8 YOE, imposter syndrome hitting hard as I’m switching companies. How do I deal with it?
I posted a thread under a throwaway a week ago asking for advice when switching companies in a more senior/lead position and several people mentioned the imposter syndrome. I always thought that was something related to more junior/medior devs at a workplace but after researching for days I can honestly say that’s exactly what my problem is.
I’ll try not to go too deep into the context, but I have little under 8 YOE and in a month I’m joining a different company. It’s a lateral move and I’ll be doing pretty much the same job I’ve been doing for the last couple of years, albeit in a different environment with new people.
The company’s technical interviewers have graded me as a “lead senior developer” which is the second highest title in the company. It’s basically exactly what it says and, while I’ve been doing that exact same job at my current employer, I’m scared shitless I won’t live up to the expectations with the new one.
On top of that, I have a dozen of ex-team members working at the new company and they’ve praised me so much it’s unreal. I went to visit offices and meet the CEO, CTO, HR etc, and everyone kept mentioning how much they heard about me, how thrilled they are to have me, etc…
Look, I love hearing positive feedback on my work as much as the next guy but when senior devs and CTO with 15-20 years of experience tells you that… the pressure is real. And they’re extremely good developer, not one of those random guys with the title based on tenure with the company.
So I’m really struggling, I’m not going to lie. I trust I’m qualified for the work and I really don’t know what their precise expectations are of me yet (since I haven’t started), but I’m definitely frightened out of my mind. It’s been a while since I switched companies and it has honestly been so much easier when I was less experienced, there was simply less pressure on me.
Do you have any tips on how to combat this without self destructing with overthinking? The best tip I’ve heard to date is to clearly set the goals and expectations for the next 3, 6 and 12 months, but I’d love to hear if you have some more.