March 25, 2025 • 44 mins
Confidence in the workplace doesn't just happen—it's built through intentional strategies that anyone can learn. Whether you're starting your first job after graduation or transitioning to a new role after years of experience, that initial uncertainty and imposter syndrome can affect everyone. The difference between those who thrive and those who struggle often comes down to their ability to showcase their value effectively.
Our conversation dives deep into three powerful approaches that transform workplace confidence. We explore how self-awareness creates the foundation for authentic confidence—understanding your unique strengths, values, and talents allows you to communicate them effectively to others. We also examine the importance of understanding workplace systems and structures. Knowing how your organization operates—from reporting relationships to unwritten rules—enables you to navigate your environment strategically. This knowledge doesn't just help you perform better; it positions you to think more broadly about your contributions and prepares you for advancement opportunities.
Finally, we discuss how calculated risk-taking accelerates confidence development. Each new challenge you embrace builds self-efficacy—your belief in your ability to handle what comes your way. Throughout our discussion, we share personal examples from our own career journeys, from the self-doubt we experienced in early positions to the strategies that eventually helped us develop professional confidence. If you've ever felt uncertain about your place in the professional world or wondered how others seem so assured, this episode provides the practical framework you need to transform your workplace presence.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Knowing how to communicate what it is that you
have to offer is a skill that weall should have, because that
is what employers are lookingfor.
That is who gets hired.
You may be the most brilliantperson in the room, but if you
cannot showcase that, somebodyelse who's less skilled than you
is going to get the job becausethey can showcase that.
(00:21):
Because they can showcase thatyou are listening to Coffee and
Career Hour.
We are your hosts.
I'm Armina and I'm MJ, twocareer counselors and friends
chatting about all things, lifeand career.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
So grab a cup of coffee and join us.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Everyone is always wanting to gain confidence,
don't you think, mj?
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Yeah, I would say.
Whether it's yourself, a friend, a family member, a sibling,
anybody that you know, I canalmost guarantee you they're
wanting to gain more confidence.
So we're here today to breakdown three things you can do to
become more confident,specifically at work.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
So make sure to listen and send this to anyone
who you want to help gainconfidence.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
So let's jump into it .
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Alrighty, Arminé, I can tell you my first full-time
job.
I walked in there with zeroconfidence, even though I knew I
had just made it through likeone of the most rigorous
interview processes I'd everbeen through in my entire life.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Really Tell me more about that.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Zero confidence.
Zero confidence because I wasso in my mind, I think, like
imposter syndrome.
Like drove me my first coupleweeks and I had zero idea what
to do.
I was not this MJ when Istarted my first full time role
so I honestly like I don't knowhow the hell I grew confidence.
(01:57):
Well, I know, I know and I willtell you as we go along in this
episode go along in thisepisode.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Yeah, no, I mean, it's true, and especially when
you're a newer professional,because this was not your first
job after graduate school, butit was early enough, right after
graduate school, where it waslike you're embarking on your
career journey.
So I can, I can see that when Ithink about my first job after
graduate school, I felt the sameway.
I was like this is my big girljob and you know, what do I need
(02:31):
to do?
How do I need to prove myself?
Those were some of the thingsthat I was thinking.
But you know, the same thinghappens with any new job, right?
Even if you've been working inan industry for a while.
Any new job.
You walk in there and, yeah,you may know some things already
from previous experiences, butyou're still in a new space with
(02:51):
new people, new styles, newexpectations, right?
So I would say, even cominginto this job, even though I had
been working in the industryfor a few years, I was still
feeling a little bit of thatlack of confidence and not
entirely sure even what theexpectations of me were in that
(03:12):
position.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Yeah, absolutely, I think for me.
When I think about this, I feellike every time I started
something new or tried somethingnew, there was a lack of
confidence that needed to likemanifest within myself one and
then act upon it.
But we're going to get into it.
But I'm thinking whether you'restarting a new job, changing
(03:35):
your role in a industry, goingto as being a complete career
changer, anything honestly, youcan really apply this to a lot
of things in your life.
So, for anybody listening, knowthat confidence exudes in all
spaces that you are in.
So hopefully these three tipscan can help you.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Absolutely yeah.
Even if you're embarking on,like, a new academic journey to
or changing majors, even ifyou're a college student,
anything like that, there'salways some kind of fear or
uncertainty that seeps in whenyou're going through some kind
of shift or transition.
(04:16):
So, with that said, we knowthat confidence is such a hot
topic because there is thatsense of uncertainty in many of
us and that imposter syndromethat steeps in.
It's just there, it's a realthing, it's essentially part of
the human experience.
So, through our experiences, wewant to talk a little bit about
(04:37):
how you can mitigate some ofthat and feel and become more
confident, especially at work.
So the first step that we haveidentified is that you've got to
know yourself.
Self-awareness is key to beingand demonstrating more
(04:57):
confidence.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Absolutely.
I think, starting with you,there's no better place to start
.
And when you don't understand,you don't agree.
When you haven't fully kind ofdiscovered and identified who
you are and who you want tobecome and what your brand is
and your work and your personallife, it becomes really hard to
(05:19):
walk in a room feeling confident.
I'm like I was trying to find adifferent word for confident,
but I'm just going to use itbecause that's what this episode
is all about.
It's you have to know who youare and as a career counselor,
we appreciate this.
But I think anybody really trulyunderstands that knowing who
you are, not what does this mean?
In a fundamental level, we cantheorize all about like who am I
(05:43):
in this deeper question and whodo I want to become?
But who are you?
Who is this person in front ofthe mirror, right?
Are you?
How do you identify?
What does that look like?
Are you a daughter?
Are you a son?
Are you an older sister?
I'm like thinking about me inso many different ways.
So sorry everybody who can'trelate, but I'm like who are you
(06:04):
, right?
Let's kind of start there andlet's break it down to this
non-theoretical big picture idea.
But let's kind of start with,how do you introduce yourself,
right?
What are the things you say orwant people to know about you?
What does that look like?
So, knowing yourself comesbeyond this fundamental, like
inner self reflection and likeall these wooey things, but it
(06:28):
really starts off with like youknow, like how do you even
introduce yourself to?
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Yeah, absolutely, the identities you bring to the
room.
Right, because those go withyou wherever you go.
Those go with you to yourworkplace.
I mean, in our work we alwaystalk about being first
generation women in work, whatthat means Now as a mother I
talk about being a mom andworking full time and how that
(06:53):
looks in my life.
Right, so bringing thisidentity, this new identity that
I have, to the workplace and soany identity that you have,
you've developed a particularworldview through that, like you
were talking about being asister, a sibling, a daughter, a
son right, those identities andthose roles that we've had in
(07:15):
our lives have shaped the way wesee the world.
Maybe have shaped the way weinteract with people and the way
we communicate and carryourselves.
Essentially, right, there's awhole theory on like sibling
order, right In psychology,where if you're the first child
(07:35):
versus the middle, versus theyoungest, and what that can
entail in terms of personalityand characteristics that you
develop and so forth, so thosethings are coming with you to
your workspace.
They're not separate identities.
And so, reflecting on that,knowing what you bring to that
space and then also knowing whatyou have to offer, what are the
(07:59):
passions, what are the thingsyou're excited about.
What are the skills that youbring?
This is all packaged into yourbrand and the value you bring to
this space.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Absolutely.
You were talking about Adleriantheory.
It used to be one of myfavorite theories as a
psychology student.
I think, as a psychologyenthusiast I can call myself,
it's still one of the thingsthat just always fascinated me
still one of the things thatjust always fascinated me.
But, really, thinking about whatyou just last mentioned, about
(08:30):
knowing your value, what youbring to the workplace, I was
recently listening to a podcastthat was talking about
interviewing.
I know this has nothing to dowith it, but it was talking
about how to communicate yourskills and your strengths and
your interests and your passionsand all of these different
parts of who you are into thisinterview so they can see who
(08:50):
you are and how you engage andif you're the right person,
right.
So, thinking about this, thiscomes with a lot of
self-reflection, right, but alsoa lot of self-observation and
the deeper understanding of whatare my skills, what are the
things that excite me, that haveto do or align with the work
that I'm doing, and what doesthat look like in my work?
(09:12):
Or what are my natural talents?
Right?
Natural talents are differentthan skill sets.
And who am I?
To my core, right?
I'm someone that I'm constantlywanting to learn and to grow,
and that is one a learnerstrength that I have.
And the other side isconstantly wanting to learn and
to grow, and that is one alearner strength that I have.
And the other side is likewanting to learn and to grow as
the achiever strength in me, sowanting to kind of grow from
there and understanding whatthat looks like in my everyday
(09:34):
job, but also as a human being.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Yeah, yeah, some of those strengths you're talking
about are from StrengthsFinder.
