Imagine it now: You are staring at a job posting on LinkedIn that sounds almost perfect. The company looks great. The culture aligns with what you believe. The benefits are solid. The responsibilities line up with everything you’ve been doing in previous roles. And yet, as you look back over the long list of “must-haves,” your stomach starts to drop and your confidence wavers. Words like “rockstar,” “guru,” and “expert” start to blur together, and suddenly you’re questioning everything.
Do I actually have enough experience to do this?What if I’m not as good as I think I am?Maybe I should wait until I’m more qualified before applying for this position or others like it?Surely TONS of other more qualified candidates have already applied, so what’s the point?
If any of this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Being the naturally curious individual that I am (and someone who is also navigating a recent career layoff), I wanted to learn more about why imposter syndrome rears its ugly head the most when we desperately need it to be in hiding. Do we really need to meet a full list of requirements on a job posting to apply? What are soft skills that I keep hearing about, and do they even matter?
That’s exactly why I reached out to the AMAZINGHaley Scruggs, a former colleague and an AWS-certified tech recruiter turned career coach, to learn more and ask her some questions. Haley has navigated four layoffs herself and now helps folks in tech reignite their confidence and create careers they love.
I wanted to ask Haley why imposter syndrome hits so hard during the job search and what we can actually do about it.
Q: As a former AWS-certified technical recruiter, what advice can you give IT and security professionals who are battling imposter syndrome when applying for new roles?
A: First off, if you feel like an imposter, you are not alone, my friend.
Imposter syndrome is just severe self-doubt, the sneaky, pervasive fear that if people really knew the real you, they’d see you as a fraud. This is especially common after surviving a layoff, which is super common these days. I also see it a ton with folks who are newer to their industry, or have less representation within the IT space (like women and other underrepresented groups).
When I work with job seekers who feel stuck in that Imposter spiral, I walk them through what I call The Imposter Syndrome Reset, my 6-step framework for rebuilding confidence and clarity.
Name it out loud. Say “I’m having imposter thoughts that are not facts.” Naming it separates you from it. Even better, visualize what your little imposter looks like. Mine is a gremlin-like, frazzled, red, spiky ball-like animal.
Normalize newness. Feeling incompetent when you’re learning something new or exploring new spaces is part of the process. You don’t get good at interviewing without bombing a few first. You don’t get good at networking without talking to lots of people (including getting ghosted)! Incompetence is the price to pay to build up competence.
Detach worth from work. Your worth as a human is not tied to having a job. After navigating four layoffs myself, I’ve learned layoffs are business decisions, not reflections of your talent or value. Ultimately, I help folks get jobs, but underneath all of that, I help folks re-activate their self-worth, confidence, and trust in themselves again.
Act to collect no’s. Redefine success by focusing on your effort, not outcomes. Every no means you took action, learned something, and moved closer to the right yes. One of my clients came to me after ten months of job-search burnout after being laid off only three months into his last company. Within five weeks of working together, he rebuilt his confidence, turned down an unaligned offer, and created a freelance opportunity through intentional networking that paid more than the full-time role he almost settled for.
Calibrate skills, then take action. Stop waiting to feel perfectly ready. You’ll be waiting forever. When I started in tech recruiting, I didn’t understand any of the technical jargon and felt like an idiot talking with software engineers. But I stayed curious, asked questions, and kept learning. Eight years later, I earned my AWS certification and recruited AI and ML engineers.
Develop a growth mindset. A growth mindset means anything you want is something you can learn, practice, and grow into, instead of a fixed mindset like “I was born bad at math, so I’ll always be bad at math.” Seek feedback, learning, and evolution. Every mistake is data, not failure.
The antidote to imposter syndrome isn’t perfection (which doesn’t exist, by the way). It’s consistent, courageous, intentional action.
Q: From what you’ve seen, does an applicant need to meet all requirements listed in a job description?
A: Nope. Job descriptions are often wish lists, not checklists. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen the scope of a role change during the interview process as hiring teams got clearer on what they really needed and as they met candidates who brought things to the table they didn’t even know they valued.
If you meet around 60 to 70 percent of the “must-have” requirements and feel energized or excited after reading the description, apply.
I’ve seen too many candidates, especially women and other underrepresented groups in tech, talk themselves out of applying because they didn’t check every box and assume everyone else is more qualified, while others with confidence and curiosity applied and got the job. Confidence is magnetic, even more than credentials.
Companies hire humans who are teachable and adaptable. They don’t need perfection, they want potential.
Q: Can you explain how or why soft skills, and which ones, may play a deciding role when selecting one candidate over another?
A: Soft skills are often the deciding factor, especially in tech and startup environments where everything changes fast. And ultimately, people hire people they like and want to work with.
