by Marcy Volbert

Created on: January 30, 2009

Changing jobs can be scary, nerve racking, and can be hard on your self-confidence, a lot of it depends on the reason you left your prior position or what your new position has in store for you. Even if you are a very confident person, most people will still have to rebuild their confidence when starting a new position.

When I changed jobs I moved into a different area of law then what I had been working in eight years. I was used to working with little to no time limits, very little urgency and one set of rules. My new job was so full of deadlines, rules, exceptions to those rules, and case law full of questions. The first few months of my job was so stressful, I cried every night on my way home and was stressed to point of having nervous butterflies everyday on my drive to work. Wondering what I might have forgotten, did I call everyone back, why can't I understand all of the terminology? One day I just got sick of worrying and feeling like a failure so I took the folowing steps I needed to change my feelings and get my career self-confidence back.

Learn everything you need to know to be successful. Read up on your job, manuals, books, in my case it was lawsuits, case law and statutes. Ask questions about things you do not know. When you are building your self-confidence in your job it is hard to admit that you do not know that answers to questions that come up. You have to remember, especially if you have started a job new to you, that you will questions. Be sure to ask, don't guess. One tip, if you have an idea of what the answer is, present the question with the answer. Example, Do we file this form with A, B and C? or Just with A and C? The more you learn the more confident you will be in your job. This confidence will show throughout your work.

Someone once told me, "Dress for the position you want not the position you are in." Dressing more professional will bring out additional confidence that you didn't realize was there. Some studies show that people dressed in business attire feel and act more professional. Some say dressing professionally will have an increase in production; others believe that the way one dresses has no effect on productivity.

Remember, you were hired for your position because of a combination of your experience, skills, and personality (yes personality does matter to employers). Your employer has confidence in you or you would not have been hired, you need make sure that you have self-confidence in your self and your skills. Learn your job, impress your boss with your knowledge and dress for success.

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