The fact that you are questioning yourself means that you have the ability to introspect. I work at a major university and hire/manage people of all ages–as young as 15 and as old as 65. I have seen all kinds from the super smart and motivated to those who will sit in their position and do the minimum until they retire or those who are so incompetent or incapable of learning that they wash out of their own careers.

You probably compared yourself to that small number of people who did robotics club in high school, got into the elite CS/CE program, and already have a job offer from Meta for $150k. Don’t do that, those people aren’t normal and have never learned to just live. They also tend to experience constant and unending anxiety, which is why they drive themselves so hard. Do you really want to live that way?

I am always looking for that person who questions themself. If you are concerned about your ability to do something, you will put in the time to make sure that you do it well. If you have a Dunning-Kruger thing going on, then you’re going to be a terrible employee and I will eventually resent you and find a way to get you out of my department.

My advice:

1. accept that you will suffer some form of imposter syndrome for life. This is fine–it is better to be a bit insecure than a bit overconfident. You will constantly work to make sure that what you output is the best quality it can be simply because you are worried that it isn’t.

2. accept that you have little experience in your industry. You’re not supposed to as a new graduate. The whole point of your training has been in learning how to think professionally and approach a problem academically. Once you have that basis, you can learn the details.

3. be kind to yourself. You’re your own person and you don’t need to use others as a metric. Avoid the “I’m supposed to have…” sort of thinking and just do the best you can.