Fake It ‘Til Ya Make It: How to Nail That ‘Confidence’ Thing

Jess Dawson, April 2017

Radio 1 is always on the look-out for creative people to be part of their Where it Begins scheme. While the current application window is closed; Jess Dawson, who took part in the scheme this year, gives us the lowdown on what to expect...

Pursuing a place at BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra can seem a bit too good to be true – especially if you’re a bit shy like me. Yet, last year I completed the eight-week BBC Where It Begins Scheme, and I loved it!

But how did I survive this two-month rollercoaster ride of an epic experience? Here’s my honest ( and hopefully non-cringe-worthy) top five tips that got me through it - and may help you too!

I soon learnt that when scary situations present themselves, dealing with it straightaway helps to diffuse what seems like a terrifying situation into a more manageable one.

For example, in a Newsbeat meeting, I had a great idea to pitch for the news story that day. But because I kept holding off when to speak up, I reached the end of the meeting without saying a word. Everything seems ten times scarier when you wait.

So if you see that application form for new interns, get on it. Don’t let that seed of doubt grow into a ‘Whomping Willow’, which convinces you that applying is pointless.

If you get into the BBC for a interview/assessment day, immediately speak to as many fellow applicants as you can – then, once you get into that room for your group assessment, the scariness of speaking to lots of new people is diminished because you’ve already done it.

Little steps you take straight away genuinely makes all the difference.

It’s so easy to compare yourself to others. It can be very crippling and demoralising. At my first interview for the Radio 1 and 1Xtra internship (side note: I got rejected post-interview twice before I got it on the third try), I stepped into this big scary building with all of these incredibly confident, bold and talented applicants. I listened to them talk about how they’ve worked everywhere under the sun, how they have already got BBC experience, how they’re best mates with Tony Hall, the Director General (big boss) of the BBC. And you know what happened? I declined myself for the job then and there, entering the interview with 20-second answers and absolutely no reference to MY skills and talents.

The last time I got interviewed; I imagined every single person who had either applied for the internship – or wanted to – outside the building queuing up. There would be at least a thousand people there. Even if YOU don’t think you’re good enough when you walk in that building with a bunch of others who you deem better than yourself, someone did think you were better than all those imaginary people queuing outside. You are the crème de la creme. Remember every person who would love to be in your position, and use that position to your every advantage.

When you lack confidence, everything you say or do has to be so thoroughly prepared that any voice of doubt in your head has no space. Shut down the voice of doubt, and you’re ready to smash it.

Jess at her Where It Begins interview

Whether it’s applying for an application or getting interview ready, do ridiculous amounts of preparation to fake that confidence. For example, I had a pre-interview task to think of a documentary about grime music. Honestly, I had seen Stormzy live a few times but my musical knowledge on grime was pretty non-existent. I bought books, watched videos, read interviews and did everything in my power to make myself the MASTER of grime. My interviewer later told me that it was clear I hadn’t really listened to grime in my life, but the crazy amount of knowledge I had and how confidently I delivered it was one of the best things about my interview and why they wanted me on board.

Email everyone in the industry you look up to, get their advice. Tweet past interns, get them to give you the lowdown. Get your application read over by industry professionals.

Write your application like you think you’re the BEES KNEES and walk into that interview like you’re the next big thing. Pretend your confidence is not an issue and, soon it won’t be.

Though my plans have flexed and taken a few new paths, I’ve been very set on having some sort of creative media career for a while now, be it editor of NME, Radio 1 presenter or being Louis Theroux 2.0. I’ve always stuck to dreaming big and never compromising. It’s always a bit of a confusing one when you’ve got huge ambition yet zero confidence. The best words of wisdom I ever got was from my Grandad: “It’s not a case of IF you’ll get from A to B; you may take some weird routes or U-turns and it’s a case of HOW you get there in the end”.

Having a dream and clinging on it for dear life will get you through the most difficult obstacles, and overtime as your dream gets that bit closer, your confidence will grow too.

You might sometimes over think things. I know I do, especially in new situations with new people. I constantly look for reassurance that people I meet like me, I cringe if my laugh was a bit weird, I constantly evaluate my personality traits and overthink if I’m annoying someone.

Going to interviews, therefore, was a nightmare. Someone was actually getting PAID to evaluate me in the way that I do to myself, every day. I’d assume that they would hate my flaws as much as I did.

One of my most recent discoveries was that, actually, my flaws are part of what make me relatable, likeable, and HUMAN. I’ve met people who seemingly have no flaws - or believe they don’t - and they’re the hardest to get on with.

That little trip you made on your way to your chair? The way you sometimes try to deliver a joke but get your words mixed up? Your ‘unique’ sense of humour? YASS! Embrace it, admit it, love it. You’re real.