Links to Imposter Feelings Talks
This year I’ll be presenting a talk on Imposter Feelings or, more commonly known as Imposter Syndrome. The title of the talk is “Imposter Syndrome: I Don’t Feel Like Who You Think I Am.” and I gave it at BSidesDC in 2017.
[UPDATE] – Link to the video from:
- BSidesDC talk is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDDCl_VQx7k and embedded below
Resources
I intend on making a fuller blog entry about it after the talks but wanted to provide some resources that I found helpful during my researching the talk content. They are in no specific order.
- Dr. Pauline Clance (one of the original people that described Imposter Phenomenon) – http://paulineroseclance.com/impostor_phenomenon.html
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome
- https://counseling.caltech.edu/general/InfoandResources/Impostor
- http://startupbros.com/21-ways-overcome-impostor-syndrome/
- http://www.apa.org/gradpsych/2013/11/fraud.aspx
- http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/science/articles/10.1038/nj7245-468a
- http://impostorsyndrome.com/
- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/caroline-dowdhiggins/impostor-syndrome_b_1651762.html
- http://www.realsimple.com/work-life/life-strategies/job-career/how-to-conquer-impostor-syndrome
- http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Impostor_syndrome
- https://www.amazon.com/Impostor-Phenomenon-When-Success-Makes/dp/0553257307/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1486162491&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Impostor+Phenomenon%3A+When+Success+Makes+You+Feel+Like+A+Fake
- http://bsris.swu.ac.th/journal/i6/6-6_Jaruwan_73-92.pdf
- Nickolas Means’ RailsConf 2014 talk – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_Vqp1dPuPo
Imposter Feelings Graphic
Here is a graphic that captures the perspective that many people with Imposter Feelings have when examining their skills and abilities in comparison to other’s.

The talk’s abstract is below and I will update this post with links to the video of the talks after they are completed.
Several years ago I was walking back to my hotel after a day’s worth of DerbyCon talks and it hit me all at once. “I’m an infosec fraud. I’m not finding 0-day exploits. I’m not hacking cars or Internets of Things and I don’t know PowerShell. I don’t belong in infosec.” It was a hard revelation to grasp because I loved infosec and the people in it. But that was my “truth” back then and I went home and looked for jobs outside of the computer industry. What I didn’t know at that time was that these feelings were normal, showed I was learning and growing and that they also had a name: Imposter Syndrome.
Does this sound like someone you know? If so, come join me and learn not only about “Imposter Syndrome” but how I am dealing with it and how you and your colleagues can too.