A Hired Imposter's Secrets => (Be an Imposter)

How to embrace your imposter syndrome

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So have you been learning to code for a while now? If you have a solid understanding of HTML & CSS with some JS, you should start applying asap. So you pull up LinkedIn and Indeed type in Jr Front-End Dev, and what do you find?

Requirements:

  • Experience in WordPress development
  • Training in the form of a college degree (Computer Science or related field), completion of “coding bootcamp,” or similar
  • 2+ years experience developing with core web technologies (HTML, CSS, JavaScript)
  • Experience developing with modern development frameworks (Bootstrap, jQuery)
  • Experience building responsive websites
  • Experience with source control management (Git)
  • The ability multi-task across various projects
  • A desire to continually learn about and implement the latest web technologies

Guy Fawkes Mask and Red Flower on Hand

Crap 2yrs+ experience for a role that's paying 50k? Guys, a dev with two years isn't applying for this role, so now, you have two options at this point.

  1. Ugh... following listing. If I apply for this, I'll be setting myself up for failure
  2. BECOME AN IMPOSTER

To land your first job in tech, your next, and the one after that embrace your inner imposter. The fact of the matter is that in tech, the companies looking to hire want to feel safe. They want to make sure the person they're hiring can do the job, and experience is how they filter out the scrubs.

“Repetition is the mother of learning, the father of action, which makes it the architect of accomplishment.”

Zig Ziglar

So let's break that down. They're asking for 2yrs experience. So how do you get your foot in the door? Big secret tough, you're competing with other imposters!.

Woman Sitting in Front of Macbook

How much experience do you have compared to your fellow imposters? Do you have one year of exp coding for 2hrs every other day depending on when your friends aren't going out? Or, do you have one-year exp coding every night, even when you don't feel like it because you committed yourself, you will become a developer?

Guys, it's not going to be easy. I balanced a 50 workweek, a middle schooler, and a first-grader who needed help with homework and had to make sure the love of my life, Kim, loved me at the end of the day. But from 9:30 pm - 2:30 am, I had my headphones on and was coding EVERY DAY, NO EXCEPTIONS UNTIL I WAS HIRED.

By no means is the above a flex in any way. I bring this up because it was the people that did it in even crazier situations that motivated me at my lowest moments. I challenge you to find someone that inspires you that you can relate with. They'll become the ace you need when doubt or laziness creeps in.

So I'll leave you with this...when you're applying because if you know HTML, CSS, and JS, you should be. Based on your same one year of timed experience to land that job, how much experience do you really have? How good of an imposter have you become???

RAllanVila

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