What Do I Know About Career Confidence?

I was at Eton College, and I was asked if I’d like to open an event I was co-delivering with “a few words.” How could I say no? I pitched the event to the Head of Careers, bringing together a group of international representatives to introduce new opportunities to students. Saying no wasn’t an option—I’d be letting everyone down. But saying yes meant risking an unrehearsed, possibly meaningless speech in an environment I felt out of place and that was once intimidating.?

With three minutes to pull something together, I decided to “just be confident”. Oddly, I didn’t then and still don’t identify as a naturally confident person.

If ever there was a moment for imposter syndrome, this was it. But in that instance, I chose confidence because it was all I had.

Fast-forward to 2024, and I’ve visited 400 schools in the UK, delivered countless career events, and created the “Around the World in 80 Universities Blog.”?

What you might not know is that I left school without GCSEs and no A-levels. Yet I earned a degree, a postgraduate diploma, and the QCG award. Each step along the way challenged my confidence.?

By modern-day standards, when I left school, I was NEET. I owe it to countless education professionals who have helped me become the career development professional I am today - Thank you.?

My Position

Confidence is a skill that can be taught and developed. Rather than a fixed trait that you either have or don’t have, confidence exists on a spectrum that we can all move along.

Career guidance is the one place where students can expect their confidence to be challenged and where they can get professional support.?

My Vision

I want to empower young people to do three things:

1) Understand how they are making career decisions,

2) Measure their confidence, and

3) Plan for both personal & professional growth in an increasingly complex and ever-changing world.

How I do this

I have launched and delivered the Careers Confidence Scorecard, an assessment tool to help individuals gauge their confidence in their career decisions and plan for growth. It also supports professionals in delivering careers EIAG.?

As for those on LinkedIn, many of whom work directly with young people, I’ll share insights, ideas, and strategies to help cultivate a culture of confidence within career programmes and one-to-one guidance in schools, colleges, universities, and early career settings.

Together, let’s create a generation of confident decision-makers, ready to take on their career and the future. Let’s do this for ourselves and each other.

I hope you enjoyed this second edition.?Next time - student feedback!