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Ask HN: New developer, feeling overwhelmed

I'm a self taught web developer. I've been building websites using mostly PHP and JavaScript for the post 3 years. I recently got a job as a programmer at a large financial institution. I was put on the infrastructure team, and they are using technologies and languages that I have no experience of. Their system is also incredibly complex, and even though I can learn the language, I have very little knowledge of what their systems do and how they do them. My manager had been very supportive, and expects it to take several months before I'm up to speed. I'm currently shadowing different pairs. I ask lots of questions and the team are helpful, but I feel like I'm in over my head. My friend thinks I'm being too harsh on myself and should give it a little longer (I've been here 3 weeks). I don't expect to be off to a running start by now, but I would at least expect to understand enough to contribute. I feel like crying every day and I don't want to go into work anymore. Please help HN

sidstling 8y ago
Imposter syndrome is real. I’m educated, have worked professionally in my specific field for four years and I do side-work as an examiner at academy level (something I’m certified for). I’ll often feel like I’m not good enough when I join a new project. It’s stupid, but it’s also a real thing, and it’s not always easy to deal with. Of course there is also being in over your head. Try to figure out which category you’re in. Then ask yourself three questions. What have you learned during your three weeks? What do you still need to learn? How can you achieve that? Lastly I’d have an open talk with your manager. It’s his/her responsibility to get you onboard safely, and maybe it’s time to try another approach? It’ll help if you have answered the three questions, because they’re really the foundation for your way forward. Disclaimer: I’m Danish, we may do management differently.
- throwaway6673 8y ago
  Thanks. I will read up some more about imposter syndrome.
itamarst 8y ago
Being stressed in first few weeks a normal response. Still happens to me after 20 years writing software, though not as bad. If you're just three weeks in with very little experience, you may well not be contributing much. That's OK. Multiple months to be up to speed is not unusual. I was told same thing at one job, 6 months, because of complexity of the domain. One thing that might help: talk to your manager and say "I'm feeling very stressed about not being able to get anything done, could I also get the occasional small task where I know I can do it and contribute?" If you can feel you're achieving something, and not just getting a firehose of info, you'll feel a little better. Most of all, though, just stick it through. Being worried and nervous is normal, it's a side-effect of learning new things, and new job and environment makes it even worse. (Longer version here: https://codewithoutrules.com/2017/03/05/failing-at-your-new-job/ https://codewithoutrules.com/2017/03/05/failing-at-your-new-...).
- throwaway6673 8y ago
  Thanks for the reply. It helped, as did your blog post. I'll read them again later and give it some thought.
_Tyler 8y ago
I would push through if I were you, because I was in the exact same situation only a few months ago. I had wayyyy less experience than you, and took over most of the work for a react/typescript/node project that was MASSIVE compared to anything I had worked on before (static websites and small Django projects). I felt like I could cry and started having issues with heartburn for the first month, and even told my boss about 2 weeks in that was not qualified for the job. Thankfully, they told me that they knew that it would take a while, and encouraged me to stick with it. Even now, 7 months in, there are still so many things I'm learning, but I would really recommend pressing in to the job, (especially if your manager has the wisdom to see that it will take you a while to get up to speed), as after I had been there about 6 weeks things started to make a little more sense. Also, if it makes you feel any better, the stack overflow survey from 2018 shows that 44% of devs expect a new coworker with 4 years of experience to take one to three months to be productive (https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2018/#work-how-long-do-developers-expect-new-coworkers-to-take-to-be-productive https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2018/#work-how-lon...), so I think you have less to worry about than you think. I'd keep with it until and unless they make you leave!

sidstling 8y ago

Imposter syndrome is real. I’m educated, have worked professionally in my specific field for four years and I do side-work as an examiner at academy level (something I’m certified for). I’ll often feel like I’m not good enough when I join a new project. It’s stupid, but it’s also a real thing, and it’s not always easy to deal with. Of course there is also being in over your head. Try to figure out which category you’re in. Then ask yourself three questions. What have you learned during your three weeks? What do you still need to learn? How can you achieve that? Lastly I’d have an open talk with your manager. It’s his/her responsibility to get you onboard safely, and maybe it’s time to try another approach? It’ll help if you have answered the three questions, because they’re really the foundation for your way forward. Disclaimer: I’m Danish, we may do management differently.

throwaway6673 8y ago
Thanks. I will read up some more about imposter syndrome.

itamarst 8y ago

Being stressed in first few weeks a normal response. Still happens to me after 20 years writing software, though not as bad. If you're just three weeks in with very little experience, you may well not be contributing much. That's OK. Multiple months to be up to speed is not unusual. I was told same thing at one job, 6 months, because of complexity of the domain. One thing that might help: talk to your manager and say "I'm feeling very stressed about not being able to get anything done, could I also get the occasional small task where I know I can do it and contribute?" If you can feel you're achieving something, and not just getting a firehose of info, you'll feel a little better. Most of all, though, just stick it through. Being worried and nervous is normal, it's a side-effect of learning new things, and new job and environment makes it even worse. (Longer version here: https://codewithoutrules.com/2017/03/05/failing-at-your-new-job/ https://codewithoutrules.com/2017/03/05/failing-at-your-new-...).

throwaway6673 8y ago
Thanks for the reply. It helped, as did your blog post. I'll read them again later and give it some thought.

_Tyler 8y ago

I would push through if I were you, because I was in the exact same situation only a few months ago. I had wayyyy less experience than you, and took over most of the work for a react/typescript/node project that was MASSIVE compared to anything I had worked on before (static websites and small Django projects). I felt like I could cry and started having issues with heartburn for the first month, and even told my boss about 2 weeks in that was not qualified for the job. Thankfully, they told me that they knew that it would take a while, and encouraged me to stick with it. Even now, 7 months in, there are still so many things I'm learning, but I would really recommend pressing in to the job, (especially if your manager has the wisdom to see that it will take you a while to get up to speed), as after I had been there about 6 weeks things started to make a little more sense. Also, if it makes you feel any better, the stack overflow survey from 2018 shows that 44% of devs expect a new coworker with 4 years of experience to take one to three months to be productive (https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2018/#work-how-long-do-developers-expect-new-coworkers-to-take-to-be-productive https://insights.stackoverflow.com/survey/2018/#work-how-lon...), so I think you have less to worry about than you think. I'd keep with it until and unless they make you leave!