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Confidence


Introduction

Your level of self-confidence will have a profound effect on the experiences you have during and after university. Achieving a particular goal is not just about having the right skills, knowledge and abilities; it is about believing you can do it. Self-belief will vary from one situation to another, but how is your self-belief when it comes to typical scenarios that life at university throws at you?


Each of the following 18 statements is about a situation many students may typically find
themselves in at university. You need to review each statement and
click on how true that statement might be for you in each case: not at
all true, slightly true, moderately true or exactly true for you.

Feedback


Read on to find out what this means and to consider whether you would like to adapt your approach.

Lower self-confidence

Having lower self-confidence can impact upon your experiences of university life. Having a good level of self-confidence means that we are in a position to judge our situation realistically and to act accordingly. Low levels of self-confidence and self-belief may well result in someone withdrawing from learning new things and preventing themselves from even accepting limited challenges. There is a wide range of opportunities that can help you both enjoy and develop at university that may pass you by if you do not have the confidence to take advantage of some of them. This may have knock on effects on your life after university in areas such as your career. Reflecting on this issue and taking action now can make a big difference to your life at university and beyond. You may be able to: perform better in assignments and understand course work; find part time work or work experience; develop your skills; make a career decision; and enjoy more friendships and extra-curricular activities.

How can I increase my self-confidence?

  1. Experiencing an achievement.
    The most effective way of increasing our self-belief is by setting goals that are stretching, but realistic and experiencing the achievement of them. This can be compounded through reflecting about the event. An example might be to take on a role in a club/society that will feel challenging, but manageable and to monitor and reflect on what you do. Too easy and you will convince yourself that anyone could do it; too hard and you risk failing and making your self-confidence even lower.
  2. Observing others.
    Observing other people achieving the goals you might wish to pursue can increase your self-confidence: "if they can do it, then so can I". Say you wanted to improve your academic performance in a particular module. Look around for someone who has improved their marks recently and discuss it with them. Seeing it is possible should encourage you, and you could pick up good tips along the way.
  3. Monitoring your physical responses to challenges.
    Some people get very nervous about situations and have strong physical reactions such as palpitations and sweating. Often feelings of fear can be reinterpreted as excitement. This can be achieved through carefully planned "self talk" and physiological changes such as making yourself smile. For example, you may be faced with asking questions of an employer visiting your department. Instead of thinking, "I am bound to come across badly", why not "this is a great opportunity to research a career that excites me."
  4. Seeking out supportive people.
    Most of us have friends who are very supportive and positive about what we can achieve and some who can be a bit negative and bring your self-belief down. When you are addressing particular challenges, seek out conversations with the positive, supportive friends you have. You should be seeking out people who know you pretty well and who can give you honest, accurate feedback on your thoughts and plans.

My next steps


Moderate self-confidence

Having a good level of self-confidence means that we are in a position to judge our situation realistically and to act accordingly. Having moderate levels of self-confidence and self-belief may well result in you being able to take the opportunity to learn new things and to take on challenges. There is a wide range of opportunities that can help you both enjoy and develop at university that may pass you by if you do not have the confidence to take advantage of some of them. This may have knock on effects in your life after university in areas such as your career. If you feel you wish to work on developing your confidence in particular areas of your university life then now is the time.

Reflect on your responses to the questionnaire. Were there particular scenarios that you scored lowest on? Did these scenarios have anything in common? If you wish to work on developing your confidence in these areas then read the guidance below on how to make a start.

How can I increase my self-confidence?

  1. Experiencing an achievement.
    The most effective way of increasing our self-belief is by setting goals that are stretching, but realistic and experiencing the achievement of them. This can be compounded through reflecting about the event. An example might be to take on a role in a club/society that will feel challenging, but manageable and to monitor and reflect on what you do. Too easy and you will convince yourself that anyone could do it; too hard and you risk failing and making your self-confidence even lower.
  2. Observing others.
    Observing other people achieving the goals you might wish to pursue can increase your self-confidence: "if they can do it, then so can I". Say you wanted to improve your academic performance in a particular module. Look around for someone who has improved their marks recently and discuss it with them. Seeing it is possible should encourage you, and you could pick up good tips along the way.
  3. Monitoring your physical responses to challenges.
    Some people get very nervous about situations and have strong physical reactions such as palpitations and sweating. Often feelings of fear can be reinterpreted as excitement. This can be achieved through carefully planned "self talk" and physiological changes such as making yourself smile. For example, you may be faced with asking questions of an employer visiting your department. Instead of thinking, "I am bound to come across badly", why not "this is a great opportunity to research a career that excites me."
  4. Seeking out supportive people.
    Most of us have friends who are very supportive and positive about what we can achieve and some who can be a bit negative and bring your self-belief down. When you are addressing particular challenges, seek out conversations with the positive, supportive friends you have. You should be seeking out people who know you pretty well and who can give you honest, accurate feedback on your thoughts and plans.