The assessment right.
And for those of you listening,if you've heard of
StrengthsQuest StrengthsFinder,it's a great assessment that
actually assesses right, there'sno other way to say it.
It assesses your 34 strengthsand it will give you your
(10:00):
results, will give you your topfive strengths, and the theory
behind it is actually very, veryinteresting.
It's a great way to kind ofrecognize the things that we
bring to the table.
So it's like some of the samplestrikes, like we have somebody
on our team who bringspositivity right.
This person exudes positivityand in every like challenging
situation they always have agreat mindset, a positive idea
(10:24):
to bring to the table right.
That mitigates some of the highanxiety moments that we may
feel at work, right.
So that's a really popularstrength and great one, I'm
thinking from our team Achiever.
Many of us have Relator empathy.
If you're somebody who is veryempathetic, you're bringing that
to the workspace.
You maybe become that personthat everybody goes to when they
(10:52):
feel frustrated and want totalk to you.
You're somebody who empathizes,so they're going to feel
comfortable with you and thatcan be a great thing in the
workspace.
You could bring people togetherand, of course, all these
strengths have shadow sides too.
But thinking of like okay, ifthis is a strength that you have
, it's going to play out in yourpersonal life, it's also going
to play out in your work lifeand you can use these in your
(11:13):
interviews.
You can talk about these thingsthat you bring to the table.
It's part of the value that youbring, because every employer
these days, when hiring, theyare wanting to hire based off of
skill.
We call it skills-based hiringand it's becoming more and more
popular in the workspace.
So they're going to be lookingat the skills, the strengths,
(11:35):
the knowledge and the attributesyou bring to the space.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Yeah, it is so important to have this level of
self-awareness.
Let me tell you why.
So before, I feel like I have alot of confidence, but I also
feel like there's a lot of roomfor me to still grow right,
because you never stop growingin this realm of
self-understanding and one ofthe ways and why it's so
(12:00):
important for me specificallyand this may be for someone else
or someone else may notcompletely resonate, but I felt
more whole as I started tobetter understand myself.
I felt like a piece of mypuzzle of who I was became a
little bit more clear or itclicked a lot more and I was
able to kind of step in, leaninto understanding who I was and
(12:22):
allow that person to comethrough very authentically in
the workspace.
I didn't have to kind of likefigure it out or feel stuck in
some type of way.
And that's important to me isfeeling a little bit more whole
because I walk into the roomwith a lot more sense of self.
Right, I know who I am.
I'm not waiting for others toform an opinion or an idea of
(12:45):
who I am.
I know that for a fact.
But how can you also learn whatyour strengths and your skills
and talents are.
I know many of us have a hardtime sometimes reflecting on
what those are.
Those come naturally to Arminand I because we're in this
field and we're constantlytalking about these things.
Right, but if you're someonewho's far from the world of
career counseling which manypeople typically are how do you
(13:07):
kind of do this?
One of the ways that we canshow you or share with you on
how to practice exploring yourskills and strengths?
Ask the individuals in yourenvironment, right?
Your peers, your colleagues,your friends, your family
members, like think about whatdo they come and seek you out
(13:28):
for?
Right?
Does your friend?
Are you the planner in thegroup?
Are you the someone whoorganizes?
Are you the communicator thatkeeps in touch with all of your
friends?
Right, what are those skillsand strengths that they see in
you?
That is a great activity foryou to kind of practice.
That one helps you see howothers see you, right in this
positive light, but also givesyou deeper meaning and
(13:50):
understanding to the self.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Yeah, yeah, utilizing your environment as a source of
information is reallybeneficial, right?
Because these people areinteracting with you on a daily
basis and a lot of times peoplesee great strengths in us that
we don't see in ourselves,because if it's something that
comes naturally to us, we don'trealize that it can be a
(14:13):
strength.
It's just, this is the way thatwe are right.
But it is a lot of these thingsthat we may do naturally.
They are strengths, because noteverybody, every single person,
does things the same way.
So knowing and recognizing thatif you're like super organized,
right, I remember that'sactually something I I realized
(14:33):
I had to realize it was astrength.
You know, when I realized itwas a strength?
Speaker 2 (14:37):
when the show came on on Netflix, the the one with
the spark lady, the one that'slike, does this give you spark?
I don't know her name and I'mnot doing her justice does the
spark joy right, that that's umshow.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
and I literally remember telling my friends I
was like I cannot believe thisis a show and a business not in
a negative way.
I actually really loved theshow and I thought she was doing
a great business, but I waslike I do this kind of stuff,
like I didn't even know or thinkthat this can be become a
(15:14):
business or be so popular.
And the way that this personwas, you know, teaching other
people to do this, I was likewhat?
And my friend she was likeArmanay, you do this.
I was like what and my friendshe was like Armanay, you do
this.
Not everybody does this so sureand it can be a business
because she is, she has theskill.
She's teaching other people howto do it.
(15:34):
And that's when I realized thatme being organized and tidy and
knowing like what to let go ofand what to hold on to and
keeping my space like veryupdated all the time, that was a
skill and I didn't realize Ihad.
That's just the way I've alwaysbeen.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
I love that.
I love that and I thinksomething that that person I
feel horrible because I'm we'reliterally not doing her justice,
but but, but literally look uplike, well, armin is going to
look it up, because I don't wantto.
I don't want to miss um mariekondo oh my gosh.
There you go, marie kondo.
How marie knew how to sell thatright was because she knew how
(16:13):
to communicate her strengths andher talents to the world, and
that's not something that comesnatural to a lot of us, like how
to come trust.
Trust me, if I wasn't a careercounselor, I would suck,
probably, at communication, andthat is the truth.
Knowing how to communicate theimportance of your brand, like
just that concept, is not reallyknown to the average person.
(16:36):
It's known to us because wework in this field, but
communicating who you are andwhat your strengths are is not
something we naturally aretaught in society, like in
school.
In high school, no one ever,like I, was never taught to
reflect on my skills or mystrengths or how to even
communicate that to like thepeople around me, like I I I
(16:58):
think I told you this before I'man, but in high school I didn't
.
I never realized how involved Iwas and how many skills that I
gained from those experiences.
And now I can say I know how tocommunicate them, but the
average person doesn't.
And this is an important partof that right, because knowing
yourself is one part, but if youdon't know how to communicate
(17:19):
those parts of yourselves thatmake you who you are and give
you that joy and really do exudein your workspace and can't
communicate that there's not astrong sense of confidence on
the outside as well.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, I resonate with thattoo.
I definitely would have beenless able to communicate my
thoughts clearly.
I would have also been a lotmore hesitant to speak up in
general or even public speakingspaces, or even just in one on
one like or social settings tospeak up, if had I not been in
(17:57):
this field.
So I know that you and I havelike developed that skill over
time.
But knowing how to communicatewhat it is that you have to
offer is a skill that we allshould have, because that is
what employers are looking for.
That is who gets hired.
You may be the most brilliantperson in the room, but if you
(18:19):
cannot showcase that, somebodyelse who's less skilled than you
is going to get the job,because they can showcase that.
Hey, listeners, do you alsoindulge on your favorite cup of
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Speaker 2 (18:37):
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(19:03):
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Speaker 2 (19:06):
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Speaker 1 (19:22):
It was so cute the first time I saw it.
I'm thinking of a funny coffeethemed t-shirt for my colleagues
.
They are all huge coffee fans.
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(20:08):
The link will be in our shownotes.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Now let's get back to our show.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
Unfortunately, that is the kind of environment that
we live in and compete in forwork, so the ability to
communicate your value is askill that everybody needs to
have.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Yeah, and how do you do this?
You practice.
I know it sounds so silly, butlike stand in front of the
mirror, get with your closefriend, your best friend,
someone you're comfortable with,that you feel like no shame
around.
Talk to them about it.
Right, For me, that's someonelike Arminé.
(20:45):
I can be like Arminé.
This is something I want topractice.
I know it doesn't sound likesomething as counselors.
For us, this is something verynatural that we can do, and we
can work with people, but ifyou're the average person
working, listening to thispodcast, and you're like how do
I communicate this?
That sounds fantastic.
I need to communicate my value,but how do I do this practice
(21:06):
Right?
How do you share what yourstrengths are?
Do you do it through example?
Do you use specific adjectiveslike we do right, Like achiever,
learner?
What does that mean, though?
How do I share that with peoplearound me?
If you go to your local coffeeshop, if you're a coffee head
like us, if you love this stuff,let's say you are in line and
(21:29):
you overhear that the person infront of you is working for your
dream company or dreamorganization, whatever it is,
and they're talking about howthey just opened a position for
X, Y or Z.
So let's say something you'refamiliar with your skillset, you
know you want to do.
