Need Advice on Impostor Syndrome and Growing Professionally

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need advice on what to do as I’m a bit lost and it will be affecting me personally soon.

Any advice helps and if you read this manifesto of a thread bless your heart cause it’s a bit long but hopefully you understand towards the end.

Story Time

I’ve been working in the IT field for about 4 years now professionally. 2 years i was an IT intern. the other 2 years I’ve been a networking field engineer with the same company I work for.

The only reason I was able to become a network engineer so fast was because I had a boss that had his team member leave and I applied for the role. I had no previous network experience other than setting up my network at home. I started working in June 2022. fast forward August 2023 I was promoted and got the job as an network engineer. I found out later the reason why the network administrator (my current boss) gave me the role. it was because he liked my work ethic and was willing to train me somewhat and give me a chance and in the beginning it was sink or swim but My boss did help me immensely along the way.

From August 2023 to now I’ve grown professionally, I’ve configured, and installed Meraki Layer 2 switches and worked with vendors and have gotten sites up with his help and have troubleshooted lots of issues on my own but a lot of it was trial and error and my bosses advice + help. but I’ve never touched layer 3 Cisco switches, he always did them for me. but I was learning to troubleshoot and “Know where to look to troubleshoot stuff”.

I’ve had no motivation to get my CCNA or to invest in Networking as much as I would like to. a lot of it is due to just work and just being tired every day. and the last thing I want to do is continue doing networking work after hours on my own time when that is my current job but I do know enough to get by at work.

I forgot to mention my boss does his job remotely. I am the one who is the “boots on the ground”. but it was just announced recently Corporate wants everyone to be in the office 3 times a week. something my boss cannot do since he is in the west coast. our office is in the east coast.

So my boss is most likely going to quit or be layed off soon and I will be temporarily responsible for a network of 41 sites + server upgrades, site turn ups, projects etc. I don’t exactly know.

I don’t have serious technical networking experience to manage a network of 41 sites on my own and I may have to in a 2-3 month time frame. I cannot configure a 9300 Switch for the life of me, except copy a config from a working site and change the subnets etc. and I don’t know how to subnet on the equipment.

the lines have always been blurry as to when I can say no to something and when I shouldn’t..

TL;DR

  • Started out as an IT Intern
  • Previous Network Engineer leaves
  • I apply for his role with no experience, got the job based on work ethic.
  • learned alot and turned up 4 sites during my tenure and configured a lot of stuff on my own with my bosses help. he always configured the 9300s. I did the MS225 merakis.
  • Corporate wants staff to return to the office 3 times a week. boss is totally remote
  • Boss is going to quit or be layed off since he cannot go to the office
  • I will be responsible for an entire companies network.. at least temporarily.. + projects site turn ups and core 9300 switch configurations and I don’t know how to do that.
  • I got a little too comfortable.

What should I do? should I quit? or start looking for another job? or should i push myself and just see what happens? My worry and I always felt this way when I got promoted was I felt like I didn’t deserve the role I have because of my inexperience and i don’t know why but I’ve always been a glass empty type of person.. deep down I’m panicking a bit.

I still want to do my CCNA, but I feel defeated more than ever.

My job has always been a Level One Engineer. but I feel a bit lost now that my boss and mentor is possibly going to be leaving and I’m scared I won’t last the next 6 months since I don’t have serious technical network experience when the next admin comes in.

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I would try to worry less about what you do or don’t know, because you’re going to know more than the users, and at this point probably whoever ends up being above you in the future also.

And yes it’s a business. Your boss isn’t necessarily going to be your best friend, but a good boss is someone you want to work for. I’d focus more on that.

You also could just ask your current boss what he plans on doing. Sounds like you have a decent relationship, so that might save you from spinning your wheels so much wondering what comes next.

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My boss and I have a good rapport, I can call him for just about anything professional and he has always given me sound advice and help. even when he didn’t need to or had to.

From what My boss told me if he cannot get an exemption from returning to the office he’s gone. and then everything will fall on my lap by default. the networking team is a team of two. me and my boss.

I’m not totally incompetent, my boss did the planning and backbone work with the vendor for the fiber runs to the site when we had site a turnup. but after that I was responsible for equipment installs. I did just about everything other than configuring the router and the 9300. all meraki switches, port configurations on the merakis, camera configs, IP Speaker configs, IP Phones and communication with the staff at the site I did on my own.

Cybersecurity, new subnets, static routes, firewall adjustments and ACLs if needed he did. which is just as crucial of the work.

