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Comment by palisade | Hacker News Reader

I have imposter syndrome, and what's worse I'm really shy and have trouble looking people in the eye which makes me seem like a liar. What helps me a lot is the move companies are making towards remote interviews. For some reason with skype I can look people right in the eye, it's probably because they're off-center visually or because I know they're not really here. However, that only helps with the shyness it doesn't really solve the imposter part. And, it's not because I'm not competent, I've successfully shipped every project I've ever been part of.

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There's a great line in Glenn Gary Glenn Ross where one character says "I always get nervous when I talk to the police." and the other character says "Yeah, you know who doesn't get nervous when they talk to the police... criminals."

It's perfectly normal to be a bit nervous or shy during interviews, so don't sweat it so much. A decent interviewer isn't going to hold that against you. I'm more suspicious of people who aren't a bit nervous, and am inclined to interview them more thoroughly because most of the time when companies I've worked for have hired someone who's slick, they've turned out to be an imposter.

> It's perfectly normal to be a bit nervous or shy during interviews, so don't sweat it so much. A decent interviewer isn't going to hold that against you.

An interviewer held it against me. Said I did well technically but didn't seem confident enough.

In order to ace the interview you pretty much have to be the perfect candidate -- technically, socially, emotionally.

Yikes. I've done the opposite. A fully qualified candidate was so satisfied in his competence that he was absolutely insufferable.

As he was completing the coding portion of his interview, I broached the topic of comments. "Nah, this is an interview, it doesn't matter."

This was back in 98 and he had a little personal website with a discussion board for his friends. He whined there about not getting the job, so I explained that it was his attitude, and not his skills, that made him a bad fit. His friends seemed to agree with me, that getting taken down a notch was a necessary step in his emotional growth.

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