Imposter syndrome shows up in tech too. Learn how I face imposter moments and turn fear into growth through curiosity and persistence.
✨ Dev Shorts #9 - short and meaningful
Hello 👋,
Welcome back to another article from the ✨ Dev Shorts | short and meaningful collection.
We rarely talk about the quiet moments of doubt.
The ones where you sit in front of your screen and think:
“Am I really good enough for this?”
I’ve had plenty of those moments in my career. They felt uncomfortable, sometimes even paralyzing. But looking back, they shaped me in ways I didn’t realize at the time.
When I joined a new team
I once stepped into a role where everyone seemed smarter, faster, more confident. They referenced frameworks I hadn’t touched and solved problems before I even understood them fully.
My instinct was to stay quiet - if I didn’t speak, I couldn’t expose what I didn’t know. But silence didn’t help me grow.
So I started asking questions. At first, it felt risky. But the more I asked, the more I learned. And to my surprise, people respected me for it. I discovered that curiosity builds trust faster than pretending to know it all.
When I faced a technology I didn’t master
There were projects where I had to jump into a completely new stack. I remember staring at unfamiliar codebases, fighting the thought: “I’ll never catch up.”
My first reaction was panic. But once I broke it down - reading docs, building tiny proofs of concept, pairing with teammates - the fear slowly faded. Every deep dive reminded me that I don’t need to know everything upfront. What matters is the ability to learn fast and lean on others when needed.
When my ideas were challenged
One of the hardest moments was sharing an idea I believed in, only to see it challenged or rejected. It stung. At first, I took it personally: “Maybe I’m not capable. Maybe my thinking isn’t good enough.”
But over time, I realized pushback wasn’t rejection - it was refinement. It forced me to explain my reasoning better, to consider edge cases I had missed, and to listen more deeply to other perspectives. Many of my strongest solutions today were born out of that friction.
What these moments taught me
Imposter moments don’t disappear as you grow. They just change shape. But here’s what I’ve learned from them:
Doubt means you care about the work.
Asking questions means you’re willing to grow.
Being challenged means you’re building resilience.
I no longer see imposter feelings as proof that I don’t belong. I see them as signals that I’m stretching into something new.
And that’s how those moments - the ones that once made me feel small - ended up making me stronger.
✨ Dev Short takeaway: Feeling like an imposter isn’t proof you’re failing - and it won’t simply go away. It’s a signal that you’re growing, stretching, and leveling up.
Until next time,
Stefania
Articles from the ♻️ Knowledge seeks community 🫶 collection: https://stefsdevnotes.substack.com/t/knowledgeseekscommunity
Articles from the ✨ Frontend Shorts collection:
https://stefsdevnotes.substack.com/t/frontendshorts
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when I first started Genetech as a one-woman project back in 2004. I remember stepping into rooms full of people who seemed ten steps ahead, and my first instinct was to stay silent and blend in.
Imposter feelings don’t vanish they evolve but now I see them as signposts pointing me toward growth, innovation, and opportunities I wouldn’t have dared to pursue otherwise.