Maybe that's the job you'vebeen looking for your whole life
right Like that confidence willdrive you to talk to that
(21:50):
person in front of you and sayyou know, I didn't mean to
overhear, right.
And then you do what.
You give an elevator pitchright and you communicate your
skills and your strengths.
So in a later episode we cantotally get into elevator
pitches, because that's a wholeother topic.
But how to communicate withpeople and effectively do so so
they understand, right, Causethat's the other part is knowing
(22:10):
how to do it.
But for the other person on theother side to comprehend what
your skills and strengths are isthe second part to that for
them to understand how thatvalue means something to them,
but also holistically, to youand your self-confidence.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
Absolutely.
Yeah, I love the tip on findingsomebody that you're
comfortable with and practicingthat language, practicing saying
this out loud.
I love also the tip of likesaying it in front of a mirror,
right, that you can.
Also.
If you maybe are somebody wholearns by writing I know that's
(22:47):
how I learn and process mythoughts is through writing it
out.
I would say you can write itout first.
Brainstorm the topic.
Not necessarily write it outword for word how you would say
your value to somebody, butwrite out the value that you
bring.
Write out the examples, thesituations where you realized
this was a skill, or how you dothese skills effectively in your
(23:11):
life.
Write those ideas down Now youhave content to work with.
Then you get in front of amirror or you find somebody
you're comfortable with.
Or, in the day of technology,go on a Google Meets or Zoom
call and record yourself andthen watch that recording right,
you can do that too and see howyou sound talking about these
(23:37):
amazing skills and qualitiesthat you have.
And the more you do it, themore comfortable and confident
you become doing that, and thenyou take that to your workspace.
So when you're speaking to yoursupervisor, when you're
speaking to your colleagues, youare able to articulate like,
yeah, I'm excellent at publicspeaking, I'm excellent at
(23:59):
program development.
I'm excellent at programdevelopment.
Let me create that program.
I can help you create thatprogram.
Say that to your colleague andsee how that goes.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
And that is why she is a career counselor everybody.
That's exactly why she'samazing.
Absolutely Take everything shesays, because it's gold.
It's free gold on this podcast.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
And the same for you, my dear.
So okay, MJ, let's say ourlisteners are like, yes, amazing
, I gotta, I gotta be self-awareand I have to learn how to
communicate my value in theworkspace.
Let's say they get that.
What is our next tip forsomeone to become more confident
at work?
Speaker 2 (24:42):
I love this one because this one really does it
for me.
It felt like once I did this, Ihad all the tools outside of me
that I needed to be able tofeel strong, to feel able to
feel confident, and that isunderstand how the system works.
Understand the lay of the landwherever you work.
(25:04):
What does that mean?
Know who is who, know wherethings are, know the processes,
know the regulations, know yourlimits in your role, know who
your boss reports to right Like.
That's one of the basics too,but understanding how the system
of your work, of your industry,of your job, of your role, what
(25:26):
does that look like?
Understanding that and havingclarity is one of the best
things and one of the best tipswe can also say to help gain
confidence in the workspace.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
Absolutely.
You've got to understand howyour role fits into the company
and, essentially, how it impactsthe company's goals.
Then you can do your job reallywell, because you know what you
need to produce for the companyto know that your position is
doing what it needs to do fortheir company to grow right.
(25:56):
And so you've got to understandthat system, the processes and
everything that MJ wasmentioning.
That is crucial to being ableto do your job at even the
minimum level right Not even doit well, but just to be able to
do your job.
You got to understand thosethings.
Now there's also this componentof knowing who is who and who to
(26:19):
go to for certain things.
I found in my career thatthat's helped me feel a lot more
comfortable, even in myworkspace issues with technology
(26:40):
at work.
Who do I go to for that?
If I'm having issues findingthis particular process or
document or item that I need toget this project done, who do I
go to?
Or who is somebody that canhelp expedite a process that
needs to get done so I could getmy job done?
Those are super importantbecause then you are utilizing
and navigating the system to beable to do your job and do it
(27:03):
more efficiently and smoothlyand more confidently.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
Absolutely, and that also comes with agency and
initiative right, like wantingto understand.
This is where, like if you arestarting a new job soon, or a
new role, or in maybe samecompany, different office,
different team, right, whateverthat looks like, or you're
starting a new program,undergrad, grad program, college
program, training certificate,whatever it is Since we're
(27:29):
asking those questions iscrucial because how are you
going to learn?
This information is bycommunity, right, going back to
the communication piece, butthose asking questions right,
questions from someone new neverbothers anybody.
Why?
Because you're learning, right,you're adapting, you're trying
to understand what you juststepped into.
(27:50):
So understanding those aspectsof your role are only going to
help strengthen your confidenceto do your job and do it well.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
Absolutely.
I remember you asking questionswhen you first started and they
were absolutely valid and itshowed that you're engaged, you
care, you want to learn.
So somebody who steps into theworkspace, this is the best time
to ask those questions, notthat you can't ask later on,
(28:22):
once you've been there for awhile, but the sooner you get
into the habit of doing that,the better and the sooner you
get that information.
So ask questions.
I remember I had to learn thatthis is how you find this
information, because if youdon't interact with people who
are not on your team you don'tnecessarily have to interact
with because you're not workingon a project with them, your
(28:44):
team, who you don't necessarilyhave to interact with because
you're not working on a projectwith them, If you don't do that,
you're never going to know thatthis person knows this resource
or is connected to somebodyelse who can get you something
that you need to get your jobdone right.
You're never going to know thatif you only stay siloed in your
work and on your team.
If you're part of a team, ifyou stay siloed, you're never
(29:07):
going to know what resources areavailable to you.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Yeah, absolutely, I will say I still ask Arminia
questions.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
Oh yeah, oh yeah, I still ask questions all the time
.
I ask you questions too.
You know questions are gold.
They're key to learning andgrowing and success.
But part of this is thatnetworking piece too.
You know we talk aboutnetworking a lot in career
development on this podcast.
We've talked about it so manytimes, but it's just it's there.
(29:36):
That's how the world works.
That's how people makedecisions in corporate.
That's how people makedecisions in education corporate
.
That's how people makedecisions in education in
government.
How do you think politics works?
The network is the key becausepeople are resources to one
another.
People bring knowledge andbring information and bring
(29:57):
skill sets to one another.
So, wherever you're placed,wherever you're working, know
what's available to you, knowwho is who and who is good at
what and who has access to what,because that will help you do
your job better, moreefficiently, and therefore you
will become more confident inyour space.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
I was recently chatting with someone who wanted
to understand or know, I guess,like what it's like to work in
the education like highereducation in general, kind of
just in general and I remembersaying and like thinking I'm
like look, I had zerounderstanding of how this worked
in my mind.
I was so focused on like aposition and a team and a
(30:40):
department.
I never really thought likebigger, broader institutional
level and all these differentthings, right.
So like, of course, as agraduate student, like my goal
is to get a job in a specificdepartment or area or work on
the team.
So I never thought and now thisis 2025, five years later right
, I can share with individualswho want to work in higher
(31:02):
education that understanding thedifferent systems in higher
education for example, we livehere in California CSUs versus
UCs versus private liberalschools, right Versus vocational
training programs versuscommunity colleges,
understanding all of thesedifferent institutions and the
way they work, is so much goldinformation that I now have.
(31:27):
But it's because I worked myway.
I stayed curious, I wanted tolearn and grow after I entered
the field how does this work?
And now, being a prioreducation professional for five
years, I feel confident to knowexactly what I'm talking about.
In the sense I was recentlyexplaining someone, something to
(31:48):
someone, and I was like, well,have you thought about like this
, this and that and hear howthis works here in that office
and this person and like allthese connecting dots?
And I'm like, oh, I didn't.
And I was like, yeah, likethat's, you know, like it goes
beyond.
It goes beyond what it is thatyour role is.
And for them, I remember themsaying they're like you know so
(32:09):
much.
And I'm like, well, becauseI've lived and breathed this,
but it's because I also askedthose important questions and
wanted to better understand whatit is that I'm working in the
environment, the people, thearea, the location, the systems
to be able to do my job and doit well and be a great
representation of a highereducation professional, and that
really does help.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
Oh yeah, and actually that's how people get promoted,
that's how people get advancedto the next phase in their
careers.
Because if you only think aboutjust your particular role and
kind of stay hyper focused orlike narrow minded, almost about
like this is my job, I'm justgoing to do my job and that's it
, and don't recognize how yourrole impacts your team and then
(32:54):
your boss's boss, and then thecompany at large and the system
at large, right, if you don'trecognize that, then you're not
going to get.
It's going to be a lot harderto get promoted or advanced,
because in those leadershiproles is also where people are
thinking a lot more big picture,right.
So you have to start thinkingbig picture about the work that
(33:17):
you're doing to even get intothose promotional roles in the
future too.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
So you got to.
