Why Quality Onboarding Is So Important for Recent Graduates
So you are about to finish college. This must be one of the most exciting yet uncertain times in your life. Although it is associated with the end of long and tedious studies, ahead you are going to face a lot of new challenges. One of them is job search.
For recent graduates, entering the labor market for the first time might be one of the most significant challenges of adolescence. No surprise, this time can cause a lot of stress. And the only thing that really helps is onboarding. In this article, an expert from a reliable college admission essay writers will tell you everything about job search anxiety and why quality onboarding matters so much. Let’s dive in!
What Is a Job Search Anxiety?
In a nutshell, this condition is defined by a state of unease and dread caused by the necessity to search for a new job. It can involve strong feelings of distress, uncertainty about the future, fear of rejection, and so on.
Who Faces Job Search Anxiety?
This condition is incredibly widespread. In fact, the majority of job seekers are facing it, regardless of their age, work experience, and other factors. It can be caused by a variety of things, namely, firing, past rejections, dread of the interviewing process, financial struggles, and many other issues. Nevertheless, recent grads tend to face this condition the most often.
There is no secret that academic loads in modern colleges and universities are enormous. Due to loads of homework tasks and academic papers, students rarely have enough time for their extracurriculars and personal lives. They often have to read essay writing service reviews and delegate their tasks to professionals just to keep up with a hefty load. Needless to say, they almost never have enough time to have a job while in college.
Given that, the majority of recent grads have to jump into the workforce straight from the classroom. And the majority of them have never been there before. Respectively, they tend to experience even higher levels of job search anxiety just because this is their first job search. A recent study by TimelyMD confirms this statement – as many as 68% of fresh grads feel stressed and anxious about entering the labor market. And most often, this state is caused by one of the following worries:
- Not being able to land and keep a job (65%);
- Not being able to make enough money for a living (52%);
- Not being able to become fully financially independent (49%).
What Is Onboarding?
Now that you know about job search anxiety, there is another important term to understand – onboarding. Simply put, it’s the process of integrating new employees into the existing corporate system.
When handled right, quality onboarding consists of four main phases:
- Pre-onboarding. This stage involves preparing new employees for their first day, delivering a welcome package, etc.
- Welcoming and role-specific training. The next phase involves notifying other employees about the newcomer, setting up an office tour, scheduling introductions with teams, and communicating the company’s values and policies. Also, this stage involves providing role-specific training needed to help the new employee succeed.
- Easing into the new job. This stage often involves providing new employees with additional mentorship, tools, and resources that would make their jobs simpler.
- Ongoing development. The final phase implies ensuring ongoing development within a particular role and organizing regular checkpoints to help them fit in. This stage can last from the first 90 days to the first year in a new role.
5 Reasons Quality Onboarding Is Crucial for Recent Grads
- It Reduces Stress and Anxiety
While in college, students face tons of stress. All these lectures, exams, and essay writing make up nearly 100% of their time in college. Then they graduate, and this stress that they accumulated throughout years in college is doubled by job search anxiety. Needless to say, such an unstable condition makes fresh grads very vulnerable. And this can greatly affect their productivity in the workplace.
Quality onboarding can ease the pressure and stress caused by entering the workforce. As a result, it helps young employees integrate into the new environment easier.
- It Helps Them Reach Their Full Potential Quickly
After getting out of college, the most diligent students have a lot of theoretical knowledge in their field and a number of “school” skills. But the truth is that knowing how to write an essay or research the topic doesn’t really help in the workplace. To succeed in a job, fresh grads need to accumulate hands-on experience and professional skills. On average, it can take 12 months to reach your full potential.
Quality onboarding helps here too. It often involves additional training and mentorship. Thus, it helps new employees (and especially recent graduates) acquire the knowledge and skills they need for their roles faster.
- It Boosts Employee Engagement
The majority of recent graduates are Gen-Zers. They are the future of the workforce. And they have a serious engagement issue. According to the Society for Human Resource Management, Generation Z has the lowest rate of workplace engagement (31%) than any other working generation. Luckily, effective onboarding can solve this problem as well.
Surveys reveal that the majority of employees who receive positive onboarding experiences truly love their jobs. Onboarding helps build community, proficiency, and confidence. As a result, it helps boost workplace engagement rates. And this is especially pivotal for new grads.
- It Ensures Retention
Another big problem that touches the whole two generations (Gen Z and Millenials) is poor retention. Representatives of these generations are much more demanding than other employees. They don’t want to spend years trying to reach their desired roles. And they want to have a perfect work-life balance. As a result, many companies really struggle with keeping them. And fresh grads also fall into this category of employees.
Luckily, the solution is the same – onboarding. According to Brandon Hall Group, excellent onboarding programs enhance employee retention by as much as 82%. Employees who undergo such programs tend to be generally happier. This affects their performances at the workplace and their job satisfaction too.
- It Improves Communication
Business owners and HR specialists often highlight that Gen-Zers, and especially new grads, tend to have certain issues in communicating inside their teams. According to experts, technology has negatively affected the young generations’ cognitive skills. They are often concerned about their ability to communicate and build strong interpersonal relationships. On top of that, their communication styles are very different from other generations. This can cause additional misunderstanding in teams that consist of employees from different generations.
According to the expert from one of the best write my essay services, onboarding can solve many communication issues. It involves introducing new employees to other teams and helping them fit in. This is one more reason why it matters so much.
The Bottom Line
As you can see, the high levels of post-college stress and job search anxiety can make recent grads rather insecure in the workplace. However, quality onboarding can solve multiple problems at once. With its help, companies can help their youngest employees reach their full potential and thrive in their roles. And that’s why it is so important.