You're starting a new job, you walk in the office and you don't know anyone, you join an online meeting and you don't know what they're talking about. Naturally, your confidence lowers and you feel anxious. The feelings are even more exaggerated if you're a recent graduate or don't have much experience in the field.
So how do people make sure they keep their confidence while they're learning how do to the work? From my experience, I think first we have to clarify what we mean by "confidence". Is it the same as self esteem? What do we really mean when we say "be confident". Once we understand that, it's a mix of mental strength and actions that help with feeling confident. As always, I also asked the IronRingGirls community to help with this blog. Here's a summary:
What exactly does being confident mean?
Ok let's be clear about this. Confidence is not the same thing as self esteem. You can have low self esteem but be very confident. Think of confidence as you being able to rely on yourself. Some days at work my self esteem is so low, but I know I'm going to go to work and get my job done. That's why at a new job it could be hard to feel confident because you still don't know how to do certain tasks. Which takes us to point two.
Think of being new at a job as something positive
We tend to think being new at a job is a bad thing. But in contrary, it's actually something very positive to the people that already work there. Hiring someone new means a new perspective, a new way of thinking, and a new personality. Even if you don't have much experience under your belt, you're a fresh set of eyes. You add value with your own unique way of thinking and solving problems. Now that you have a more positive way of thinking, let's look at some actions you can take to help with self confidence.
Your confidence should not be tied to your performance, it should be tied to how much you're learning
Truthfully, you will mess up. You will make mistakes. If feeling confident is dependent on how well you do a job then it's not reliable at all. There might always be someone that does a task better than you. Does that mean your confidence should always be going up and down? Ideally, no, we want to be consistently confident. So instead of waiting until you do a good job, be confident in your ability to learn. No matter what the result, you are capable. "I can do this no matter what the outcome." "I will apply for this job whether I get it or not." "I will go on this project I know nothing about because I know I can learn it."
Be as prepared as you can be
When you have a cheat sheet with you going into an exam, you feel more confident right? That's because you feel more prepared. If you catch yourself with low confidence at a task, ask yourself "how can I be more prepared?" Maybe you need to watch a few Youtube videos on the subject. Maybe you need to meet with someone more experienced before you meet with the whole team.
Confidence in a new environment is hard to have. When I go to a networking event and I don't know anyone, I have to work extra hard to feel confident. To be honest with you, it's a feeling that actually helps with performance. When you truly feel like you're capable, you will perform so much better with much less anxiety.
Hope this blog helps and thanks for everyone who helped with the content!
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