How to Be Confident in a STEM Career
Have you ever heard (and are tired of hearing) the phrases “just be more confident!”, or “just believe in yourself”? Yeah, us too. That’s why we’ve put together this guide on how to be confident in your career and life, and we promise it isn’t as scary as it sounds.
Confidence is a skill that takes many people a lifetime to figure out; however, it is also a skill that is in high demand for careers and life.
So how can you be confident in yourself? And how do you build confidence in your career? The answer is to start these 5 powerful confidence-building habits: Daily Affirmations, Giving Yourself More Credit, Being Unapologetically You, Using your Voice, and Doing Research.
I’ll go into what these habits mean in more detail below, and how starting these habits can help bring you to higher levels of success in your career and life than you ever imagined.
1. Daily Affirmations
The key to building confidence is first and foremost believing in yourself. We know this is easier said than done, but we’ll walk you through the steps.
If you struggle with imposter syndrome and the feeling of self-inadequacy, you limit your own success in any industry. So how do you overcome that? With daily affirmations you can change your mindset about yourself, here’s what you’ll need to do:
Step 1: Analyze the negative thoughts you have about yourself and write them down. For this example, we will use the negative thought of “I am not smart enough to be here.”
Step 2: On another piece of paper, write down a positive-version of the negative thoughts. Example being: “I am smart, I know I am smart. I belong here.”
Step 3: Every morning and evening, read the positive notes to yourself in the mirror.
This may seem simple and will feel silly the first couple of times you do it, but we promise it will help change your mindset about yourself if you stick to it.
2. Give Yourself More Credit
When answering questions or speaking up in school and professional settings, people often start with “I think ___” or “I believe__”. However, such qualifiers limit the ethos of the speaker and make the listener question the validity of the statement.
When answering a question or speaking up, trust yourself and your credibility by speaking/writing without a qualifier such as “I think ___”, even if you are not sure that your answer/opinion is correct. This simple act of removing qualifiers and having strength in your speech/writing will increase your confidence in yourself and others’ confidence in you as well.
Decide for yourself, which of these two statements is more powerful, more confident?
Person 1: This is just my opinion, but I think Simply STEM Life is helpful. I believe their articles might help young professionals overcome fears about joining STEM fields, but I’m not totally sure.
Person 2: Simply STEM Life is helpful because their articles help young professionals overcome fears about joining STEM fields.
3. Be Unapologetically You
One of the worst things you can do in any industry is to compare yourself to other people and try to squeeze yourself into a box of conformity. Your experiences, interests, and life are completely different from anyone else in the world, which makes you completely unique.
Embracing your unique background and interests will set yourself apart from the “average joe.” Show people and companies why you are indispensable through being unapologetically you. Stop conforming into a small box and instead tout your differences, because those are what make you so invaluable.
Comparing yourself to other people will make you focus on your weaknesses and shortfalls, it will only make you feel helpless and inadequate.
If you are comparing yourself to someone, say out loud to yourself “They are who they are, I am who I am. I have my strengths, just as they have theirs. Comparing myself to them is like comparing apples to oranges, our unique experiences means we are nothing alike.”
4. Use Your Voice
The best way to build credibility and confidence for yourself is to speak up: voice your opinions, confidently give instructions, and be a group leader. Don’t hide behind a crowd, a friend, a supervisor or a coworker.
Speaking up will give you a newfound strength and make you feel more confident in your career and life. Using your voice will show others that you are a valuable team member as well.
Speaking up can be a challenge for many; however, the ability to speak up is not a genetic trait–it is a skill to build and will take practice. Some ways you might practice day-to-day include saying hi or speaking to a stranger or neighbor, joining a public speaking club, or signing up for outreach leadership positions in clubs at your school or in the community.
Just as a musician must learn how to play individual notes and understand scales before playing a beautiful song, speaking up will take time to learn and be comfortable with, but can result in incredible confidence.
5. Do Your Research
You should never stop trying to learn and grow as an individual. In order to build credibility and confidence, conduct research on topics that you are frequently discussing or working with.
When you are well versed, knowledgeable, and up-to-date on a topic, not only will you feel more confident in your career and life, but other people will trust and respect you more too.
Entering STEM and management positions can be intimidating, but you are not alone. The fact that you are seeking out advice already shows that you are an incredible, committed individual and we know you will succeed no matter what life throws your way.