The number one soft skill my clients’ companies always look for is a growth mindset, the willingness to learn, make mistakes, and receive and learn from feedback without defensiveness.
In interviews, hiring managers test for it with questions like:
“Tell me about a time you learned something new outside of work.”
“What’s a tool or language you taught yourself recently?”
“Describe a time you received tough feedback and what you did with it.”
And great candidates ask this back:
“How does your team create a supportive environment for learning and feedback?”
“What systems do you have in place for professional development?”
Growth mindset signals coachability, resilience, and humility, which are qualities that create long-term success far beyond technical skill.
Q: Is there any other advice or wisdom you’d share about battling imposter syndrome or applying for new roles?
A: My number one piece of advice before you start applying is to re-activate your community. Not just on LinkedIn. Reach out to former colleagues, mentors, friends, family members, and managers. Schedule virtual coffees. This is far more important than re-editing your resume for the tenth time.
Second, get clear on who you are, what you actually want, and where you add value. Especially in the age of AI, everyone’s resumes and “About Me” sections are starting to sound the same. You stand out by being authentically you, aware of your strengths, your superpowers, and how to communicate them.
If your mindset is “I’ll take anything,” you water yourself down and become a fit for nothing. But when you show up grounded in your strengths and energy, the right opportunities can actually see the real you.
And above all, remember: What’s meant for you will not pass you by. You can’t fail at something that isn’t meant for you.
I truly cannot say enough wonderful things about Haley. I find her answers incredibly helpful and insightful, offering a glimpse into what employers are truly seeking when hiring. I hope this helps ease some of the imposter syndrome you might be experiencing and provides you with some strategies to manage it if it ever resurfaces.
Unfortunately, layoffs, or reductions in force (RIFs) as companies so lovingly call them, are becoming increasingly common, especially across the tech sector. Layoffs.fyi (yes, we really have a site dedicated to tracking layoffs) shows that as of the time of this posting, there have been over 90,000 tech employees laid off in 2025 based on publicly available information. Overall, layoff numbers are significantly up and even reaching 2020 COVID-19 levels according to Trading Economics.
Personally, I am going through my second layoff in just over two years. While I am not a financial, legal, or recruiting expert, I thought it may be helpful to jot down some things that have helped me navigate this process.
Please note that I can only speak from my experience, which is that of an U.S.-based, married, white, male who works in IT in startups. Your mileage may vary. These are only tips that helped me.
Network
This seems like a no-brainer to list first. Network? Of course. But what does network even mean? The first thing I’ve done upon being notified of impacts to my role has been posting on every single one of my social networking platforms. I’m not kidding, every single one. Spread the word as far as you possibly can that you are looking and let people know exactly what you are looking for. This is the time when someone can introduce you to someone or recall a posting they saw the other day that you might miss. Also, I’ve found that people often times are willing to share incredibly thoughtful messages of support when sharing your post, and who doesn’t want to read kind words from friends/colleagues?
Reduce Spending + Review Income Sources
This one may seem like another obvious one, but when was the last time you seriously went through your budget line by line and looked at every subscription you have? Cut all the little items that you can live without for a few months while you search for your next opportunity. The little stuff adds up very quickly. Don’t be afraid to reach out to lenders, schools, banks, etc. and let them know what is going on so they can assist you (again, not a financial export so do what is best for your situation). Look into any additional sources of revenue you can find. Offer up tech support in your local community for a competitive hourly rate. Drive for ride share if you can. Find a short term contract position while you search for that next dream job.
Lean Into Your Tribe
You are not alone. Let me repeat that. You are not alone. You are a part of a community somewhere: your family, your friends, your church, your social group, MacAdmins, etc. Don’t keep your struggles inside. You aren’t the only one going through this and so many other people have gone through this before you.
Don’t Burn Out
See above. Take a day off from the job search grind to find some breathing room with your tribe. You aren’t doing yourself or anyone else a favor if you crash and burn from the constant stress of applying, interviewing, getting rejection emails, worrying about bills, etc. You are allowed to stop for a day and step away to recover. It will all still be there tomorrow.
Talk to Someone
Find professional therapy help. You may not be able to afford paid therapy and that is ok. There are tons of sliding scale community resources available if you look for them. Having a professional available to talk to, guide you, and give you tools so that you can have a healthy mind space while you go on this journey is essential. Stay healthy.
(Consider) - Explore Certifications
This may not be possible, but explore growing your skillset by getting additional certifications in your career field or areas of interest. Even if you can’t afford a paid certification, showing that you are working towards a certification on your resume can go a long way with hiring teams.
(Consider) - Career Pivot
This is another one that may not be for everyone or even possible, but use this opportunity to fully examine yourself and if you are where you truly want to be (remember that it is ok to change). Maybe this is the time to pivot into something adjacent to what you were doing prior to your layoff. Maybe this is the time to change careers entirely. The beauty of it is that the options are truly endless if you want to make it happen.
