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How to build confidence

Feeling confident is important not just in your career, but in every part of your life. Discover different ways to start building your confidence, why it's important and how to spot your talents. 

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Why confidence is important

Lack of confidence can influence how you feel about your career ambitions. It can make you think certain jobs are out of your reach when really they’re not. It can make you wary of investing your time and energy into new things. Fear of change, and fear of the future, holds us back. If things have gone wrong in the past, you might worry that the same thing will happen when you try again.

When you feel confident, you can push yourself outside your comfort zone. You know you can achieve your goals. You feel certain about your abilities and trust that things will go to plan – or that you can handle it if they do not.

The important thing to understand is that confidence is something you can learn and build on. If you do not feel it right now, you have the power to change that.

Your confidence levels

If you ask yourself "am I feeling confident?" and the answer is no, there could be many reasons why:

  • you've been job hunting for a long time
  • it's your first time looking for work or going to uni
  • you might be changing your job

When your confidence takes a knock, it's often hard to see the things you're good at. At those times, it can be a struggle to pick a career, start a course or go after a job.

But everyone has talents. Everyone's got strengths and skills that make them great at something. Learning to recognise yours will help you feel more confident.