The Relationship Between Successful Careers and Self-Confidence |ADDICTED

There is plenty of advice about how to embark on a successful career. Many experts will cite the quality of your professional network, the school you get your qualifications from or your dedication. While these can certainly be beneficial, it’s also vital to consider your internal qualities. One aspect to think carefully about is the relationship between your level of self-confidence and your career success.

How confident you feel at work tends to have an immediate effect on your day-to-day work life and contribute to your long-term progression. Don’t worry too much if confidence doesn’t come naturally to you, though. Many people have to adopt strategies to build it.

Guest post by Katie Brenneman.

Choosing a Confidence-Boosting Path

One of the routes to a successful career is choosing a path that naturally elevates your confidence. When you’re in a job that you already feel comfortable and knowledgeable in, this can help you approach every day with a sense of competence. Indeed, the grasp you have of the role or industry may well give you the boldness to be more creative and take risks that positively impact your success.

But how do you find this confidence-boosting path? A good place to start is to examine your personal passions. Careers that are already aligned with your interests can be a solid source of comfort and confidence. For instance, if you are close to nature and wildlife, you may find careers in Parks Canada or environmental protection a natural target. The knowledge about movies you’ve gathered over time may make you a good fit for entertainment journalism.

Another approach to choosing a career that naturally boosts confidence is to do something where you feel you’re making a difference. After all, tangible achievement can be a good source of self-worth. This doesn’t necessarily have to be the obvious impactful careers, such as doctors’ life-saving roles or politicians’ societal influence.

Rather, there are important behind-the-scenes careers that are often overlooked. For instance, biomedical engineers design equipment and perform research that genuinely changes patients’ lives. Logisticians coordinate the complete supply chains for products, helping to ensure items get from manufacturers to consumers smoothly. This not only boosts business success but also improves the public’s access to goods. Choosing one of these roles can not only be lucrative, but you make an impact on the world around you. This may boost your confidence each day in ways that motivate you to push toward success.

The Boost from Skills-Development

In any career journey, there are usually multiple opportunities to develop your skill set. The abilities you enter your path with can certainly already be an initial boost to your self-confidence, as you’ve spent years honing these traits that you can now use productively. However, it’s important to remember that learning needs to continue throughout your career. Any time you learn more, whether that be through certification or higher education, you can gain a stronger sense of professional and personal capability. But it also has a tangible influence on your success, as your skills help you gain promotions and hit other professional achievements.

Technical skills

Continuing to develop your technical skill set is one of the most direct contributors to your confidence in the role you’re either performing or aiming for. These skills solidify that you have the knowledge and ability to perform and even excel in a role. This, in turn, demonstrates your value to your employers and the industry at large, which cycles around to further boost your confidence.

You can improve your technical skills by engaging in formal certification courses related to your role or industry. These are not only highly structured ways to gain the knowledge you need, but they also tend to be recognized by employers and other industry figureheads. However, you can just as effectively gain technical skills through other methods. You can engage in self-driven learning through online tutorials. Mentors, too, can be a good source of skills guidance and even open you up to opportunities.

Transferable skills

Alongside technical skills, your transferable abilities — also known as soft skills — are important for your career and self-confidence. These are the personal attributes and characteristics that affect your approach to your role. They can include elements such as communication, conflict resolution, empathy, and creativity, among others. Developing these ensures that your career efficacy is not just built on your technical know-how. They show you also have underlying traits that help you thrive and adapt to challenges.

So, how can you continue to develop your transferable skills? Well, it starts with regular and honest self-assessment. Take the time to consider what soft abilities aren’t as strong as they might be. You could get insights into this from your experiences in the workplace or school or even get opinions from colleagues you trust. From here, often, the best approach is to put yourself in circumstances where these traits are required. For instance, if you want to develop your empathy, you might enrol in volunteer projects interacting with in-need members of the community.

The Power of Personal Presentation

There’s no doubt that your physical characteristics shouldn’t be the entire basis on which your career thrives. That said, the effort you put into your personal presentation can certainly have an impact on how confidently you move through your career. In turn, this sense of self-confidence can spur you to greater quality output and feel comfortable in making suggestions that highlight you as an innovator. Therefore, focusing on some physical aspects that make you feel good about yourself is a positive step forward.

Clothing and grooming

There are a couple of ways that your clothing and grooming choices matter. On a personal level, most people have certain styles and aspects of their appearance that make them feel more secure in themselves. To others, what you’re wearing and your commitment to appropriate grooming sends a message that you take care of your appearance, which can help them be more comfortable around you.

It’s important to note that you don’t have to break the bank to get confidence-boosting clothing, particularly when you’re just starting and don’t have a lot of spare cash. Taking a strategic approach to thrifting, for example, gives you access to clothing that is high-quality, meshes with your personal style, and is environmentally friendly. You can start by creating a strict budget to stick to, which limits the potential for overspending. It can also be useful to get inspiration from Pinterest boards focused on the professional style you would feel most confident sporting. Remember, too, that you can customize the items you get from thrift stores to make them more individual to you.

Body language

Another important aspect of personal presentation is body language. Shifts in body language can help you feel more in control when you meet new people as you expand your professional network or take the lead on projects. Even if you’re not already feeling particularly confident, simple actions, such as adjusting your posture, can increase your self-esteem.

There are various aspects of body language that can impact your career confidence. Expanding your posture can help you to both appear and feel more authoritative. Maintaining a strong — but not overly intense — level of eye contact can boost your connection to others you’re working with and show you’re engaged in the conversation. Some gestures can help you seem more assertive. This might include standing straight, ensuring you’re always fully facing the person you’re interacting with, and occasionally leaning forward.

When you feel confident in yourself and your abilities, this can have an impact on the success of your career path. This can benefit from picking a job focus that boosts your self-worth and adjusting your day-to-day body language, among others. Remember, though, that there will be times when you are uncertain or don’t feel confident. Be kind to yourself. You can find your way through by doing things in your professional or personal life that help you feel better about yourself, which in turn can impact your confidence.