From a university undergraduate to (neurodiverse) employee: How to adapt to change and settle into a new environment…

Naturally with a new job there is a lot of potential change – moving to a new location, renting a different property, making new friends, moving further away from home and loosing what is familiar.

The question is what can be done to ease that transition?

In this article I will explore what an individual and what an organisation can do to ease this process.

How an individual can adapt to a new environment:

Firstly, being ready for change is going to set you up nicely for the experience of a new lifestyle and potential challenges ahead. It is normal to not have this immediately because if change was easy there would be no need for probation periods, arguably designed for people to settle in.

Remember, an organisation has a vested interested to get you settled in quickly. This is because of the time and resource already invested in finding you in the recruitment and selection process. Therefore, you should feel comforted knowing the company have your back and believe you are the best person for the job.

Personally, keeping up hobbies helped create the new bridges that would become the concrete foundations for the change ahead as well as providing multiple goals or contexts which act as insurance or reassurance when things don’t go well in one context of your life.

Upon reflection, instead of spending so much time trying to fit into the organisation I went to work for, I would have benefitted earlier on to show more empathy and ask some reflective questions that would have helped me understand my colleagues earlier and quicker than I did. 

 How an organisation can help employees adapt to a new environment:

A company would do well to exercise an open-door policy for you to speak to someone when you have any questions or doubts.

Additionally, encourage introductions among people around the business who may have similar interests ie undergraduates/graduates or through social activities. This will help new people feel like they belong in the company and will be a step closer to securing tacit knowledge, commitments and discretionary effort.

Try to be open to new ideas and willing to challenge ‘the way things are around here’ so that new employees can voice opinions in an open environment.

Host a team meal as an ice breaker and again throughout the year to act as a touch point within the team so people can see each other outside of the work environment. This may help people feel more connected and patient with one another. Therefore, the team may have higher empathy towards each other which will help for overcoming adversity.

Think about the increased cohesion if you consider offering secondment as a benefit to high performance or to add a flavour to a placement or graduate opportunity, the individual may excel and perform even better in a different role and this way top talent and specialist skills can be retained at low cost.

Conclusion:

Fitting in to a company isn’t necessarily a straight forward process, there are a lot of factors to consider but if you think you could use some help or see someone who could use some help, be confident and reach out. The only silly question is the one not asked.

Expectations of transitioning from work back to University

Change is a constant in life so the mindset to anticipate it, deal with it and adapt to it is useful. You don’t have to expect yourself to deal with it on your own, that’s why support exists. The issue may be knowing when to get support as this is very personal. Perhaps in a work environment it was a senior colleague but in a university environment it may be a fellow student. A note of caution is that strategies which work in one environment do not necessarily work so well in another. Having completed a placement, going back to university is exciting but daunting at the same time. Exciting to restore old relationships and build new ones but daunting due to the pressure of needing to see results after spending so much time and effort on one project. Therefore, deciding what approach to take and how to plan your time is key.

 Some positive aspects that should flourish transitioning back to university are anonymity, 2-way discussions and exploration:

• Anonymity – No longer under the microscope of other people. There may be more control and independence of behaviour, time, effort and resource and enjoy simply being yourself and showing your personality
• 2-way discussions – students are customers and western ideology says the customer is king, therefore students are truly listened to and what they say is valid and responded to in most cases
• Exploration – being able to choose what you do and being able to get a wide range of guidance and support from the university. But also, to learn more about the theory behind what you were doing in that time, and draw on practical and real-life examples, and these are something that you can share and help others to develop and understand too. 

Some aspects that could make someone apprehensive about returning to university are getting the balance, group work and stress:

• Getting the balance – knowing how to keep going after a long slog of studying, knowing when to cut losses and take a break/practice a hobby/sleep/cook instead of beating a dead horse
• Group work – naturally any coursework requiring group work may make someone nervous about who will be in the group and if everyone will contribute to the project or not
• Stress – sure it’s not a 9-5 lifestyle but student life can be challenging due to the expectation of knowing which opportunities to take up at what time and potentially causing guilt from a lack of action or the feeling of being overwhelmed. Additionally, stress may cause a lack of focus and cause someone’s mindset to spiral which is when the here and now (grounding) is important as well as putting things to the side in order to “command time”. Perhaps you may look to remove stress in your life by removing negative influences which may include the job you don’t want to do, people you don’t want to be with or the activity you don’t really have time for. There is no one size fits all.

