It’s been a long time since I’ve posted on my blog. Since the last time we’ve touched base, I left my previous employer, JOOR. As of this post, I’ve been working at Twitter for about a year and a half now. I’ll share some of what I’ve learned, in the hopes it’ll help someone out there.

Impostor syndrome is defined as the following:

A psychological occurrence in which an individual doubts their skills, talents, or accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a fraud. Despite external evidence of their competence, those experiencing this phenomenon do not believe they deserve their success or luck.

Wikipedia

When I started at Twitter, I believed I had impostor syndrome. As I progressed through my first year and beyond, I realized how much believing in that mentality held me back. Below I’ll share what I wished I had known when I started.

You belong

Don’t ever let anyone, including yourself, make you believe that you can’t do what it is you want to do. A lot of the time, success comes down to those who believe in themselves and their ability to succeed over those who are afraid of not fitting in. You won’t be expected to know how everything works on day one, month one, or year one. What you are expected to do is show consistent improvement over a span of time.

We’ve been conditioned to believe that improvement should operate in a straight, upward trajectory. In reality, there will be days where you absolutely crush it, and days where you’re not your best. That’s OK, we’re human, and the best way I maintain confidence in myself is remembering that fact.

Momentum matters more than perfection. pic.twitter.com/ju76b7gsqj

— Sarah Arnold-Hall (@saraharnoldhall) April 6, 2022

Ask questions

Working in a new environment can be intimidating. You’re wired to believe that you know less than your teammates around you, or that you’re the worst contributor. This is not true. The only thing that’s true at the start of a new job, venture or hobby is that you don’t know what you don’t know. So, it’s on you to ask around to collect that information.

Don’t be afraid of putting yourself out there by asking how things work, what resources are available, or who’s the best person to talk to about something. Don’t be afraid to jump into a new Slack channel, to set up a 1:1 with someone you don’t know, or to communicate that you’re stuck on something. More often than not, others have been in your shoes and are more than happy to help you get up to speed. You never know if a specific question you have will highlight a gap in an established process, documentation, or issue that you can take an active role in addressing.

The key to wisdom is this – constant and frequent questioning, for by doubting we are led to question, by questioning we arrive at the truth.

Peter Abelard

Make your mark

Find a problem and propose a solution to that problem. At every organization, there will be some feature, process or exhange of information that needs to be improved. Put yourself out there and serve as the lead to the solution to that problem. In doing so, you’ll accelerate your development. You’ll learn how to communicate status across teams, how to delegate work amongst your peers, and how to prepare your project for launch. Once you do this, you’ll be recognized as a team player as well as an innovator.

You’ll realize that you belong, and that through asking questions, you’ll make an impact that can’t be ignored.

Conclusion

That’s it for now. I’ll be posting more technical topics related to iOS development soon. Be on the lookout, and if you have any questions, comments or concerns, don’t hesitate to reach out!