Building confidence before your first job can feel difficult when you’re unsure of your abilities and have little experience of the working world.
When I left college with hardly any qualifications, finding a job felt frightening. I knew I needed to earn money and start thinking about my future, but I didn’t feel confident about what I could offer. Before I had even been given an opportunity, I was already worrying about whether I would be good enough.
Looking back now, I wish I had understood that I didn’t need to feel completely confident before taking my first step into work. I needed support, preparation and a chance to learn. At the time, though, it was difficult to see that when I was so focused on everything I thought I was missing.
I worried about failing myself and my family. I wanted to make them proud, but I didn’t have a clear plan. Signing on felt like one of the only options I knew about, and I wasn’t sure how to move beyond that uncertainty. I wanted someone to see that I had potential, even when I struggled to see it myself.
For me, one of the hardest parts was not knowing how to explain what I could do. When you have few qualifications and little experience, it can feel as though you have nothing worth putting on an application. You look at what a job asks for and start noticing all the reasons you might not be chosen.
Now, through my work at I’M MORE, I have opportunities to write, create content and contribute ideas. These tasks are giving me examples of what I can do and what I am learning. They also make me think about how useful it would have been to explore my strengths before I started looking for work.
I would have liked someone to sit down with me and ask questions beyond my qualifications. What interested me? What did I want to try? Was there something I had worked hard on or helped someone with? Those questions could have given me a starting point for recognising my abilities, rather than expecting me to confidently describe myself straight away.
That is something I would encourage another young person to do before applying for their first job. Think of a few real examples you could talk about. They might come from education, a personal project, volunteering or responsibilities in everyday life. The important thing is being able to explain what you did and how it relates to the opportunity.
The National Careers Service’s guide to writing a CV explains how first-time applicants can include skills from projects, work experience, volunteering and relevant interests. Having examples to work from can make a blank CV feel less intimidating.
I also wish I had given myself permission to practise talking about myself. Wanting an opportunity and being able to explain why you want it are different things. I knew I wanted to show what I was made of, but finding the words could be difficult when I was worried about being judged.
A starting point could be saying something simple out loud: “I am interested in this role because…” or “Something I have been learning is…” It doesn’t have to sound perfect. Practising with someone supportive could give me space to pause, try again and work out what I actually want to say.
For anyone preparing for an interview, the National Careers Service offers interview preparation advice, including researching the employer, preparing examples and practising answers. These are practical things you can work on even while you still feel nervous.
I am learning that preparation gives me something more useful to focus on than telling myself to stop worrying. Reading a job description carefully, finding out what the organisation does and writing down a question about the role are all steps I can take. They don’t guarantee an offer, but they can help me understand the opportunity and decide whether it might suit me.
That last part matters too. When I felt unsure of myself, it was easy to think only about whether an employer would want me. I also needed to understand what the job involved and what support I could expect. Asking how a new employee is trained, who they can go to with questions and what their first week might look like could make an unfamiliar situation feel clearer.
I know how much it matters to feel able to speak up. I have wanted to express myself without worrying that someone would dismiss what I said. Starting work can bring that worry into everyday situations, especially when you don’t understand a task or need someone to explain it again.
I want to remind myself that asking a question can show that I care about getting something right. I can be willing to work and still need instructions. I can bring ideas and still need feedback. Being new means there will be things I have not learned yet.
I’M MORE’s article on asking for help at work is a useful related read for someone thinking about how to speak up when they need support.
Through writing these personal articles, I am also beginning to recognise that confidence can be built from evidence. Finishing a task gives me something to look back on. Improving an article after feedback shows me that I can learn. Sharing an idea gives me practice in contributing, even if I still feel unsure.
Before a first job, those early experiences might be smaller: sending an application, making an enquiry or practising an introduction. I would want to acknowledge the effort involved in those steps. For someone who feels frightened about their future, they can take courage.
This is why I want the work we do at I’M MORE to help young people understand that they can ask for support before they feel ready for employment. Through Discover, Believe and Become, I would like us to create opportunities to recognise strengths, practise unfamiliar tasks and discuss worries without embarrassment.
For someone unsure where to begin, I’M MORE’s guide to getting a job with no experience offers another starting point to explore.
If I could speak to myself after leaving college, I would tell her that she didn’t have to hide how uncertain she felt. I would encourage her to ask for help identifying her skills, prepare one step at a time and find out more about the opportunities that interested her. I am still developing my confidence now. There are things I want to improve and situations where I need encouragement. But I have work to learn from, ideas to contribute and experiences I can put into words. Before my first job, I wanted someone to give me a chance to show what I could do. Looking back, I wish I had known that I could begin preparing for that chance while I was still nervous. I didn’t have to wait until I believed in myself completely to start.
