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From being proactive to surviving probation, here is what new graduates need to bear in mind about full-time working
From being proactive to surviving probation, here is what new graduates need to bear in mind about full-time working Graduates can mistake a 'hard-work culture' for a bad one.
Don’t let anyone gaslight you into thinking that bad practice is just, ‘how we do things here’comes with a mix of excitement and nervousness. While you will be trained for how to do the job, nobody hands you a manual for workplace culture, salary negotiation, or how to spot a bad boss before you’ve signed the contract.
Dr Laura Bambrick, social policy and employment affairs officer at the Irish Congress of Trade Unions , helps graduates and workers navigate the world of work. Changing course after a degree: ‘Life is too short to prioritise money over meaning’You’ve been through the interview process, you were told you were great, and you’ve joined the company.
Then, English says, reality hits: you’re one of a pool of graduates, assigned to a manager or mentor who is busy doing their own job.
“You are down their priority list,” she says. “With this in mind, they want you to come to them with suggestions, not problems. They may want to check in once a month or so, but that process should be led by you, the graduate.
“Ask questions like how do they want this relationship to work: a weekly email, a scheduled monthly check-in, an open-door policy? ” Be proactive in this and keep people informed. ”In a previous career in banking, English staffed transaction teams from a pool of around 40 analysts and associates.
“Out of all of them, the same three or four people were consistently requested by name. All were equally skilled on paper. The difference was attitude: a ‘can-do’ response, or an honest explanation if they couldn’t take something on, and treating colleagues like humans, not people to be afraid of.
“The key characteristics of a successful graduate are initiative, proactivity, and keeping people informed, especially when something isn’t going to plan. Managers would much rather hear about a problem early than discover you spent weeks quietly trying to fix it alone. ”New EU pay transparency law will require employers to be upfront about salary ranges in job ads and will end interview questions about your previous pay.
“Job adverts with vague offers of ‘a competitive salary’ are to be consigned to history and interview questions about your previous salary are to be consigned to history,” Bambrick says. “Because the Government is late putting pay transparency rules into Irish employment law, this year’s graduates will unnecessarily miss starting their careers with the benefit of a level playing field in salary negotiations, and risk underpricing themselves or being lowballed by employers, like generations of workers before them,” Bambrick says.
Until those protections land, English says the burden falls on the graduate. Around half of job ads still don’t list a salary, and even where they do, the range can be wide – say, €50,000 to €80,000. Employers can’t legally ask what you currently earn, but they can ask about your expectations, a question tied directly to closing the gender pay gap, since women are statistically more likely to undersell themselves.
“Use resources like gradireland’s salary survey to benchmark your industry and location, then anchor your answer. For instance, you might say that based on what you can bring to this role and current salaries in this industry, you’re targeting a salary in the region of X. “If you are really targeting, say, a salary of €35,000, then tell them you’re looking for €35,000-€40,000. And because graduates often don’t like talking about themselves, practice saying it out loud.
Twenty minutes of cringey role play might be worth it. ”A six-month probation period means exactly what it sounds like: a six-month test after which – or during – you can be let go.
“This is why it is important to ask questions,” says English. “How do you like this prepared, when do you want it delivered, is there any feedback on how I could improve? ” Instead, ask early and often how the person prefers to give feedback, when, in what format.
“Remembering that you are nobody’s first priority, it’s still important to say that you can get bad mentors or colleagues who don’t care about giving you opportunities to improve. If you are doing everything right and hearing nothing back, you need to speak up and advocate for yourself. If you’re doing everything right and still hearing nothing back, do not quietly give up.
Go to HR, and set out plainly what you’ve done and that you’re not getting the feedback you need while on probation.
“An expectation that showing up includes regularly working long hours and always being easily contactable out-of-hours crosses a legal line,” Bambrick says. “Having a strong work ethic will only get you so far. If your work-life isn’t balanced, stress and burnout will inevitably undo what you’ve worked towards. You have a right, underpinned by legislation, to switch off from work-related email and messages in the evening, at weekends and on annual leave.
The law is there to protect your health and wellbeing. ”“Workplace culture ranges from positive to toxic,” says Bambrick.
“Don’t let anyone gaslight you into thinking that bad practice is just, ‘how we do things here’. “If, for example, your workday ends at 5pm, but you notice or are told that ‘nobody leaves at five’ ask for the overtime rates or TOIL policy. The answer is a good reflection of where on the workplace culture spectrum the company is at. ” Another red flag is a high turnover of staff, Bambrick says.
“There’s a lot of truth in the saying, ‘people don’t leave bad jobs, they leave bad bosses’. Do your homework on the company. Are jobs being advertised again and again?
“People are familiar with those ‘best employers’ charts that pop up every year. But they are less familiar with a new gender pay gap portal which, from the end of this year, will allow you to search a database of 6,000 employers for the pay difference between their men and women employees. That will tell you a lot more about a company’s values than their DEI mission statement.
” English says some graduates could mistake a “hard-work culture” for a bad one.
“You can tell a lot through the interview process, by how respectful interviewers are of your time, the questions they are asking and even what the rapport is like between the interview panellists. “Then, in the job, if you’re advocating for yourself, asking for feedback and getting nothing back, that is a sign to me that they are not interested in developing you,” says English. Why did you choose Ireland?
Graduates from around the world give their views‘I knew of people in other companies who weren’t offered roles at the end of their grad programmes’‘Disappointed and shocked’: Protesters criticise proposed new rules for Irish citizenshipAugust was joint-hottest month ever recorded globally, scientists reportEnergia sparks €92m management stock options expense amid takeoverWhy did you choose Ireland? Graduates from around the world give their views
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