Searching for the ideal engineering role can be exhausting, frustrating, and mentally draining. It’s natural to begin to doubt your abilities and value over time, particularly as you deal with an increasing number of unanswered applications and rejections.
Up to 72% of job seekers say that job hunting has had a negative impact on their mental health, damaging their confidence and leading to issues of “imposter syndrome”.
Fortunately, while self-doubt is common, it’s also manageable. With a strategic approach, you can adjust your mindset, build resilience, and maintain the confidence you need to impress interviews and forge a path to success.
Here, we’ll show you how to conquer your inner critic and nurture your self-esteem, regardless of how complex and exhausting your job hunt might seem.
Understanding Self-Doubt in Job Hunting
Self-doubt is more common among job seekers than you might think. According to a YouGov study, most people display at least three out of seven signs of imposter syndrome. Feeling that you’re not “good” enough is particularly common when looking for a new job.
Whether you’re re-entering the workforce or moving to a new position, it’s easy to question your abilities. Many candidates compare themselves to others during the job search, exacerbating their weaknesses and overlooking their strengths.
Whether real or imagined, skill gaps and a lack of experience in certain areas can make you feel less competent or suitable for a role; at the same time, a challenging economic environment and an unpredictable job search can increase feelings of stress and fear.
Unfortunately, as your feelings of self-doubt increase, they don’t just harm your mental health; they can hinder your journey towards a new role, too. Anxiety and self-doubt during interviews can lead to self-deprecation and downplaying your achievements. You may end up under-selling yourself in your CV, cover letter, and conversations with employers.
You could even avoid applying for new roles based on your feelings of imposter syndrome. This leads to a malicious cycle of missed opportunities that feed your insecurities. Plus, you could end up accepting less than you’re worth from an employer because your imposter syndrome prevents you from participating in salary negotiations.
That’s why it’s important to recognise self-doubt early and build a framework that enhances and improves your confidence.
Building a Confidence Framework
Psychology tells us that confidence is a learned skill – just like any other ability, you can develop and improve your confidence with the proper strategic framework. Your ability to project a sense of self-belief and overcome self-doubt starts with three core things:
Self-Assessment and Brand Development
The first step to overcoming self-doubt in your engineering job search is developing a clear picture of who you are as a candidate. When faced with endless unanswered applications and rejections, it’s easy to focus on your weaknesses. That’s why you need to remind yourself of your strengths.
Conduct a thorough self-assessment.
Document and list all of your past achievements, skills, and abilities. Create an “elevator pitch” outlining your values to companies. This gives you the tools to build a personal brand that attracts employers and a resource you can return to when you need to maintain your self-worth.
Mastering Mindset and Self-Care
For most people, confidence doesn’t happen naturally. They must constantly work to nurture and develop their self-assurance and confidence by adjusting their thought processes. Developing the right mindset doesn’t necessarily mean ignoring any weaknesses you might have. Instead, it means reframing them with a “growth mindset” perspective.
View yourself as someone in a process of constant development. Instead of saying, “I don’t have as much experience as my peers”, tell yourself “, I may be less experienced, but I’ve already achieved [x], and I’m constantly improving.” Positive self-affirmations and reminders of your continued growth can help silence negative thoughts.
Building Your External Support Network
You don’t have to tackle your engineering job search alone. The external network you build for yourself can open the door to more opportunities and help you overcome self-doubt. Work with professional recruitment companies and use their advice to determine which skills you should focus on and how to improve your CV or interviewing abilities.
Consider connecting with career coaches, professional counsellors, or peer support groups who can provide new perspectives when you feel overwhelmed. Find a mentor and ask them for help to eradicate self-doubt and build confidence.
Practical Confidence-Building Tools
Once you’ve built the initial framework, improve your confidence by taking additional steps to avoid self-doubt. The following practical strategies will be helpful throughout your engineering job search.
Invest in a Job Search Preparation Strategy
According to the Harvard Business Review, effective preparation is one of the best ways to mitigate self-doubt during a job search. Start with a skills audit, identifying your strengths and the weaknesses you want to overcome and build a plan for self-development.
Maintain a document listing all of your success stories and accomplishments. This will give you something to reference when self-doubt begins to surface, and it will help you prepare to answer competency-based interview questions with in-depth, engaging stories.
Before applying for any engineering role, research the company and its priorities so you know how to tailor your CV, cover letter, and interview answers accordingly. Practice mock interviews with friends and research salary ranges so you’re ready to negotiate the right offer.
Create a Confidence Nurturing Routine
Confidence is built over time through small actions that reinforce a positive outlook. Establish a daily routine with specific tasks dedicated to confidence-building. This could mean regularly reviewing your progress in developing new skills or practising positive affirmations.
It could involve regularly visualising success in your engineering career or celebrating simple milestones, like completing a certain number of applications or landing an interview.
Nurturing confidence also means prioritising self-care. Make looking after yourself a part of your job hunt routine. Focus on finding time to relax, exercise, and connect with others to alleviate stress and avoid burnout.
Develop Grit and Resilience
Resilience is a crucial attribute for any candidate. Finding the right job can take time, and you may need to handle a lot of rejection along the road. The key to success is embracing a long-term perspective and remembering that setbacks are part of the journey.
Recognise every tiny piece of progress you make, whether you successfully get an interview, find new network connections, or improve your interview skills. Focus on becoming more adaptable, seeking new learning opportunities and increasing your abilities.
Additionally, develop a comprehensive strategy for dealing with setbacks and rejection. Look at every hurdle in your engineering job search as a chance to learn and improve rather than simply telling yourself you weren’t “good enough”. Dedicate some time to looking after your mental health and practicing self-care, then update your job search strategy based on your knowledge.
Moving Forward with Confidence
Job hunting is difficult, particularly in a competitive engineering environment. But you can’t allow imposter syndrome and self-doubt to get the best of you. Take a consistent approach to finding ways of boosting and maintaining your confidence in the face of ongoing challenges.
- Create an action plan: Develop an action plan outlining ways to boost your chances of success, such as seeking out a mentor, expanding your network, or building new skills.
- Seek out resources: Invest in personal and professional development with resources such as online courses and networking groups. Maintain a growth mindset.
- Feed your motivation: Stay motivated by celebrating every win, visualising success, and turning to your support network for new perspectives.
- Be proactive: Find proactive ways to support your job search, such as updating your LinkedIn profile, practising interviewing techniques, or working with a recruitment company.
- Document everything: Keep an up-to-date list of your strengths, weaknesses, achievements, and growth strategies.
Overcome Self-Doubt in Your Engineering Job Hunt
Self-doubt is common when searching for the ideal engineering role. But don’t let it hold you back. Jump into action and start building your confidence, whether that means developing relationships with valuable members of your network, building your skills, or taking stock of all your achievements so far.
Building your confidence and resilience is a process, not a single step, and each small action contributes to a greater foundation. The more you invest in developing your confidence, the easier it will be to silence your self-doubt and stay strong throughout your journey.
All the best
Steve
At Coalesce we have been supporting engineering candidates for over 28 years; if you would like our support in overcoming self-doubt in your engineering job search, then give us a call on 07512 821708 or email us here.