Imposter syndrome while studying for certs?

thomas_

Do you ever get imposter syndrome while you are studying for a cert? Logically you know that getting the next level cert is going to help move your career forward and you will learn a lot while studying for it, but there is a little voice in the back of your head asking the question "Should I even be attempting this cert?"

I just have this feeling that once I get the next level in my cert path and put it on my resume it's just going to be open season for any topic covered by that cert during an interview no matter if I've never worked with it on a daily basis. If you get one little detail wrong, then you are automatically labeled a paper cert or paper tiger. Let's face it nobody, or very few people, ever work with everything covered by a certification exam on a daily basis.

Anyhow, it's kind of late, I'm kind of tired and I'm probably just blowing this all out of proportion.

joshuamurphy75

This is exactly why I pursue harder certs. I know I'm not going to keep up with the material if I study, pass the test, then never use it. So Instead, I study something harder on the same subject. It forces me to keep learning, even if it is something rarely used at work. Sure I feel like a fake, and I often find that experienced people can do the job faster than me, but I do a hell of a lot better than I would have done if I didn't push myself to earn that cert. You could always not mention a cert on your resume if you aren't comfortable with it.