It's funny, arminiamin, I know,and anyone out there who's taken
mbti and fully understands,because I am a isfj, because I
am a son of p, it's not a j?
Um sensing versus intuitive,because I'm sensing and I look
at things by details and notbigger picture.
(33:44):
I realize that, that being myinnate personality, and if you
are, if you know MBTI, you knowwhat I'm talking about Sensing
versus intuition, and we have awhole episode on that too, on
the MBTI as well.
Please go back and listen to it.
I struggled a lot to look atthings from a bigger picture.
Speaker 1 (34:03):
Oh, I'm surprised to hear that, because you do that
so well.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
Now, now I do that so well.
I struggled a lot to look atthings from the bigger picture
when I first started, but Ithink I was noticing that a lot
internally and I learned right.
This is where, like knowingwho's who and how the system
works, like observing, taking awhile, One I understood who.
I was right, Like I am that one.
(34:27):
I also have a lot moreself-awareness now as you grow
constantly.
But understanding my behavior,understanding different teams,
different styles the biggerpicture part grew with me
because I was so hyper focusedon the details and these aspects
.
But now I'm able to do that andI can share, like now I know
(34:48):
the system from a differentspace.
So I just thought that wascurious.
That was like a little lightbulb that went off in my head.
Speaker 1 (34:55):
Yeah, no, I love that example.
I do think some of it is tojust, you know, growing as a
professional too, because I'm onthe MBTI.
I'm intuitive, so I naturallyam a big picture thinker.
But I still had to learn, likewhen I was fresh out of graduate
school I wasn't thinking abouthow my one role as an academic
advisor impacts the institutionat large in the very beginning.
(35:18):
But I learned that over time.
I also had an excellent directorat the time where I was working
who would communicate veryclearly what was going on in the
system in student affairs andacademic affairs and like how
that trickled down to our roleas academic advisors and
whatever initiatives werehappening, what that meant for
(35:39):
us.
So I think through thoseconversations is how I realized
like, oh yeah, my job is likemore than just what I was
originally thinking, very muchmore narrow minded, and then,
coming to UCLA, learned thateven more, recognizing where we
our job.
(35:59):
Part of our job is to enhancecareer readiness across the
entire institution, across allof UCLA.
So it's not just the studentswho come to our offices but our
job is to enhance it for theentire institution.
So that means going to wherethe students are, going to where
the staff is.
So I had to learn that right inrole and what that expectation
(36:22):
was on us and like that's abigger weight to carry as one
little career counselor going towork every day the bigger
weight to carry.
But I think you you learn thatover time as a professional.
But you got to stay curious andand understand the importance
of knowing the systems and thepeople and the resources
(36:43):
available to you the systems andthe people and the resources
available to you.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
I love that.
All right, armine.
Tip number three is somethingyou and I have both done,
whether we felt it in ourstomachs or not.
And I say felt it in ourstomachs or not, because this
one can definitely make you feela lot of different things.
But our third tip tostrengthening, to gaining
confidence, to making you andhelping you become more
(37:10):
confident at work is take a risk, go out there and try new
things.
Speaker 1 (37:17):
That is a mic drop moment.
Yes, absolutely, take a risk.
So when we say take a risk,what we're talking about here is
work on different things inyour workspace right now.
Ask for different projects, askfor projects that are aligned
(37:40):
with your interests and skills.
I think one thing that helpedme become more confident at work
is knowing the things thatexcite me and then intentionally
seeking out those projects.
And then when you do it and youdo it well, because you are
actually aligned with that kindof work you do it well.
(38:00):
You get that positive feedbackas well that oh yeah, I totally
can do this.
And then you buildself-efficacy this idea that you
can do it.
That increases every singletime you engage in a task that
is aligned with you and you doit well.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
Yeah, and I am not a risk taker.
I will tell you, I am notsomeone who wakes up every day
and seeks thrills.
No, that is not cute, Little MJ.
I am not someone who will dothat, but I it's.
You know, what's funny is thatat work I do.
Speaker 1 (38:38):
I do that all the time at work.
Speaker 2 (38:40):
You volunteer left and right.
I mean, like today I probablysigned up for like two other
things that I shouldn't have.
But like you know what I mean,like I'm just joking, but I take
risks all the time now in myworkspace because, guess what,
I've grown in my confidence,right, like I know, I know what
to do.
But in the beginning, when Ihad minimal confidence, very
(39:03):
limited mindset, a lot ofimposter syndrome.
Imposter syndrome was the mainvoice in my head.
I was not taking risks.
Why?
Because I was scared out of mymind that I was going to make a
mistake, scared out of my mindthat I was going to make a
mistake, knowing I still had theskills and what I had to value
and why they picked me as acandidate.
I'm thinking about my veryfirst job.
(39:23):
I'm heck.
I'm thinking about my veryfirst job.
Heck.
I'm thinking about my veryfirst internship as a researcher
as well, and how I was soscared to take risks and do
something different or be me.
But I will say you areabsolutely right.
I grew in my self-efficacy andI mean, look at me now.
But I will tell you somethingto add onto this is the taking
(39:46):
risks is beautiful and it's it'sreally.
It is.
All of this is gold guidance,but this one really does help
because it shows a lot ofinitiative on your part, right.
It shows a lot of you doingthese things and putting it into
action.
And what I will say is, as anemployee, right, something that
is also very, very powerful isfrom that risk.
(40:09):
Whether it's a new project,whether it's meeting with a
colleague, whatever it issomething that's different or
outside that feedback, thatconstructive feedback that you
receive helps grow thatconfidence that you have,
because, guess what, everyfeedback that you get, all the
(40:32):
feedback that you receive in theworld, is given to you to help
you grow and become a betterversion of you.
Speaker 1 (40:36):
Absolutely, and you know feedback is, it can be I
was, you know direct andindirect, so you can directly
ask people hey, I just worked onthis project.
What do you think could havebeen better, what do you think I
did well, et cetera.
You could ask your boss, youcould ask your colleagues.
You could also seek indirectfeedback just by seeing how
(40:59):
people react to the things thatyou're doing, saying, behaving,
the way that you're presentingyour work.
You will see and feel that frompeople's energy and reaction.
So that's also another form offeedback to pay attention to.
But ultimately, it's about nottaking things personally and
(41:19):
knowing that there's always roomfor growth and finding that
safe space and that safe personthat you can have an open and
honest conversation with.
With all of this, I will say,though, also don't be too hard
on yourself, right.
Yeah, try new things.
Yeah, build self-efficacy,communicate your value, know
(41:43):
yourself.
These are all big topics, big,big things we're talking about.
They don't happen overnight,right.
This is all a process as you'regrowing as a professional and
figuring out who you are in theprofessional space and where
that's going to take you in thelong term, right In the future.
So these are all big thingswill come over time, but we hope
(42:07):
that these concepts will staywith you every time you are
making a decision at work, everytime you are about to start a
new project or so.
Think about these concepts andhow you can slowly and surely
start implementing these toultimately become that confident
(42:27):
person who shows up to work,speaks confidently, knows what
they're talking about and,essentially, is like a role
model that other people can lookup to, because you're like a
badass out there.
Speaker 2 (42:41):
Yeah, absolutely.
Let me leave you with threequestions for you to check in
with yourself, to remember thesethree tips who am I and who do
I want to be in the workspace?
Can I learn something new aboutmy role or the company or
industry that I work for, andwhen is the last time I tried
(43:01):
something new?
Time I tried something new?
Ask yourself these threequestions frequently and see how
the answers vary or what thatkind of means for yourself, and
if you need to take a moment todo a little bit of a deep dive
and maybe change some things upin your everyday work experience
.
So we hope that thisconversation can elevate and
(43:22):
empower you to grow yourconfidence and we're excited to
hear your results.
I guess to DM us, let us knowif this works, let us know if
this helps in any type of way orif you're trying other things
to help you grow your confidencetoo.
Speaker 1 (43:36):
Thank you so much for listening.
If you enjoy our show, we askthat you write a review on Apple
podcasts to help us reach morepeople looking to level up their
career.
Speaker 2 (43:47):
Want to connect with us, be sure to follow our
Instagram and websites.
Speaker 1 (43:51):
Follow Career Rise on Instagram for career advice and
motivation to help you stay upto date on all things career.
Be sure to also visit mywebsite, careerriseorg, to book
a session with me and accessfree resources.
My goal is to help you clarifyyour goals, make a plan and feel
confident in your careerjourney.
Speaker 2 (44:10):
Follow Career Confident Latina for your weekly
dose of career advice and myjourney as a first-gen Latina
counselor.
You can also send me a messageon mjcareerconfidencecom if you
wanna book a career counselingsession.
I want to help grow yourconfidence as you reach your
career dreams.
