The Life of a University Graduate in 2020
28 Dec 20
HR
BY Rachel Lobban
28 Dec 20
HR
BY Rachel Lobban
If you told me this time last year that I would now be in a job I am passionate about, working for a company I am proud to be part of, I would not have believed you.
This time last year I was in the middle of my final year of University; studying for a BSc (Hons) in Business Psychology and enjoying Wetherspoon’s 2-for-1 cocktails, oblivious to the problems that would arise in 2020. Eager for the road ahead, I was hopeful that upon graduating I would start a career in human resources.
Covid-19 hit and up until I finished in June, my lockdown experience was filled with assignments and exams, which (I can’t believe I’m saying this) I was thankful for. I treated myself with a month of nothingness in June before I began my hunt for a graduate job. Given the world circumstances I thought I would have to reluctantly apply for any job I saw fit, in panic that I would be out of work all year.
It was not until August when a job advert titled “20-24 recruitment and on-boarding assistant” caught my eye. At last, an opportunity to begin my career! After looking up the company and answering my own question of "who, or what, are Inzpire?", I began my application and enthusiastically submitted.
Researching Inzpire in the weeks leading up to my interview only made me keener to be successful in being hired for the role. Inzpire's 'one team, one vision' ethos stood out; this is the kind of company I dreamt of working for.
My interview for the role was my first ever experience of a job interview and to say I was nervous is an understatement. I prepared like I had never prepared for anything before, getting my parents to practice mock interviews with me, and constantly rehearsing my answers.
As soon as I was greeted by SJ - Inzpire's HR assistant - my nerves vanished. It did not feel like an interview, it felt like a chat with friends. The rest, I guess, is history!
Since starting with Inzpire I have been exposed to almost all aspects of HR, and importantly, the experienced HR team here are always keen to hear my ideas and suggestions on how we can improve current processes. It is brilliant to be able to combine the academic knowledge I gained at university with the practical experience I am gaining all the time at Inzpire - practical experience that I started building right from day one!
Within a week of joining, I was already involved in liaising with and interviewing candidates. Within a month I had taken over the on-boarding of new starters, conducting their inductions face-to-face and virtually as well as producing new policy documents and working on workplace mental wellbeing. I have already been able to apply the psychology modules of my degree by advising my colleagues on how we as a business can recognise the signs of employee burnout and how to mitigate the risks of it happening. In my short time with the business I have also helped develop and improve the software used for company HR functions.
Now coming up to the start of my fourth month working at Inzpire (time does fly when you’re having fun!), I feel like I have not only began my dream career but have also found my dream company.
As this is my first ‘real job’ I wasn't sure what to expect. With the strange times that we found ourselves in, I came to the conclusion that it was unlikely that the start of my career would be as I expected - whatever that was. Luckily my time at Inzpire started at a time where the HR team and I were able to visit Inzpire's head office to begin my integration in to the team. This brought a sense of normality to the process, and allowed me to learn more in a short time than if I were working purely from home without any face-to-face interaction with my brand new colleagues. We have continued to come in to the office when requried, in a covid-safe manner, allowing me to continue learning - however, despite the positives, coming in to a big (mostly) empty office is still a bit eerie! Even now, I have only met a small percentage of the Inzpire family, but everyone I have met has been extremely welcoming and epitomise Inzpire’s values. I've also found that they are more than willing to teach me some Jackspeak (I’ll dit on in a second, just got to pop to the heads)!
When I talk to my parents about my job they are delighted with how happy I am, whilst also being a bit green-eyed. It never gets old hearing “can you get me a job there”.
I must admit, I am still a bit shell shocked that I have manged to bag such an incredible job, especially in these times. I owe that to the whole Inzpire team and Hugh’s transformative approach towards the business and its employees.
28.03.24
GECO
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