Successfully dealing with career challenges Build your future with career confidence
Everyone faces set-backs from time to time and plans can often change. Whether these are personal such as changes in your job or study, or wider impacts such as changes in the labour market, they are common experiences. If you’ve recently had to change your work or lost your job, we have lots of advice on assessing your options, reframing the situation and practical support available in Redundancy - your next steps. If you’re concerned about your module grades or degree classification in relation to your career choices, look at the advice in Reviewing your career options after module results and Dealing with a disappointing classification to help keep you motivated.
Like many students, it’s likely you’ve already had to deal with challenges and unexpected changes, so you’ll have developed strategies that will help you in the future. As well as learning from experience, there are several other tactics and techniques for dealing with career challenges. Have a look at the table below and tick the ones that you are most likely to try.
| Dealing with career challenges | Are you likely to try this? |
|---|---|
| Identify at least one pressure that you can remove from yourself for now. For example, by delegating to someone else, changing a deadline, or asking for help. | |
| Talk to someone you know or ask for help. | |
| Identify any actions you need to take and break each one down into small steps. Come up with an action plan. | |
| Make a list of any negative thoughts you are having about the challenge and reframe each one into a more positive statement. | |
| Make a list of the knowledge, skills or strategies that you gained from dealing with challenges in the past. Could you use any of these to deal with the challenge you are facing now? | |
| Allow yourself to “press pause” and take a break. Sometimes it’s about timing and whether you need to recharge your batteries first before acting. | |
| Make time for the good things in your life. Some people also keep a daily gratitude journal as a reminder. |
To help assess and develop your career resilience further, enrol on the free OpenLearn course Developing career resilience and approach career-related change with greater confidence and motivation.
Confidence in the workplace
We spend much of our lives at work so the challenges and rewards we experience at work are significant and confidence can impact on this.
The Video Hub has advice from careers coaches and employers to help you build confidence with career development, starting a new job, going for promotion and people management. You have access to the Video Hub through your OU account if you’re a current OU student or completed your study within the last three years. If you're not sure how to sign-in, see Help with signing into OU systems. You'll find more information about our careers tools and services, including how to manage your data, in About the Careers and Employability Services.
If you experience self-doubt and feel you aren't as capable as others think you are in the workplace, you’re not alone. This is known as 'Imposter Syndrome' and has been estimated to affect seven in ten people at some point in their lives (People Management 2019). Future Learn has a free online course on Overcoming Imposter Syndrome, with tips and advice on how to deal with this.
If you’re working whilst you study, OU graduate Nicolle suggests being open with employers about the benefits your study can bring:
Be vocal about the fact you are studying and what this enables you to bring to the table – people will start asking you questions about it! I’ve found this also helps you to find more people who are currently studying or have studied in the past.
Nicolle, OU graduate
Equality, diversity and inclusivity
Some groups face greater challenges when entering or are already within the workplace because of inequality of opportunity, and this also impacts on confidence. There is advice and support available if you’re
- unsure about asking for reasonable adjustments
- returning to work after a gap
- feeling you can’t take your whole self to work
- not seeing other people like you in an organisation
- or telling an employer about a conviction.
Browse our recorded webinars on equality and diversity support and read through the Career Planning Guide's Section 5: Equality and diversity issues. You can also look at the Equality and diversity in the workplace pages for advice on equality and diversity issues at work, your rights and where to find support.
If you have a physical or mental health condition or disability, there is free support through the government Access to Work to help you get or stay in work. OU students who have used this service speak highly of it and recommend it to others.
Growing your confidence
As OU graduate Sam emphasises, even if things don’t work out as planned, you are growing and learning.
Set your aspirations high, fight for them, and no matter what the outcome is, even failure, you’ll have the greatest opportunity to learn and for change. It’s the changes we make in ourselves that are our most profound accomplishments.
Sam, OU graduate
Think about which step on this journey to confidence feels the most relevant to you. Use this chart to start an action plan, to take that next step. There’s an example to get you started. If you would like a one-to-one consultation we can support you by email, phone or video.
| Resource | Action | How comfortable do I feel about doing this? 10 = very comfortable. 1 = not comfortable at all. |
|---|---|---|
| Webinar 'How to build your confidence' | Only 20 mins watch on Monday evening | 8 |
| Look at OU Student's Association for volunteering | Email them on Thursday after work | 5 - unsure but they're other OU students so should be ok |
| Book a 1-2-1 consultation by email | Do this next week | 6 - unsure but I know they'll be supportive |