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Ooof… That’s rough.

Had a boss that said the following about experts: The expert in the room knows more about a topic than anyone else in that room.

So, stand a little bit taller. You may not be 100% ready to take over this large an op - but you have more knowledge about the system than anyone else save your boss.

Is that enough, I can honestly tell I have no idea. In theory it should be enough to keep everything together with duct tape and bubblegum while waiting for your boss’ replacement arrival, but theory and practice is not the same thing.

The decision is yours, as always.

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It’d be only temporary, but the next person coming in may not be as forgiving or understanding

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Try to set up a training plan (e.g. to get the CCNA?) ideally with support of the company (time and/or paying for course material and exam). On the long run, if you want to stay in networking, you would need this at some point anyway.

the pain point I guess would be that it’s impossible to combine training with being solely responsible for some time? That is unfortunately out of your hands but IMO a management issue. Perhaps your current boss won’t like it if he gets the impression you’re gearing up to replace him. But that’s his issue, you can’t have your career depend on a single person’s goodwill.

If worst comes to worst, and the new guy comes in and thinks you’re underqualified, you’ll already have a training plan sorted out and firing you would be a lot less rational. Why get rid of a motivated employee who’s on a good track? Firing and replacing would likely also cost more than your training.

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In this economy, I’d stay and communicate to management that you are willing step up if they are willing to support and train you. If your boss is high enough to guarantee poaching you, then go with him.

In this case, you definitely want to get some face-to-face time with the senior manager of the new manager. In my experience, if the senior manager likes you, they will defend you from the new manager.

If your current manager has a good relationship with the senior manager, I’d probably ask your current manager for how to build a working relationship with the senior manager.

I’m not sure how applicable this is for you, but at my company where people get frequently reassigned managers for new projects, we usually setup 15-30 minute coffee chats to introduce ourselves. We are advised to have discussion agenda and I usually ask the following questions: common connections (people, hometown, experiences), work/career experience, and career aspirations.
If it is a new connection, I’ll attach the outline with the calendar invite so that I can fall back on it if the conversation is awkward. If you are shy or don’t like to talk about yourself, you can just let the other person talk and ask follow up questions.

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Not sure how too help here, (other than a free-bump) But i do see it as needing too gain more eyeballs.

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I am cool with the vice president of the IT Department and we have quarterly skip level meetings. Mine is coming up in a couple of weeks. The vice president is my bosses boss so to speak.

I can talk to him and we have a good relationship. I am careful what I tell him, I don’t tell him everything like I would my current boss. But there’s a pathway to communicate my concerns to him. Especially since he is also going to be affected, he lives nowhere near the office as well

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You mostly should ask yourself what you want.

This does not sound like you are not that into Networking, if you could choose any career path you wanted, what would you like to do?

From life experience (got laid off once, nearly fired once, quit 4 times), don’t let emotions steer this decision. Rage or fear are not really good guides in these situations :wink: I regretted most decision I that were let by emotions.

You don’t need to have something fixed / signed before making this decision, but you should at least have a sound plan of what you want to do next and how to finance it.

This depends on what will benefit you professionally. If you want a career change, looking for something new could be good. If you want to stay a network engineer this might be a good opportunity to gain a ton of knowledge. Especially if you got good working relation with the bosses boss.

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I love my job. the benefits and freedom prior to corporates recent dick move were great.

Not necessarily. I didn’t know what to do about 2-4 years go. all I knew is I was good messing with tech. had my boss not steered me into Networking my dream was to be some form of Systems admin. the thing is I’ve always been on my own in such that no one helped me get far professionally till I joined this company.

I make a comfortable middle class living working where i am. I don’t want to let it go. however considering the situation and it’s me living in my head. I don’t know if I will last another 6 months or so if my boss goes.. I know my colleagues will defend me, and mind you my IT team from a job security standpoint has been stable. We’ve had 1 person get fired in the 4 years i’ve been here (and that was deserved the man was drinking on the job). everyone else before me from my understanding left on their own. not cause they were forced out or layed off, which was reassuring. and my current colleagues have been with the company 8+ years. I am the one with the least amount of years put in.

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Let management know how you and your boss have the tasks laid out, you’re the boots on the ground that does layer 2 work, he’s the guy with the bigger picture. Point at the track record of the arrangement working out fine, you two get the jobs done, no downtime, the way you guys have organised things works out, despite him working remotely.

