My understanding of the role after working over three years
It’s been a while since I closed the Read with Me series. During this time, I celebrated Chinese New Year with my parents in China and had a mid-year performance review with my manager. While I vlogged my experience in China with a video, I haven’t yet compiled the feedback I received from my performance review, which would be a great opportunity to share in this article. After all, with a few weeks passing my third-year working anniversary, I have reached a good point to reflect on what I have picked up along the way. Although the title may seem like clickbait, it is a summary of learnings based on my journey so far.
It is very common to have imposter syndrome during early career stages — we often doubt whether we are qualified to be offered this job. It is particularly ubiquitous in the tech industry because it is a fast-growing field. Some algorithms that were used last year might already be outdated. Everyone chases the latest buzzwords, which can create a lot of stress for people looking for a job and those on the job.
There is no way to get rid of this sense of unworthiness without maintaining a growth mindset. A growth mindset believes in one’s ability to develop and improve intelligence through hard work, learning, and perseverance with time. It is the opposite of a fixed mindset, which believes abilities and intelligence are innate and unchangeable traits.
Individuals with a growth mindset are more likely to embrace challenges, persist in the face of setbacks, view effort as a path to mastery, and learn from criticism.
A trick I found useful for maintaining a growth mindset is to “fake it until you make it.” I may not be very good at doing A or utilizing B, but I believe I can master it later through self-learning, learning from others, and practice.
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