Personal experience | An onboarding diary - one graduate's story

“When I was invited to an assessment day for the graduate programme for a big national insurer in early March this year, I was really excited.

But only a week after I’d completed the day, lockdown began. I was left wondering, would I make the grade? And even if I did, would the company decide to defer its intake of graduates this year?

I was so happy when I quickly discovered I got through, and was told I would be starting at the end of August. But then the nerves set in again. What would it be like starting in my very first full-time job, working remotely away from all the other graduates, my managers, my team – and even the office?

Luckily, I needn’t have worried. The onboarding process was brilliant. My firm already used an online portal as part of their onboarding process which definitely helped things run smoothly, despite the lockdown. As soon as I’d accepted my place on the programme, I could explore the site, so my onboarding started weeks before my first day.