What’s the opposite of imposter syndrome?

I spent most of 2023 and 2024 convinced I didn’t belong and wasn’t actually good at much. Feeling aged out of content management and seeing the youth that has emerged in the space.

My inner critic was loud even when reassured by clients and peers. Every piece of content or website I launched felt less than. It was defeating, to say the least. Every couple of months, I’d apply for a few roles that popped up on my radar hoping to at least hear from the recruiting team or hiring manager. One three occasions, I received polite declination emails a couple of days after I submitted my resume and cover letter.

By the beginning of 2024, I realized how lonely, albeit exciting, my entrepreneurial career has been. Truthfully, I missed working with a team. And gasp, I even missed sitting at desk next to my co-workers. I was hellbent on transitioning away from my current projects and roles to find something in-house or at an agency.

So after applying to a half dozen roles in 2025 and a close friend pointing out that “…I’m applying to roles I’m too junior for…” I’ve realized if I have the opposite of imposter syndrome. To add insult to injury, or confirmation to fear, a video landed in my FYP about applying for your current skill set not skills you hope to have. Like any obsessive person does, I had to more about what was happening or what I might be doing. After doing some research I stumbled on the Dunning-Kruger Effect, a cognitive bias in which a person has excessive confidence in their abilities but their current and relevant skills don’t match their self-perception. Is this 2025 me?

I graduated from the School of Imposter Syndrome and now I’m pursuing an M.F.A in the Dunning-Kruger Effect. I keep hoping and wondering that somehow, someway I’ll meet somewhere in the middle where I don’t hear my critic.