Let brass know you do THIS, he does THAT. You won’t mind eventually to learn how to do THAT, but you’re going to need training, it’s going to take time. You worry that if your boss is not okay with flying in from the west coast three times a week, you might be stuck with both THIS and THAT all of a sudden. That’s not selling yourself short, it’s just letting the brass know what they can expect from you right now and what might be at a later point in time. You haven’t said no to anything, you’re willing to learn, but right now your skills are at THIS point, not THAT point.

Apart from that it’s up to your boss and the brass to figure out an arrangement that works for both parties.

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I would then say this sound more like an opportunity for you, it might feel again like sink or swim, but what I read between the lines is that you are already a valuable asset for your company. You proven that you are willing to learn and can do so in a short time frame. And as you said you are the only boots on the ground, you know sites and customers, that is worth a lot.

Learning while doing is never great in the long term, I would follow the advice of the others. Talk to management, let them know you are willing to step up but you will need training. You don’t need to tell them that your boss is going to quit, just tell them you got concerns how the workload is going to be handled if your boss can’t follow the back to office orders.

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yeah you should chat with him and bring up this

agreed and wanted to add quitting really should be a nuclear option. if you have savings to live off for 6-8 months (though it might be longer given the slow economy), as you look for a job.

The other thing is that when you quit/resign, you might not qualify for unemployment

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Hi,

First, take a deep breath and relax.

I think you’re selling yourself short. You know more about networking than you think you do. Yes, you understand parts of your company’s systems—but more importantly, you understand your company’s procedures and how to get things done. That institutional knowledge has real value.

Right now, you’re scared because for the past three years, you had a safety net. Now you’re facing a situation where that safety net is gone, and you’ll be fully responsible for the company’s network. It’s time to take off the training wheels, roll up your sleeves, and work without one.

The best advice this old “impostor” can give—beyond what’s already been suggested—is to relax. Fear can be a powerful motivator, but it also has a downside. It clouds your thinking, leads to rushed decisions, and shuts down creative problem-solving. You don’t want to operate from panic.

Since you have a good rapport with your current boss, I would ask him for any documentation, notes, diagrams, and configuration details he has on the company network. Even partial documentation is better than starting from scratch.

A little perspective from my own journey:

My professional life has taken a few turns. I went back to school at 30 and earned my Network Engineering degree. I got my CCNA and eventually held the same position—and responsibilities—as your current boss.

Then one morning in my mid-forties, I woke up unemployed because the company I worked for went bankrupt.

I found another job, but it wasn’t in my field. I worked in retail until about five years ago, when I applied for an entry-level IT position. I got the job. Through hard work (and maybe a little confidence projection), I worked my way into my current role.

All joking aside, I didn’t get promoted because I was the smartest person in the room. I got promoted because there was a need. The company needed someone to act as a liaison between the board and the boots on the ground for remote workers. I fit that role. I also built a strong working relationship with my current boss, who is now the CIO.

Sometimes advancement isn’t about being technically perfect—it’s about reliability, communication, and stepping up when there’s a gap. A little luck never hurts.

You’re not in over your head.

You’re at a growth point.

There’s a difference.

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You know what it is? I’ve always been a nervous nellie and have had anxiety issues. I also worked retail prior for 7 years and every day was just a challenge cause you know, customers don’t give a crap about how you feel, if you can’t help them you’re useless.

As I started working for my current job a lot of that went away because it was very politically correct and the clients at my sites are more lax.

I think time will tell if things go right. in the beginning it was sink or swim, but now i feel like i’m about to get bricks tied to me and thrown in the ocean. but it’s me overthinking the worst cause I’m naturally pessimistic and working retail for so long made me that way.

I think If I put in 2 hours a day for the next two months to my networking studies I’d be better off than i currently am. anything else I may need to look at (from a work perspective) I can check in with my boss, thankfully and very seldomly do I have to touch the firewall and we have a datacenter company we work for that manages it in conjunction with us. but tackling cybersecurity events, backups and subnetting / site turn ups If I can at least get a blue print to study and cram for a while I feel like I can pull through till the next admin comes in.

Also at least this person I can see 3 times a week which will be nice.

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I can definitely relate.

I worked in retail for almost 20 years before I was hired by my current employer. It can be tough to stay upbeat when you spend that long in retail. It wears on you more than people realize.

I was fortunate that a few months after joining my current company, I was able to develop a professional mentor relationship with my boss. As he moved up the corporate ladder, he brought me along with him. That mentorship made a huge difference in my career trajectory.

If I were in your position, I would look for someone within your company who might be willing to act as a professional mentor. Someone who’s willing to share their experience, institutional knowledge, and hard-earned lessons.

Having a mentor can accelerate your growth far more than trying to figure everything out alone.

I think it would be worth investing the time long-term to study for your CCNA—maybe two hours a day during the week and eight hours on the weekend. It’s a serious commitment, but certifications like the CCNA still carry weight and help solidify foundational networking knowledge.

After earning your CCNA, I’d suggest taking some online AI courses. I know “AI” can be a loaded or controversial term, but whether we like it or not, it’s here to stay.

If I were going back to college today, I would seriously consider pursuing a degree focused on AI or machine learning.

I don’t believe AI will completely replace network engineers. However, I do think future network engineers will need to understand how AI integrates into their workflows. I can envision a future where AI handles much of the network configuration, planning, optimization, and even troubleshooting. In that scenario, engineers may spend less time manually configuring equipment and more time validating, auditing, and directing AI-driven systems.

In other words, network engineers could evolve into managers of AI systems—overseeing automation rather than performing every task manually.

Ironically, that future sounds a lot like what I do now: managing people and processes instead of directly configuring equipment.

Whether that future fully materializes or not, adapting early is usually better than resisting change.

I am rooting for Ya.

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The good thing about cisco (compared to other vendors) is that the CLI is largely the same across all their products. Like, yeah, the big core MDX switches with blades have a slightly different cli than their really dumb FEX products, but compared to, say, Brocade (I may be dating myself here) or Qlogic, where each switch model had a bespoke CLI, cisco gear is SO much easier to work with.

It seems like two things are at play here.

  1. You were promoted above your capability. Some of that is due to legit burnout. Doing the day-to-day work drains you down and you don’t have the energy to expend learning more. Other parts of that were being likeable and it being easier to promote you than to find someone new.

  2. No demonstrated ability to self-teach. You can watch-and-copy, but you never got that lesson of how to actually teach yourself things. You never learned how you learn best (visual, audio, spacial, etc). So teaching yourself feels like nails on a chalkboard because you never figured out what makes learning easy for you.

Number 2 took me a while to figure out. I was the ‘smart kid’ who didn’t have to try until college. And college was such a fire hose that I was more focused on survival than learning. So I didn’t learn how to learn until I was in my career. For me, I value ‘distilled knowledge’. Someone who can tell me, in a conversation, ‘go X, then Y, then Z, because ’. I need that to break into a new domain. once I get that basic framework, I can teach myself details, logic, etc. But that initial ‘distillation’ is…it’s like the framework everything else bolts on to. You will likely work differently to me, but I am giving the example I have.

As for what to do, here are some options:

  1. Talk to whomever your new manager is (likely) to be once your current one leaves and be honest. “I was promoted beyond my capability, and I am too mentally exhausted to rise to the occasion. What should we do?” and let the chips fall where they do. If they give you a raw deal (pay cut, demotion, etc) you can always leave if you think it’s unfair. If they get you training and a lighter workload so you can learn, take it. If they leave you as you are, but get you a more technical person to do the heavy lifting, then embrace that. The fundamental truth is that honesty, in the long run, always leads to the best outcomes.
  2. Wait for something to go wrong. You have 2-3 months to learn. You can use that as fuel to motivate yourself to not be a problem. Teach yourself, learn from your manager, and when you’re on your own and something happens you can’t fix, just be honest about that. ‘This is beyond me’. They might be miffed that you didn’t say something sooner, but if it’s clear you were trying to be someone who COULD do it, and you just can’t, only a fool hates someone who tries.
  3. Have another job lined up. Interview skills are good to keep sharp. Maybe have another job offer on lock so that whatever happens, you have a plan B.

Overall, what you described isn’t imposter syndrome. You straight up can’t do the job. Or at least that’s what you said. Imposter syndrome is when you can do the job, well, and still feel like a fraud. That’s a very different thing.

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It’d be only temporary, but the next person coming in may not be as forgiving or understanding

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I’m capable of doing the job. I just don’t have certain credentials to do certain things. the Cisco stuff I think with time I can get there. but it’s not a total deal breaker, if it was I would of never been hired from the jump.

It’s the pressures of not having a boss that is willing to work with me being the fear. and a lot of stuff has predated both of us. but it’s a challenge not having that mentor to guide me. the company I work for is different in such that we aren’t completely left out to dry. we help each other but the next person that comes in may not be that way.