Closing the Confidence Gap

In 2018, the AAC&U published results from their latest study conducted with employers and hiring managers which examined the needed skills and knowledge areas to be successful in the workplace. While both groups expressed satisfaction with recent graduates’ abilities to apply what they had learned in college to entry-level work, there was a notable confidence gap when it came to perceived abilities of those same employees to advance to higher-level positions. A big part of owning what’s next, for you, has to do with closing this confidence gap, both for yourself and for your employer. How do you learn the skills and abilities that will make you successful in the future? How do you identify your blindspots and develop a plan to overcome them? How do you convince your employer, or a future employer, that you’re ready for what’s next? In this piece from Psychology Today, our assistant vice president Allison McWilliams explores this dilemma and provides tips for how you can close the confidence gap, starting today.