Stay well out there, friends, and don’t hesitate to reach out if you need someone to talk to. I’m always happy to lend an ear or point you to a great community.
I’m currently in the process of flying home after wrapping up the 2025 MacAdmins Conference hosted at the Penn State Conference Center and Hotel in State College, PA. It has truly been a wonderful week of community, learning, meeting new faces, meeting online faces in person for the first time, and catching up with old friends.
As I shared in my earlier post, I was fortunate enough to be awarded the 2025 Community and Conference Grant by the Mac Admins Foundation, which enabled me to attend the conference free of charge and paid for my travel and lodging. I’m still stunned that I was awarded such an honor as this community really means so much to me!
I previously attended this conference all the way back in 2018 when the world was different and I was in a much more junior portion of my IT career. This conference, and larger Mac Admins community, was the spark I needed to start my IT journey. I landed a job through someone I met in the Mac Admins Slack!
Because I am now 10+ years into my IT career and at a more senior level, I decided to focus my conference session selection primarily on career growth, mentorship, leadership, avoiding burnout, and focusing towards the future. All of my sessions were truly solid and I walked away with at least a handful of things I could put to use next week. I specifically want to shout out a few of my favorites that I attended as they should be up on the official MacAdmins Conference YouTube channel in a few weeks:
Career Management for Admins
Documentation: A love letter to future you
Zen and the Art of MacAdmin Mental Maintenance
Writing the Future: After 10 Years of Mac Admins, What’s Next?
One of the unique things about the MacAdmins Conference I really enjoy is that the conference kicks off with a full-day workshop (at no additional cost, mind you), so you can deep dive on a subject of your choosing. I selected “Contributing to Our Community” (excellently led by Anthony, Kelly, and Vaughn ) as I feel I am at a place and time in my journey where I really want to start doing exactly what the workshop title suggests. I walked away feeling so inspired and full of some great ideas to kick-start phase 2.0 of my story arc, if you will.
Another HUGE highlight was getting to connect with completely new, online, and familiar faces (Gandalf: “and what about very old friends?!”). There were so many people that I was finally able to meet face to face for the first time, and it was simply delightful.
I was able to enjoy the conference side by side with Kel, one of my favorite coworkers of all time and someone that grew into a dear friend. We worked together at 2 wild startups from 2018-2022. I learned so much from Kel about empathy, patience, and just being an awesome human being. His presence is infectious, and it had been far too long since we had seen each other in person. It did my heart good to spend almost a week with him.
Oddly enough, Kel and I both worked at the Green Hills Apple Store in Nashville, TN, but not at the same time. Also at this year’s conference were two additional R123 staff that he and I knew, but we all crisscrossed in our retail journeys, and it would be hard and unnecessary to explain the overlaps. Regardless, it was cool to have “multi-generations” of an Apple Store’s employees gathered together, and we spent time laughing over war stories and “did you hear about”’s. It was awesome.
A few other odds and ends:
The Berkey Creamery remains some of the best tasting and highest value ice cream I’ve ever come across. Every flavor I tried did not disappoint. It’s simply incredible.
The conference food wasn’t as good as I recall from 2018. Maybe I built it up in my memory?
The layout, structure, and overall organization of this conference compared to others I’ve attended is simply the best.
I tried a few off-site restaurants of note in State College (cute, little town by the way). I recommend Kokoro for ramen, and Tasty K for Korean fried chicken.
A heartfelt thank you to the MacAdmins Conference organizing team at Penn State University, the Mac Admin Foundation board, volunteers, and speakers for putting on a “best in class” conference that I can’t recommend enough. Thanks again to the Mac Admin Foundation board for awarding me the grant.
Please donate your time or money to the Mac Admin Foundation if you feel inclined. There are nearly 80,000 members on Slack from every walk of life and in every phase of their journey. I assure you your donation won’t go to waste.
I was lucky enough to win the Community and Conference Grant from the amazing Mac Admins Foundation, which allows me to attend the 2025 MacAdmins Conference at Penn State University. I am incredibly humbled and honored to receive this grant! I haven’t been able to attend the MacAdmins Conference (or #PSU) since 2018. Stay tuned for another post with some wrap-up thoughts and, of course, some photos.
My name is Chris, and I wear and have worn "a lot of hats" when it comes to my professional career. Oddly enough, I don't enjoy wearing hats in real life, though.
I decided to start this site to document my career journey - how I got here, what I am doing, and where I would like to go - in hopes that I can share a little bit of knowledge, forge some community (hey, I work from home in my basement), maybe learn a thing or two, and hone my communication skills.