Knowing how to communicate what it is that you
have to offer is a skill that weall should have, because that
is what employers are lookingfor.
That is who gets hired.
You may be the most brilliantperson in the room, but if you
cannot showcase that, somebodyelse who's less skilled than you
is going to get the job becausethey can showcase that.
(00:21):
Because they can showcase thatyou are listening to Coffee and
Career Hour.
We are your hosts.
I'm Armina and I'm MJ, twocareer counselors and friends
chatting about all things, lifeand career.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
So grab a cup of coffee and join us.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Everyone is always wanting to gain confidence,
don't you think, mj?
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
Yeah, I would say.
Whether it's yourself, a friend, a family member, a sibling,
anybody that you know, I canalmost guarantee you they're
wanting to gain more confidence.
So we're here today to breakdown three things you can do to
become more confident,specifically at work.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
So make sure to listen and send this to anyone
who you want to help gainconfidence.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
So let's jump into it .
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Alrighty, Arminé, I can tell you my first full-time
job.
I walked in there with zeroconfidence, even though I knew I
had just made it through likeone of the most rigorous
interview processes I'd everbeen through in my entire life.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Really Tell me more about that.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Zero confidence.
Zero confidence because I wasso in my mind, I think, like
imposter syndrome.
Like drove me my first coupleweeks and I had zero idea what
to do.
I was not this MJ when Istarted my first full time role
so I honestly like I don't knowhow the hell I grew confidence.
(01:57):
Well, I know, I know and I willtell you as we go along in this
episode go along in thisepisode.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Yeah, no, I mean, it's true, and especially when
you're a newer professional,because this was not your first
job after graduate school, butit was early enough, right after
graduate school, where it waslike you're embarking on your
career journey.
So I can, I can see that when Ithink about my first job after
graduate school, I felt the sameway.
I was like this is my big girljob and you know, what do I need
(02:31):
to do?
How do I need to prove myself?
Those were some of the thingsthat I was thinking.
But you know, the same thinghappens with any new job, right?
Even if you've been working inan industry for a while.
Any new job.
You walk in there and, yeah,you may know some things already
from previous experiences, butyou're still in a new space with
(02:51):
new people, new styles, newexpectations, right?
So I would say, even cominginto this job, even though I had
been working in the industryfor a few years, I was still
feeling a little bit of thatlack of confidence and not
entirely sure even what theexpectations of me were in that
(03:12):
position.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Yeah, absolutely, I think for me.
When I think about this, I feellike every time I started
something new or tried somethingnew, there was a lack of
confidence that needed to likemanifest within myself one and
then act upon it.
But we're going to get into it.
But I'm thinking whether you'restarting a new job, changing
(03:35):
your role in a industry, goingto as being a complete career
changer, anything honestly, youcan really apply this to a lot
of things in your life.
So, for anybody listening, knowthat confidence exudes in all
spaces that you are in.
So hopefully these three tipscan can help you.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
Absolutely yeah.
Even if you're embarking on,like, a new academic journey to
or changing majors, even ifyou're a college student,
anything like that, there'salways some kind of fear or
uncertainty that seeps in whenyou're going through some kind
of shift or transition.
(04:16):
So, with that said, we knowthat confidence is such a hot
topic because there is thatsense of uncertainty in many of
us and that imposter syndromethat steeps in.
It's just there, it's a realthing, it's essentially part of
the human experience.
So, through our experiences, wewant to talk a little bit about
(04:37):
how you can mitigate some ofthat and feel and become more
confident, especially at work.
So the first step that we haveidentified is that you've got to
know yourself.
Self-awareness is key to beingand demonstrating more
(04:57):
confidence.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Absolutely.
I think, starting with you,there's no better place to start
.
And when you don't understand,you don't agree.
When you haven't fully kind ofdiscovered and identified who
you are and who you want tobecome and what your brand is
and your work and your personallife, it becomes really hard to
(05:19):
walk in a room feeling confident.
I'm like I was trying to find adifferent word for confident,
but I'm just going to use itbecause that's what this episode
is all about.
It's you have to know who youare and as a career counselor,
we appreciate this.
But I think anybody really trulyunderstands that knowing who
you are, not what does this mean?
In a fundamental level, we cantheorize all about like who am I
(05:43):
in this deeper question and whodo I want to become?
But who are you?
Who is this person in front ofthe mirror, right?
Are you?
How do you identify?
What does that look like?
Are you a daughter?
Are you a son?
Are you an older sister?
I'm like thinking about me inso many different ways.
So sorry everybody who can'trelate, but I'm like who are you
(06:04):
, right?
Let's kind of start there andlet's break it down to this
non-theoretical big picture idea.
But let's kind of start with,how do you introduce yourself,
right?
What are the things you say orwant people to know about you?
What does that look like?
So, knowing yourself comesbeyond this fundamental, like
inner self reflection and likeall these wooey things, but it
(06:28):
really starts off with like youknow, like how do you even
introduce yourself to?
Speaker 1 (06:32):
Yeah, absolutely, the identities you bring to the
room.
Right, because those go withyou wherever you go.
Those go with you to yourworkplace.
I mean, in our work we alwaystalk about being first
generation women in work, whatthat means Now as a mother I
talk about being a mom andworking full time and how that
(06:53):
looks in my life.
Right, so bringing thisidentity, this new identity that
I have, to the workplace and soany identity that you have,
you've developed a particularworldview through that, like you
were talking about being asister, a sibling, a daughter, a
son right, those identities andthose roles that we've had in
(07:15):
our lives have shaped the way wesee the world.
Maybe have shaped the way weinteract with people and the way
we communicate and carryourselves.
Essentially, right, there's awhole theory on like sibling
order, right In psychology,where if you're the first child
(07:35):
versus the middle, versus theyoungest, and what that can
entail in terms of personalityand characteristics that you
develop and so forth, so thosethings are coming with you to
your workspace.
They're not separate identities.
And so, reflecting on that,knowing what you bring to that
space and then also knowing whatyou have to offer, what are the
(07:59):
passions, what are the thingsyou're excited about.
What are the skills that youbring?
This is all packaged into yourbrand and the value you bring to
this space.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Absolutely.
You were talking about Adleriantheory.
It used to be one of myfavorite theories as a
psychology student.
I think, as a psychologyenthusiast I can call myself,
it's still one of the thingsthat just always fascinated me
still one of the things thatjust always fascinated me.
But, really, thinking about whatyou just last mentioned, about
(08:30):
knowing your value, what youbring to the workplace, I was
recently listening to a podcastthat was talking about
interviewing.
I know this has nothing to dowith it, but it was talking
about how to communicate yourskills and your strengths and
your interests and your passionsand all of these different
parts of who you are into thisinterview so they can see who
(08:50):
you are and how you engage andif you're the right person,
right.
So, thinking about this, thiscomes with a lot of
self-reflection, right, but alsoa lot of self-observation and
the deeper understanding of whatare my skills, what are the
things that excite me, that haveto do or align with the work
that I'm doing, and what doesthat look like in my work?
(09:12):
Or what are my natural talents?
Right?
Natural talents are differentthan skill sets.
And who am I?
To my core, right?
I'm someone that I'm constantlywanting to learn and to grow,
and that is one a learnerstrength that I have.
And the other side isconstantly wanting to learn and
to grow, and that is one alearner strength that I have.
And the other side is likewanting to learn and to grow as
the achiever strength in me, sowanting to kind of grow from
there and understanding whatthat looks like in my everyday
(09:34):
job, but also as a human being.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Yeah, yeah, some of those strengths you're talking
about are from StrengthsFinder.
The assessment right.
And for those of you listening,if you've heard of
StrengthsQuest StrengthsFinder,it's a great assessment that
actually assesses right, there'sno other way to say it.
It assesses your 34 strengthsand it will give you your
(10:00):
results, will give you your topfive strengths, and the theory
behind it is actually very, veryinteresting.
It's a great way to kind ofrecognize the things that we
bring to the table.
So it's like some of the samplestrikes, like we have somebody
on our team who bringspositivity right.
This person exudes positivityand in every like challenging
situation they always have agreat mindset, a positive idea
(10:24):
to bring to the table right.
That mitigates some of the highanxiety moments that we may
feel at work, right.
So that's a really popularstrength and great one, I'm
thinking from our team Achiever.
Many of us have Relator empathy.
If you're somebody who is veryempathetic, you're bringing that
to the workspace.
You maybe become that personthat everybody goes to when they
(10:52):
feel frustrated and want totalk to you.
You're somebody who empathizes,so they're going to feel
comfortable with you and thatcan be a great thing in the
workspace.
You could bring people togetherand, of course, all these
strengths have shadow sides too.
