The web development world is a great area to work in: smart and driven people gather together to build great products. However, in order to build high-performance products, the developers need to stay motivated and highly skilled. Moreover, with the fast-changing demands of the sphere, comes the work culture, which itself is twice as demanding. More often than not, web developers are questioning themselves: Am I really qualified for this task? Do I really keep up with the pace of everybody? 

That unrelenting uncertainty about your skills as a developer is called imposter syndrome or imposter phenomenon. And although phenomenons are of a rare occurrence, this modern concept is really omnipresent. In fact, 58% of tech employees suffer from this, according to a Blind Survey.

What is “Imposter Syndrome”?

So as to continue with our topic, it is of utmost importance to understand what the scientific justification of the term is. The term was first used by psychologists Suzanna Imes and Pauline Rose Clance in the 1970s. When the concept of it was introduced, it was originally thought to apply mostly to high-achieving women. Since then, it has been recognized as more widely experienced. Nevertheless, Impostor syndrome refers to an internal experience of believing that you are not as competent as others perceive you to be.

If you recognized yourself, learn how to manage the Web Development Imposter Syndrome with the following tips:

1# Focus on how far you have come, don’t compare to other professionals.

Everyone has unique abilities. You are where you are because someone recognized your talents and your potential. Even when it seems like someone is having everything under control, you may not know the full story. Instead of allowing others’ success to even further highlight your flaws, consider the fact that everyone has a route of their own.

2# Be confident in your, “I don’t know, but let me look it up,” answer.

Perfectionism only feeds your imposter syndrome further. No one can do everything superbly, and holding yourself to that standard is counterproductive. Instead of pretending that you have a vast knowledge of everything happening in the tech trends now, be real with the impossibleness of having every aspect under control. Being honest with yourself, instead of bringing yourself down, can be of extreme help to your team (which is made up of real people, not robots!) to research and timely fit in with the missing unconcealed knowledge.

3# Come to the realization that becoming a really good web developer takes time and you won’t become one overnight. 

Stop cramming information and learn to enjoy the coding journey itself. There will always be more to learn – new languages, processes, or technologies. You can plan a small career goal for yourself and decide what you want to learn every month. You can move towards your goal and keep adding skills to your brain cart, without needing external validation. 

Conclusion

With our society and social media standards, you can easily get into the vortex of self-doubt. Especially in a working environment such as the web development one. While some are able to banish the web development imposter syndrome for good, most are not. And this is okay! Setting an unrealistic goal for your personal is really human-like. Nevertheless, with our recommendations, you can go long way into your self-improvement journey!