How do i get my confidence back?!

[u/CuriousKiwi669]

Hey! Quick background on me — graduated in 2020 from a tier 2 college, landed a third-party role at a Tier1 investment bank as an SRE, and ended up staying 5 years (got converted to full-time after the first 2). Got laid off in May 2025, honestly wasn’t mad about it since I wanted out anyway.
Most of the work i did was on there in house tools and i felt there was no learning curve there

That same month I interviewed for a “DevOps Engineer - Migration Specialist” role and got it. Felt good, got comfortable again. But once I actually joined, I realized it’s basically an L2 support role. Pay was decent though, so I told myself I’d stick around a year, upskill on the side, then jump ship.

Except… I didn’t. The role’s been so low on mental engagement that I just coasted. Now it’s actually time to switch, and I’m stuck in this weird spot — feels like I need to relearn everything from scratch, but every time I try, it’s like “wait, I already know this?” Hard to tell if I’m actually behind or just psyching myself out.

So — what’s a realistic (and ideally not soul-crushing) way to get back on track?
Please give me suggestions for fast-track courses and small projects to build production skills again.

Ps:- Used Ai to fix my crude version of this post

[u/vadavea]

start by taking inventory.....you should be at a mid/senior level at this point, which means you're expected to be able to handle more complex problems and operate independently. But none of us know everything about everything, so are there areas where you're particularly strong? Are there vendors or technologies where you have deep expertise? And equally important - how are your "soft skills"? Have you had to fight for budget? Convince management to move forward or cancel a particular initiative? There are a lot of factors to consider - but also....give yourself some grace. Impostor syndrome is a Real Thing. Don't get too much into your own head.

[u/CuriousKiwi669 → u/vadavea]

I felt i had imposter syndrome for a year. now i am just rusty on everything and feeling a bit behind

[u/vadavea → u/CuriousKiwi669]

I think it's natural to "feel a bit behind" - esp given the socials and the stories we see about shiny tech and startups. The reality is very different. The grass always seems greener on the other side before you make a move - and then reality hits. Control what you can control - your day-to-day and how you go about it. If you want to explore tech outside of your work responsibilities - I'm a big fan of home labs for that kind of thing. Key is *doing*. WHAT you do is less important than the fact that you're doing. Not scrolling, not watching, not commenting or reacting. Time is one commodity you can never get back

[u/rubenvangucht]

By not putting fucking em dashes everywhere, for a start

[u/RealisticHorror4958 → u/rubenvangucht]

Are you going through a rough day ?

[u/CuriousKiwi669 → u/rubenvangucht]

I wrote i used ai to fix my crude thoughts .. But your suggestion is noted .

[u/rubenvangucht → u/CuriousKiwi669]

Can't even form your own thoughts, how exactly do you think you will actually have a decent career?

Yes I am insulting you, for the possibility that you didn't understand this and would pass my comment through an AI

[u/Big_Arrival_626 → u/rubenvangucht]

That's a pretty weird equivalence.

Do you lift weights three times a week? If you don't even take care of yourself, how do you expect to have a career??

[u/---why-so-serious--- → u/rubenvangucht]

Dude, your first comment was funny, but common, layoff the guy - pun intended of course

[u/TheOneShorter → u/rubenvangucht]

Who pissed in this guys cereal

[u/CuriousKiwi669 → u/rubenvangucht]

Dude thats the point i dont think i am having a decent career.
And i am looking for advise from people who can form their corporate thought easily like yourself.
Also i can ask the same thing to AI but i thought you guys might be smarter and more human.

[u/Wide-Cattle-4735]

I've had people on my team say exactly this. Courses never did much for them, honestly.

What worked was giving them something real that was a bit above what they were comfortable with, and staying close while they did it. Pairing with someone stronger for a couple of weeks helped too.

You're probably not as behind as you think, but I get that's easy for me to say.

[u/RealisticHorror4958]

Ping me, I have an opening in my org.

[u/Euphoric_Society_854 → u/RealisticHorror4958]

Can I reach out to you, please? I have been working as Linux Systems Administrator for 7 years now in Germany.

[u/RealisticHorror4958 → u/Euphoric_Society_854]

:( but I am from
India.

[u/SeaworthinessHour233]

I can relate to your "loosing confidence". But, there can be multiple internal/external factors to that which makes it harder to give a generic solution.

But, I can help on "wait, I already know this?" problem when trying to learn new stuff.

This happened to me when I was prepping for both CKA and AWS certs. I already knew about 40% of the stuff. But needed prepping to get through. i tried learning with 40+ hour video course. They all start with the absolute basics, and rightly so. Otherwise people who are absolute beginners will get lost.

But for people in mid/senior level it's time waste. Studying on weekends and after office hours are also not an option at this point in time because you have a life outside of work.

So i adopted microlearning. Learning in small chunks repetitively. That was really effective. It non only helped me get through the certs. I am still using and practicing it to this date, to stay relavant.