your experience!
King Kat 1
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Joined: 14 Aug 2020
Age: 44
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,125
Location: In a red state wasteland
I have masking down to an art, which is probably why I am burned out anymore. I've never lied about myself or made-up stories, however I have altered things about myself. I started doing this for obvious reasons but really worked at it around the time I turned 30.
You could call it " Selling out" but at work I was sick of having a reputation as being a weirdo, being treated like I was slow or dumb. At work, we got this new guy, and I am as sure as I can be he was on the spectrum. It didn't take long for him to annoy people, he never disclosed he was on the spectrum but to me, it was so obvious. He had this habit of clearing his throat all the time, lecturing people about things, and just info dumping about various topics. Even at my worst, I knew this was cringy.
Then, I overheard someone sort of compare me to him. Honestly, I wanted to die. I thought " Am I really that bad?" . Some of this change was to distance myself from some of the stereotypes and stigmas, some of it was honestly I did have some habits I needed to curb or improve. So, it was a mixed bag.
To put it another way, I saw a lot of stuff I didn't like about myself in this guy and figured out how I likely came off as awkward or weird to others. As people have left and new ones have come in over the years, I've lost a lot of that old image and some bad habits but at times, it takes work still.
I can usually keep my stimming under control, but I catch myself here and there.
To wrap up, I've been able to keep myself out of trouble and blend in a bit better but for me, it was matter of survival and shedding some of an image I hated.
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The forest was shrinking but the trees kept voting for the axe, for the axe was clever and convinced the trees that because his handle was made of wood, he was one of them.” ― Turkish Proverb
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