DevFest Cerrado (Google Developer Groups — GDG)
🎙️ Talk: Overcoming the impostor syndrome and the challenges of existing in the industry through open-source.
At a time when many developers feel insecure about the future of the field, bringing up sensitive topics like insecurity, inferiority complex, and self-sabotage, with a light at the end of the tunnel through open source initiatives, was quite challenging but very interesting:
💡 Choosing the topic
- Is my skill level enough?
- Should I give up if I can't get a job in my area?
- How can I gain experience if the market doesn't give me opportunities?
🧑🏻🔬 The development
I could have easily explained what impostor syndrome is and gone straight to the “solution,” but I chose the harder path:
— Exposing my weaknesses throughout my journey, speaking in a tone close to a heartfelt confession.
The goal was to connect with those present, evolve into learning, and maybe inspire through my story, sharing the human side that social media and "LinkedIn titles" don't show.
👻 The challenges
Talking about our flaws and insecurities to people who don't even know us is more complicated than it seems; people like to listen to someone they can admire.
But the comments and affection from people who came to talk to me at the end showed me that the idea of connecting with those present not only worked but truly inspired some people, and that made me very happy ✨
🎤 The talk
I wondered if people would be interested in this topic, but gradually the room filled up and someone even sat on the floor at the very beginning.
Originally, the presentation included some additional studies, including practical screens with real open source contributions, but I had to adapt some things to fit the event's format and time.
Spoiler (GIF) of the slide used in the talk:
