Hey everyone, a quick introduction: I am Amber, a junior freelance developer. Mostly, I have been blogging and scraping websites for some connections I have made online, LinkedIn and Discord. My problem is I don’t feel like I know enough and I’m getting anxious trying to network. I am trying to take a more active role in the community and keep myself current on skills. I feel like I do not know enough to try to work with someone even though I can answer questions and code. I do not do well on the interview exams where the programmer sits and watches me. So I am wondering how to I stop or fix this social anxiety that is stopping me from making connections online.
My personal advice as a former INCREDIBLY shy person is to get out, in the real world, and talk to people. This kind of practice is so immensely helpful in getting past your anxiety because if you can talk to someone face to face, talking to someone over a web cam is a piece of cake!
I forced myself to have incredibly awkward, possibly cringey conversations with random strangers. Some people did not give me the time of day, but some people just stopped and talked for a few minutes. I think they were glad that someone just acknowledged them, let alone had a conversation with them.
The best way I found to overcome anxiety is through practice and repitition until the act itself is nothing to be scared of. I can’t tell you how long it will take, but speaking for myself, day by day I became less afraid of talking and being myself until I was no longer afraid. It doesn’t happen overnight, but I do believe that pretty much everyone can overcome this fear.
If you need someone to talk to, send me a message, and I’d be glad to help out with whatever I can.
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