My next steps


Higher self-confidence

Having a good level of self-confidence means that we are in a position to judge our situation realistically and to act accordingly. Having higher levels of self-confidence and self-belief is great if your views of your abilities are accurate. Otherwise you may find you take on opportunities and challenges that are unrealistic and that although you may find your confidence isn't affected, the general results of your efforts may not be good. There is a wide range of opportunities that can help you both enjoy and develop at university so choosing wisely in the limited time you have is important. If achievement evades you because of unrealistically high levels of self-confidence then you may wish to try to adjust to a more moderate level. Being sensitive to others and functioning as a "team player" are often valued. If you feel you are making good progress in the goals you set yourself and are continuing to feel confident then this may mean you don't need to take any action. Realistic self-confidence is a fantastic asset so enjoy it and try to share it with your less confident friends. If you wish to work on managing your high confidence levels then read the guidance below on how to make a start.

How can I manage my high self-confidence?

  1. Checking the realism of your goals.
    Next time you make a decision to strive for something, double check your goal. Is it too stretching? Are you really likely to achieve it? Perhaps ask for another point of view from a friend who knows you well and knows what you are capable of. When you do achieve your goal, reflect on this and why you were successful and challenge yourself to be as accurate as possible in your assessment.
  2. Peer comparison.
    Try to compare yourself accurately to your peers in any situation. Again, you may need some input from others here, such as your tutors or peers. Alternatively, look back on assessments and see where you sit in your student group and make your expectations of yourself more grounded in the evidence you have.
  3. Reflecting before you embark on challenges.
    When you next face a particular challenge, you may not notice it as particularly challenging if your physical reactions don't prompt you with nerves and other signs. So plan in some time beforehand to think carefully about what will be involved, and consider what action is necessary to be successful. Other opinions may help here.
  4. Using others to help ground you.
    Many of the messages identified above suggest that finding someone who knows you well and who has a realistic, pragmatic outlook could prove useful. Think about the people you know: which of your friends or contacts could help here? Get some feedback on your sensitivity to others and your impact for example. Using key people to challenge your thinking as important challenges arise could help you see your level of achievements rise considerably.

My next steps


Your Plan


This is "Your Plan". It includes the issues that you have identified through
this part of Gro and any action points that you have decided to take to
move you forward plus any notes and thoughts you have written down
along the way. Identifying precisely what your next steps will be after
completing this exercise on confidence will make it more likely that
you will make progress.

You have now finished this section. You can print, download (as pdf) or email yourself a copy of your plan. To move on to another section return to the Home page.

About Gro

It is widely acknowledged that to successfully embark on developing your employability or choose a career that there are some fundamental attributes that need to be in place. If you think some of the headings below represent potential areas of development for you then continue reading about the components of Gro and consider how you can make the most of them:

Although the reasons for developing Gro are about helping students become more employable and more successful at making career choices, using Gro has the potential to benefit many areas of your university experience.

Consider which of these areas of development you feel you would benefit from reflecting on. This may involve looking at just one or two sections. Once you have completed a section you will have the option of printing, downloading or emailing your results, feedback and plans. Gro does not save data for you, so unless you save your work and then return to the same computer, you will not be able to access it again. This means it is important to complete an exercise in one go and to ensure you either print, email or download the feedback so you can use it again.

Remember, if you are reflecting on your own development and establishing any development plans it is a good idea to save this in iLearn which is a secure central place which you can access throughout your degree.

If your reflection results in a small number of aims and tangible activities you can take forward then Gro will have done its job in helping you on your way.

Sources of inspiration

The whole concept of Gro was borne out of reading through various definitions and models of employability, including "The key to employability: developing a practical model of graduate employability" by D'Acre Poole and Sewell, 2004 and "The Heuristic Model of Employability" by Fugate et al 2004.

Credits

The Gro project was led and written by Tania Lyden with contributions from Bill Gothard and Sandhya Patel. IT programming was undertaken by Ruben Arakelyan and Chris Flanagan all from the Careers Advisory Service at the University of Reading. The project was funded by CCMS.

User guide

Gro consists of five sections. You can complete them in any order. Some sections are quicker to do than others. You don't have to do them all at the same time.

Soring results

When you have completed a section and clicked submit your results will be stored on the computer that you use to complete the test for up to a whole year (unless you delete your browsing history) and will be accessible to you on that computer provided you the same the web browser. Do be aware that if you stop part way through a section, however, your results won't be saved.

Changing results

Once you have clicked 'submit' you can't go back and alter your responses unless you delete all the results for a whole section. When you return to Gro after completing one or more sections you will see a gold bar near the top of the screen. The gold bar shows that you have results stored from a previous session. If you want to remove these results, ie to re-do a section, click on 'forget me'.

Using results

All your information and results are treated confidentially by Gro and are not shared with anyone else.

At the end of each section you will get an action plan. You can email this to yourself or download it. We'd recommend that you store a copy in your iLearn space for your Personal Development Planning.

Personal support

Some of the issues that Gro encourages you to reflect on may potentially create some personal concerns or anxiety for you. If you find you are in this position and would like extra support regarding any of the issues covered here then do seek help. You can:

Contact us

There are a number of reasons why you may wish to contact us regarding your use of Gro:

If so, then please contact us at example@example.com, stating that your enquiry is about Gro and providing a full description.