But thinking of like okay, ifthis is a strength that you have
, it's going to play out in yourpersonal life, it's also going
to play out in your work lifeand you can use these in your
(11:13):
interviews.
You can talk about these thingsthat you bring to the table.
It's part of the value that youbring, because every employer
these days, when hiring, theyare wanting to hire based off of
skill.
We call it skills-based hiringand it's becoming more and more
popular in the workspace.
So they're going to be lookingat the skills, the strengths,
(11:35):
the knowledge and the attributesyou bring to the space.
Speaker 2 (11:40):
Yeah, it is so important to have this level of
self-awareness.
Let me tell you why.
So before, I feel like I have alot of confidence, but I also
feel like there's a lot of roomfor me to still grow right,
because you never stop growingin this realm of
self-understanding and one ofthe ways and why it's so
(12:00):
important for me specificallyand this may be for someone else
or someone else may notcompletely resonate, but I felt
more whole as I started tobetter understand myself.
I felt like a piece of mypuzzle of who I was became a
little bit more clear or itclicked a lot more and I was
able to kind of step in, leaninto understanding who I was and
(12:22):
allow that person to comethrough very authentically in
the workspace.
I didn't have to kind of likefigure it out or feel stuck in
some type of way.
And that's important to me isfeeling a little bit more whole
because I walk into the roomwith a lot more sense of self.
Right, I know who I am.
I'm not waiting for others toform an opinion or an idea of
(12:45):
who I am.
I know that for a fact.
But how can you also learn whatyour strengths and your skills
and talents are.
I know many of us have a hardtime sometimes reflecting on
what those are.
Those come naturally to Arminand I because we're in this
field and we're constantlytalking about these things.
Right, but if you're someonewho's far from the world of
career counseling which manypeople typically are how do you
(13:07):
kind of do this?
One of the ways that we canshow you or share with you on
how to practice exploring yourskills and strengths?
Ask the individuals in yourenvironment, right?
Your peers, your colleagues,your friends, your family
members, like think about whatdo they come and seek you out
(13:28):
for?
Right?
Does your friend?
Are you the planner in thegroup?
Are you the someone whoorganizes?
Are you the communicator thatkeeps in touch with all of your
friends?
Right, what are those skillsand strengths that they see in
you?
That is a great activity foryou to kind of practice.
That one helps you see howothers see you, right in this
positive light, but also givesyou deeper meaning and
(13:50):
understanding to the self.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Yeah, yeah, utilizing your environment as a source of
information is reallybeneficial, right?
Because these people areinteracting with you on a daily
basis and a lot of times peoplesee great strengths in us that
we don't see in ourselves,because if it's something that
comes naturally to us, we don'trealize that it can be a
(14:13):
strength.
It's just, this is the way thatwe are right.
But it is a lot of these thingsthat we may do naturally.
They are strengths, because noteverybody, every single person,
does things the same way.
So knowing and recognizing thatif you're like super organized,
right, I remember that'sactually something I I realized
(14:33):
I had to realize it was astrength.
You know, when I realized itwas a strength?
Speaker 2 (14:37):
when the show came on on Netflix, the the one with
the spark lady, the one that'slike, does this give you spark?
I don't know her name and I'mnot doing her justice does the
spark joy right, that that's umshow.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
and I literally remember telling my friends I
was like I cannot believe thisis a show and a business not in
a negative way.
I actually really loved theshow and I thought she was doing
a great business, but I waslike I do this kind of stuff,
like I didn't even know or thinkthat this can be become a
(15:14):
business or be so popular.
And the way that this personwas, you know, teaching other
people to do this, I was likewhat?
And my friend she was likeArmanay, you do this.
I was like what and my friendshe was like Armanay, you do
this.
Not everybody does this so sureand it can be a business
because she is, she has theskill.
She's teaching other people howto do it.
(15:34):
And that's when I realized thatme being organized and tidy and
knowing like what to let go ofand what to hold on to and
keeping my space like veryupdated all the time, that was a
skill and I didn't realize Ihad.
That's just the way I've alwaysbeen.
Speaker 2 (15:52):
I love that.
I love that and I thinksomething that that person I
feel horrible because I'm we'reliterally not doing her justice,
but but, but literally look uplike, well, armin is going to
look it up, because I don't wantto.
I don't want to miss um mariekondo oh my gosh.
There you go, marie kondo.
How marie knew how to sell thatright was because she knew how
(16:13):
to communicate her strengths andher talents to the world, and
that's not something that comesnatural to a lot of us, like how
to come trust.
Trust me, if I wasn't a careercounselor, I would suck,
probably, at communication, andthat is the truth.
Knowing how to communicate theimportance of your brand, like
just that concept, is not reallyknown to the average person.
(16:36):
It's known to us because wework in this field, but
communicating who you are andwhat your strengths are is not
something we naturally aretaught in society, like in
school.
In high school, no one ever,like I, was never taught to
reflect on my skills or mystrengths or how to even
communicate that to like thepeople around me, like I I I
(16:58):
think I told you this before I'man, but in high school I didn't
.
I never realized how involved Iwas and how many skills that I
gained from those experiences.
And now I can say I know how tocommunicate them, but the
average person doesn't.
And this is an important partof that right, because knowing
yourself is one part, but if youdon't know how to communicate
(17:19):
those parts of yourselves thatmake you who you are and give
you that joy and really do exudein your workspace and can't
communicate that there's not astrong sense of confidence on
the outside as well.
Speaker 1 (17:34):
Yeah, absolutely.
I mean, I resonate with thattoo.
I definitely would have beenless able to communicate my
thoughts clearly.
I would have also been a lotmore hesitant to speak up in
general or even public speakingspaces, or even just in one on
one like or social settings tospeak up, if had I not been in
(17:57):
this field.
So I know that you and I havelike developed that skill over
time.
But knowing how to communicatewhat it is that you have to
offer is a skill that we allshould have, because that is
what employers are looking for.
That is who gets hired.
You may be the most brilliantperson in the room, but if you
(18:19):
cannot showcase that, somebodyelse who's less skilled than you
is going to get the job,because they can showcase that.
Hey, listeners, do you alsoindulge on your favorite cup of
coffee?
During our show, we want toshare something to delight any
coffee lover Unique coffeethemed merchandise.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
I'm so in.
I'm always looking for uniquegifts, and coffee themed items
are always a hit.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Absolutely.
And where better to find themthan on buyblackitcom?
Buy Black.
It is all about weavingtogether style, art and prints
inspired by generations, pastand present.
They created their store toprovide items that are
heartwarming, inspirational,thoughtful and funny that you
(19:03):
can share with the people youlove and care about.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
Absolutely.
They offer a fantastic coffeelover selection which will pair
perfectly with your Coffee andCareer Hour podcast episode,
with a wide variety ofcoffee-themed merchandise, from
stylish mugs, t-shirts and evencoffee accessories.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
It was so cute the first time I saw it.
I'm thinking of a funny coffeethemed t-shirt for my colleagues
.
They are all huge coffee fans.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
Oh my god, yes, and you can really find something
special on there for everycoffee lover on your contact
list there, for every coffeelover on your contact list, and
with the coffee lover'sselection on buyblackitcom,
you're sure to find a unique andstylish item.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
It's the perfect place to find that special
something for the coffee loverin your life.
Use our affiliate link to get15% any items on their website
that's buyblackettcom.
Forward slash coffee and careerpod.
(20:08):
The link will be in our shownotes.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Now let's get back to our show.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
Unfortunately, that is the kind of environment that
we live in and compete in forwork, so the ability to
communicate your value is askill that everybody needs to
have.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Yeah, and how do you do this?
You practice.
I know it sounds so silly, butlike stand in front of the
mirror, get with your closefriend, your best friend,
someone you're comfortable with,that you feel like no shame
around.
Talk to them about it.
Right, For me, that's someonelike Arminé.
(20:45):
I can be like Arminé.
This is something I want topractice.
I know it doesn't sound likesomething as counselors.
For us, this is something verynatural that we can do, and we
can work with people, but ifyou're the average person
working, listening to thispodcast, and you're like how do
I communicate this?
That sounds fantastic.
I need to communicate my value,but how do I do this practice
(21:06):
Right?
How do you share what yourstrengths are?
Do you do it through example?
Do you use specific adjectiveslike we do right, Like achiever,
learner?
What does that mean, though?
How do I share that with peoplearound me?
If you go to your local coffeeshop, if you're a coffee head
like us, if you love this stuff,let's say you are in line and
(21:29):
you overhear that the person infront of you is working for your
dream company or dreamorganization, whatever it is,
and they're talking about howthey just opened a position for
X, Y or Z.
So let's say something you'refamiliar with your skillset, you
know you want to do.
Maybe that's the job you'vebeen looking for your whole life
right Like that confidence willdrive you to talk to that
(21:50):
person in front of you and sayyou know, I didn't mean to
overhear, right.
