r/cscareerquestionsEU • u/Suitable-Sir5151 • 1d ago

Entry-level After 2 years of unemployment, I'm due to start my first ever job in tech really soon and I'm terrified. What do I do?

As title says. Sorry if this doesn't really fit with this sub, but I don't really got anyone else to ask.

Graduated in 2024 from a Russell Group university, couldn't find a job for the life of me. Kept getting rejected left and right, had my applications ignored right away each time. One time I even had a recruiter personally call me to say that I'm rejected and how they didn't even bother to look at my CV, which was a bit funny but also kinda hurt.

Used to cry and stress so badly to the point of getting physically ill, thinking I got no chance to enter the industry and how I had wasted my university years on a CS degree, but here I am now. A graduate Software Dev Engineer at Amazon, due to start my first ever job really really soon, and I'm absolutely terrified out of my mind.

I want to say I have no idea how I made it, but that'd be a lie - I do know how. Worked my ass off day and night to do well in the interview loop, prayed to any God out there to help me, and it actually worked. But I am SO scared now, since it's actually real and it's actually happening. After all of these years and all of this doubt, and in FAANG (MAANG?) no less.

I've heard of the term impostor syndrome before, experienced it just a bit, but not to this point. It's hitting me so hard, to the point where I'm a bit convinced that I took the "fake it til you make it" phrase too literally and did fake all of my knowledge and technical abilities in the interviews. How do I deal with this feeling? I'm terrified this is just a mistake and that I just somehow managed to slip through, even though I'm full aware that is not the case. Christ above, I have no idea what I'm gonna do.

19 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

9

u/CuriousContra 18h ago
  1. Document everything. What task, what you did, what didn't work, what's the next stage.
  2. Dont close a week without finishing any pending tasks.
  3. Ensure when you're blocked / achieved something with your work, your manager is aware of it.

You'll feel like an imposter, the thought that "someone dumber than you gets paid more than you in the same company" would make you feel better about yourself.

You'll do good.

3

u/raoulk 17h ago

I'm not sure this level of tracking helps an anxious person..

4

u/Jimsen3 22h ago

Just do your best, ask questions when you do not know (you are not stupid). Everyone there got in the same way as you.

8

u/esctasyescape 22h ago

Use claude and you will be fine

2

u/sweetno 18h ago

Get unscared and drink a lemonade or something.

•

u/Wise-Share4926 5m ago

I mean Amazon doesn't accidentally hire people. Their loop is brutal specifically so nobody slips through, so the fact that you cleared it means a bunch of senior engineers looked at you and went "yep, this person can do the job." You didn't fake it. you just don't have proof yet because you haven't started. You can show the proof in the first months.