It’s all good and well to say to a student that the world is your oyster, however without support, some big assumptions and decisions on the student’s behalf, how to make the most of university may not be clear which may be a source of confusion. How much effort to apply to your commitments is a decision you need to weigh up. The quote you reap what you sow may have some truth behind it but do so at your own speed, rather than the level other people say you should and avoid comparing yourself.

Placement Advice for University Students

How many people apply for their degree with a sandwich degree in mind?

What do you want from your degree?

Firstly, if you expect getting a placement to be quick and easy it rarely is, it’s best be ready to put in the time and effort and carefully select what you apply for in order to A – show your passion for the role and B – show you’ve researched the industry and C – are the right person for the job.

Some benefits of placement are the following; as a fellow placement colleague once said, ‘placement is like squeezing 6 years of experience into 1’ – Andrew Helliwell, 2019.

Placement improves your employability as it instils a business-oriented mindset, challenges your degree-oriented mindset provides an extra flavour to your degree, allows you to apply what you have learned, allows you to access careers advice to help inform you of your post university options and encourages the development of your interpersonal skills through working as a member of a team. You can also find out what you like, don’t like, what you are good at, what you need to improve, how you like (or may not like) to be managed by someone else. These are invaluable insights for your future job applications.

Insight:

I applied to a range of recruitment, general manager, managerial, hr, talent management and learning and development roles which involved 6 final stage assessment centres/final stage interviews for the job offer I took.

Please don’t get disheartened when you don’t get the job you want as we are in an extremely competitive labour market where companies are in a lucky position where they can recruit from a nation-wide talent pool – moreover, this shows the importance of you being you and finding a company which suits you.

You would do well to keep aiming for a placement after rejections, use this as a learning opportunity to reflect on your performance, and always ask for feedback so you can improve and develop ready for the next interview.

Have you considered the following?

Have your own business idea you would like to pursue? Then liaise with NEST and the Placement Office to discuss the logistics and feasibility of your idea to make sure you have the support you may need to lean on during your exciting venture.

Be mindful of what you are expecting from your placement as there are some lessons you have to learn at work as social/sporting/academic life can’t teach you some things, you just have to experience it.

Be aware that it is a testament to your character how you deal with job rejections or non-replies. Try to keep motivated and keep up the momentum as you will almost certainly get a placement if you want one.

Also note that you will have the option of a Work Based Learning Project while on placement which is a fantastic way to bag 40 credits before final year! Once you are on placement you will be asked to complete an e-portfolio which is an online google site used to report back on your experience (best to do this as you go along so it’s fresh and you can add more technical detail once you understand the processes better).

Support:

Application queries and motivation boosts when dealing with rejections: Placement Office, Placement Assistants, Placement Mentors, the employer’s HR Department

General support: Course mates, flatmates, reslife, University Department’s Engagement Team

Signposting to the appropriate support: Personal Tutors and Course Leaders

Industry specific knowledge: Careers and Employability Service, Module Lecturers and Module Coordinators.

Anything: Wellbeing, Chaplaincy, Peer Mentors

What can you do next?

Think about what industry you would like to gain an insight in

If you have got an offer don’t be afraid to keep applying/attend that last-minute assessment centre, it works for some of people

Try to drop any slang and be professional by replying to all email communications and address your ability to articulate yourself and learn how to prioritise properly ie ABC: A – do today, B – do by the end of the week and C – do by the end of next week.

Conclusion:

Placement is a great opportunity to find an environment where you can unlock your potential and start your career in self-discovery. Don’t be afraid to stand out and you would do well to have the courage to challenge the status quo and think about your time on placement as a business consultant.

Placement is completely worth the time and effort it will likely take you to secure one and will provide you with a business-oriented mindset and perhaps a fresh perspective on life more generally in terms of valuing your time and using your time better.

More EmployAbility articles imminent on workplace tips: ‘Things they don’t tell you’, ‘Reflecting on Careers Advice’, and my ‘HR Placement experience’.