And then you do what.
You give an elevator pitchright and you communicate your
skills and your strengths.
So in a later episode we cantotally get into elevator
pitches, because that's a wholeother topic.
But how to communicate withpeople and effectively do so so
they understand, right, Causethat's the other part is knowing
(22:10):
how to do it.
But for the other person on theother side to comprehend what
your skills and strengths are isthe second part to that for
them to understand how thatvalue means something to them,
but also holistically, to youand your self-confidence.
Speaker 1 (22:24):
Absolutely.
Yeah, I love the tip on findingsomebody that you're
comfortable with and practicingthat language, practicing saying
this out loud.
I love also the tip of likesaying it in front of a mirror,
right, that you can.
Also.
If you maybe are somebody wholearns by writing I know that's
(22:47):
how I learn and process mythoughts is through writing it
out.
I would say you can write itout first.
Brainstorm the topic.
Not necessarily write it outword for word how you would say
your value to somebody, butwrite out the value that you
bring.
Write out the examples, thesituations where you realized
this was a skill, or how you dothese skills effectively in your
(23:11):
life.
Write those ideas down Now youhave content to work with.
Then you get in front of amirror or you find somebody
you're comfortable with.
Or, in the day of technology,go on a Google Meets or Zoom
call and record yourself andthen watch that recording right,
you can do that too and see howyou sound talking about these
(23:37):
amazing skills and qualitiesthat you have.
And the more you do it, themore comfortable and confident
you become doing that, and thenyou take that to your workspace.
So when you're speaking to yoursupervisor, when you're
speaking to your colleagues, youare able to articulate like,
yeah, I'm excellent at publicspeaking, I'm excellent at
(23:59):
program development.
I'm excellent at programdevelopment.
Let me create that program.
I can help you create thatprogram.
Say that to your colleague andsee how that goes.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
And that is why she is a career counselor everybody.
That's exactly why she'samazing.
Absolutely Take everything shesays, because it's gold.
It's free gold on this podcast.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
And the same for you, my dear.
So okay, MJ, let's say ourlisteners are like, yes, amazing
, I gotta, I gotta be self-awareand I have to learn how to
communicate my value in theworkspace.
Let's say they get that.
What is our next tip forsomeone to become more confident
at work?
Speaker 2 (24:42):
I love this one because this one really does it
for me.
It felt like once I did this, Ihad all the tools outside of me
that I needed to be able tofeel strong, to feel able to
feel confident, and that isunderstand how the system works.
Understand the lay of the landwherever you work.
(25:04):
What does that mean?
Know who is who, know wherethings are, know the processes,
know the regulations, know yourlimits in your role, know who
your boss reports to right Like.
That's one of the basics too,but understanding how the system
of your work, of your industry,of your job, of your role, what
(25:26):
does that look like?
Understanding that and havingclarity is one of the best
things and one of the best tipswe can also say to help gain
confidence in the workspace.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
Absolutely.
You've got to understand howyour role fits into the company
and, essentially, how it impactsthe company's goals.
Then you can do your job reallywell, because you know what you
need to produce for the companyto know that your position is
doing what it needs to do fortheir company to grow right.
(25:56):
And so you've got to understandthat system, the processes and
everything that MJ wasmentioning.
That is crucial to being ableto do your job at even the
minimum level right Not even doit well, but just to be able to
do your job.
You got to understand thosethings.
Now there's also this componentof knowing who is who and who to
(26:19):
go to for certain things.
I found in my career thatthat's helped me feel a lot more
comfortable, even in myworkspace issues with technology
(26:40):
at work.
Who do I go to for that?
If I'm having issues findingthis particular process or
document or item that I need toget this project done, who do I
go to?
Or who is somebody that canhelp expedite a process that
needs to get done so I could getmy job done?
Those are super importantbecause then you are utilizing
and navigating the system to beable to do your job and do it
(27:03):
more efficiently and smoothlyand more confidently.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
Absolutely, and that also comes with agency and
initiative right, like wantingto understand.
This is where, like if you arestarting a new job soon, or a
new role, or in maybe samecompany, different office,
different team, right, whateverthat looks like, or you're
starting a new program,undergrad, grad program, college
program, training certificate,whatever it is Since we're
(27:29):
asking those questions iscrucial because how are you
going to learn?
This information is bycommunity, right, going back to
the communication piece, butthose asking questions right,
questions from someone new neverbothers anybody.
Why?
Because you're learning, right,you're adapting, you're trying
to understand what you juststepped into.
(27:50):
So understanding those aspectsof your role are only going to
help strengthen your confidenceto do your job and do it well.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
Absolutely.
I remember you asking questionswhen you first started and they
were absolutely valid and itshowed that you're engaged, you
care, you want to learn.
So somebody who steps into theworkspace, this is the best time
to ask those questions, notthat you can't ask later on,
(28:22):
once you've been there for awhile, but the sooner you get
into the habit of doing that,the better and the sooner you
get that information.
So ask questions.
I remember I had to learn thatthis is how you find this
information, because if youdon't interact with people who
are not on your team you don'tnecessarily have to interact
with because you're not workingon a project with them, your
(28:44):
team, who you don't necessarilyhave to interact with because
you're not working on a projectwith them, If you don't do that,
you're never going to know thatthis person knows this resource
or is connected to somebodyelse who can get you something
that you need to get your jobdone right.
You're never going to know thatif you only stay siloed in your
work and on your team.
If you're part of a team, ifyou stay siloed, you're never
(29:07):
going to know what resources areavailable to you.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Yeah, absolutely, I will say I still ask Arminia
questions.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
Oh yeah, oh yeah, I still ask questions all the time
.
I ask you questions too.
You know questions are gold.
They're key to learning andgrowing and success.
But part of this is thatnetworking piece too.
You know we talk aboutnetworking a lot in career
development on this podcast.
We've talked about it so manytimes, but it's just it's there.
(29:36):
That's how the world works.
That's how people makedecisions in corporate.
That's how people makedecisions in education corporate
.
That's how people makedecisions in education in
government.
How do you think politics works?
The network is the key becausepeople are resources to one
another.
People bring knowledge andbring information and bring
(29:57):
skill sets to one another.
So, wherever you're placed,wherever you're working, know
what's available to you, knowwho is who and who is good at
what and who has access to what,because that will help you do
your job better, moreefficiently, and therefore you
will become more confident inyour space.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
I was recently chatting with someone who wanted
to understand or know, I guess,like what it's like to work in
the education like highereducation in general, kind of
just in general and I remembersaying and like thinking I'm
like look, I had zerounderstanding of how this worked
in my mind.
I was so focused on like aposition and a team and a
(30:40):
department.
I never really thought likebigger, broader institutional
level and all these differentthings, right.
So like, of course, as agraduate student, like my goal
is to get a job in a specificdepartment or area or work on
the team.
So I never thought and now thisis 2025, five years later right
, I can share with individualswho want to work in higher
(31:02):
education that understanding thedifferent systems in higher
education for example, we livehere in California CSUs versus
UCs versus private liberalschools, right Versus vocational
training programs versuscommunity colleges,
understanding all of thesedifferent institutions and the
way they work, is so much goldinformation that I now have.
(31:27):
But it's because I worked myway.
I stayed curious, I wanted tolearn and grow after I entered
the field how does this work?
And now, being a prioreducation professional for five
years, I feel confident to knowexactly what I'm talking about.
In the sense I was recentlyexplaining someone, something to
(31:48):
someone, and I was like, well,have you thought about like this
, this and that and hear howthis works here in that office
and this person and like allthese connecting dots?
And I'm like, oh, I didn't.
And I was like, yeah, likethat's, you know, like it goes
beyond.
It goes beyond what it is thatyour role is.
And for them, I remember themsaying they're like you know so
(32:09):
much.
And I'm like, well, becauseI've lived and breathed this,
but it's because I also askedthose important questions and
wanted to better understand whatit is that I'm working in the
environment, the people, thearea, the location, the systems
to be able to do my job and doit well and be a great
representation of a highereducation professional, and that
really does help.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
Oh yeah, and actually that's how people get promoted,
that's how people get advancedto the next phase in their
careers.
Because if you only think aboutjust your particular role and
kind of stay hyper focused orlike narrow minded, almost about
like this is my job, I'm justgoing to do my job and that's it
, and don't recognize how yourrole impacts your team and then
(32:54):
your boss's boss, and then thecompany at large and the system
at large, right, if you don'trecognize that, then you're not
going to get.
It's going to be a lot harderto get promoted or advanced,
because in those leadershiproles is also where people are
thinking a lot more big picture,right.
So you have to start thinkingbig picture about the work that
(33:17):
you're doing to even get intothose promotional roles in the
future too.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
So you got to.
