For the more extroverted in the audience, this might not as much of an issue. They can just rush into a room and start making friends with everyone. Couple this extroversion with an undying drive to succeed and you’ve got the making of a dot com mogul. Unfortunately, not everyone has that level of outward confidence.

Many people, whether they tell you or not, are pretty insecure in their abilities. They’ll walk into interviews thinking that they’re probably not going to get hired. They may get a project from the boss, only to think that someone else could probably do a better job. They compare themselves to others, only to get depressed because they don’t measure up to some of their more successful peers. It doesn’t have to be this way.

I know that when I signed up for the co-op program at university, I went in thinking that it would provide me with some excellent work experience — it did — and that I’d be able to do quite well with the whole job application process. Unfortunately, for the first round of hiring, despite sending out about 50 applications and going through more than a dozen interviews, I was still jobless. It was certainly discouraging and I imagine that I went into ensuing interviews with a certain level of insecurity; I didn’t want another rejection.

Looking back, all that insecurity was for nothing. I persevered and got a rewarding position at United Way during the second round of hiring. While at United Way, I helped to plan and run about 30 different workplace campaigns, ranging in size from 6 to over 600 employees, raising over half a million dollars for our community. Getting work terms after that was easy; the next placement took just 3 applications and 1 interview.

If you are feeling a little insecure about achieving your goals, that’s OK, because you know what? The rest of the world is too. Do not overestimate the competition and underestimate yourself. You are better than you think… So is everyone else, but they don’t know that.