It's funny, arminiamin, I know,and anyone out there who's taken
mbti and fully understands,because I am a isfj, because I
am a son of p, it's not a j?
Um sensing versus intuitive,because I'm sensing and I look
at things by details and notbigger picture.
(33:44):
I realize that, that being myinnate personality, and if you
are, if you know MBTI, you knowwhat I'm talking about Sensing
versus intuition, and we have awhole episode on that too, on
the MBTI as well.
Please go back and listen to it.
I struggled a lot to look atthings from a bigger picture.
Speaker 1 (34:03):
Oh, I'm surprised to hear that, because you do that
so well.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
Now, now I do that so well.
I struggled a lot to look atthings from the bigger picture
when I first started, but Ithink I was noticing that a lot
internally and I learned right.
This is where, like knowingwho's who and how the system
works, like observing, taking awhile, One I understood who.
I was right, Like I am that one.
(34:27):
I also have a lot moreself-awareness now as you grow
constantly.
But understanding my behavior,understanding different teams,
different styles the biggerpicture part grew with me
because I was so hyper focusedon the details and these aspects
.
But now I'm able to do that andI can share, like now I know
(34:48):
the system from a differentspace.
So I just thought that wascurious.
That was like a little lightbulb that went off in my head.
Speaker 1 (34:55):
Yeah, no, I love that example.
I do think some of it is tojust, you know, growing as a
professional too, because I'm onthe MBTI.
I'm intuitive, so I naturallyam a big picture thinker.
But I still had to learn, likewhen I was fresh out of graduate
school I wasn't thinking abouthow my one role as an academic
advisor impacts the institutionat large in the very beginning.
(35:18):
But I learned that over time.
I also had an excellent directorat the time where I was working
who would communicate veryclearly what was going on in the
system in student affairs andacademic affairs and like how
that trickled down to our roleas academic advisors and
whatever initiatives werehappening, what that meant for
(35:39):
us.
So I think through thoseconversations is how I realized
like, oh yeah, my job is likemore than just what I was
originally thinking, very muchmore narrow minded, and then,
coming to UCLA, learned thateven more, recognizing where we
our job.
(35:59):
Part of our job is to enhancecareer readiness across the
entire institution, across allof UCLA.
So it's not just the studentswho come to our offices but our
job is to enhance it for theentire institution.
So that means going to wherethe students are, going to where
the staff is.
So I had to learn that right inrole and what that expectation
(36:22):
was on us and like that's abigger weight to carry as one
little career counselor going towork every day the bigger
weight to carry.
But I think you you learn thatover time as a professional.
But you got to stay curious andand understand the importance
of knowing the systems and thepeople and the resources
(36:43):
available to you the systems andthe people and the resources
available to you.
Speaker 2 (36:48):
I love that.
All right, armine.
Tip number three is somethingyou and I have both done,
whether we felt it in ourstomachs or not.
And I say felt it in ourstomachs or not, because this
one can definitely make you feela lot of different things.
But our third tip tostrengthening, to gaining
confidence, to making you andhelping you become more
(37:10):
confident at work is take a risk, go out there and try new
things.
Speaker 1 (37:17):
That is a mic drop moment.
Yes, absolutely, take a risk.
So when we say take a risk,what we're talking about here is
work on different things inyour workspace right now.
Ask for different projects, askfor projects that are aligned
(37:40):
with your interests and skills.
I think one thing that helpedme become more confident at work
is knowing the things thatexcite me and then intentionally
seeking out those projects.
And then when you do it and youdo it well, because you are
actually aligned with that kindof work you do it well.
(38:00):
You get that positive feedbackas well that oh yeah, I totally
can do this.
And then you buildself-efficacy this idea that you
can do it.
That increases every singletime you engage in a task that
is aligned with you and you doit well.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
Yeah, and I am not a risk taker.
I will tell you, I am notsomeone who wakes up every day
and seeks thrills.
No, that is not cute, Little MJ.
I am not someone who will dothat, but I it's.
You know, what's funny is thatat work I do.
Speaker 1 (38:38):
I do that all the time at work.
Speaker 2 (38:40):
You volunteer left and right.
I mean, like today I probablysigned up for like two other
things that I shouldn't have.
But like you know what I mean,like I'm just joking, but I take
risks all the time now in myworkspace because, guess what,
I've grown in my confidence,right, like I know, I know what
to do.
But in the beginning, when Ihad minimal confidence, very
(39:03):
limited mindset, a lot ofimposter syndrome.
Imposter syndrome was the mainvoice in my head.
I was not taking risks.
Why?
Because I was scared out of mymind that I was going to make a
mistake, scared out of my mindthat I was going to make a
mistake, knowing I still had theskills and what I had to value
and why they picked me as acandidate.
I'm thinking about my veryfirst job.
(39:23):
I'm heck.
I'm thinking about my veryfirst job.
Heck.
I'm thinking about my veryfirst internship as a researcher
as well, and how I was soscared to take risks and do
something different or be me.
But I will say you areabsolutely right.
I grew in my self-efficacy andI mean, look at me now.
But I will tell you somethingto add onto this is the taking
(39:46):
risks is beautiful and it's it'sreally.
It is.
All of this is gold guidance,but this one really does help
because it shows a lot ofinitiative on your part, right.
It shows a lot of you doingthese things and putting it into
action.
And what I will say is, as anemployee, right, something that
is also very, very powerful isfrom that risk.
(40:09):
Whether it's a new project,whether it's meeting with a
colleague, whatever it issomething that's different or
outside that feedback, thatconstructive feedback that you
receive helps grow thatconfidence that you have,
because, guess what, everyfeedback that you get, all the
(40:32):
feedback that you receive in theworld, is given to you to help
you grow and become a betterversion of you.
Speaker 1 (40:36):
Absolutely, and you know feedback is, it can be I
was, you know direct andindirect, so you can directly
ask people hey, I just worked onthis project.
What do you think could havebeen better, what do you think I
did well, et cetera.
You could ask your boss, youcould ask your colleagues.
You could also seek indirectfeedback just by seeing how
(40:59):
people react to the things thatyou're doing, saying, behaving,
the way that you're presentingyour work.
You will see and feel that frompeople's energy and reaction.
So that's also another form offeedback to pay attention to.
But ultimately, it's about nottaking things personally and
(41:19):
knowing that there's always roomfor growth and finding that
safe space and that safe personthat you can have an open and
honest conversation with.
With all of this, I will say,though, also don't be too hard
on yourself, right.
Yeah, try new things.
Yeah, build self-efficacy,communicate your value, know
(41:43):
yourself.
These are all big topics, big,big things we're talking about.
They don't happen overnight,right.
This is all a process as you'regrowing as a professional and
figuring out who you are in theprofessional space and where
that's going to take you in thelong term, right In the future.
So these are all big thingswill come over time, but we hope
(42:07):
that these concepts will staywith you every time you are
making a decision at work, everytime you are about to start a
new project or so.
Think about these concepts andhow you can slowly and surely
start implementing these toultimately become that confident
(42:27):
person who shows up to work,speaks confidently, knows what
they're talking about and,essentially, is like a role
model that other people can lookup to, because you're like a
badass out there.
Speaker 2 (42:41):
Yeah, absolutely.
Let me leave you with threequestions for you to check in
with yourself, to remember thesethree tips who am I and who do
I want to be in the workspace?
Can I learn something new aboutmy role or the company or
industry that I work for, andwhen is the last time I tried
(43:01):
something new?
Time I tried something new?
Ask yourself these threequestions frequently and see how
the answers vary or what thatkind of means for yourself, and
if you need to take a moment todo a little bit of a deep dive
and maybe change some things upin your everyday work experience
.
So we hope that thisconversation can elevate and
(43:22):
empower you to grow yourconfidence and we're excited to
hear your results.
I guess to DM us, let us knowif this works, let us know if
this helps in any type of way orif you're trying other things
to help you grow your confidencetoo.
Speaker 1 (43:36):
Thank you so much for listening.
If you enjoy our show, we askthat you write a review on Apple
podcasts to help us reach morepeople looking to level up their
career.
Speaker 2 (43:47):
Want to connect with us, be sure to follow our
Instagram and websites.
Speaker 1 (43:51):
Follow Career Rise on Instagram for career advice and
motivation to help you stay upto date on all things career.
Be sure to also visit mywebsite, careerriseorg, to book
a session with me and accessfree resources.
My goal is to help you clarifyyour goals, make a plan and feel
confident in your careerjourney.
Speaker 2 (44:10):
Follow Career Confident Latina for your weekly
dose of career advice and myjourney as a first-gen Latina
counselor.
You can also send me a messageon mjcareerconfidencecom if you
wanna book a career counselingsession.
I want to help grow yourconfidence as you reach your
career dreams.
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