Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
VIRTUAL FOOT IN THE DOOR
VIRTUAL job hunting and virtual interviews, followed by virtual training then working from home. It can be tough. But graduates launching careers in the past year are finding it particularly hard.
Research from graduate recruitment site Milkround found that two thirds of new graduates fear Covid is crippling their prospects.
Determined to do her bit to reassure them is Rebecca Watson, 25, whose starting date at a building society in her hometown of Swindon, Wilts, was the day before full lockdown began.
Despite the challenges, Rebecca has thrived during her first year in the virtual working world.
What is your job?
I am a bereavement specialist, I help families handle the estates of those who have died.
Sadly, it has been far more busy than usual ever since I started the job last March.
It is my job to help the bereaved manage accounts and help them through the legality of what needs to be done for their loved ones. At times it’s been very harrowing but thankfully experience brings with it the ability to help those who need it, calmly and methodically.
How have you found working remotely?
It was terrible to start off with. As we all know, no one throughout the country knew what to do. I was brand new to this whole world of working and had no clue.
Thankfully, it was decided as I was needed so badly in the team, as death rates soared, I could do some of my training in the office.
The problem was that it was all virtual and at times it felt like I was teaching myself. Someone else started the same day as me so at least we were able to muddle through it together. We just kept our heads down. There was a rush to get us home as soon as possible.
How were you able to learn enough to start your job?
My colleague and I came up with an idea of how to shadow existing bereavement specialists virtually, watching on screens and then mirroring what they were doing on Microsoft Teams. After three weeks we were taking calls ourselves.
It is a very special job – you really feel that you are helping people. You need emotional resilience to do it and some days are still exhausting.
Does the virtual world suit you?
Not particularly but I have been lucky living at home with my family which has allowed me to keep things as normal as possible.
I have taken over my brother’s bedroom as an office – he moved out years ago. Very early on, and because of my experience at the very start of the pandemic, I took up the position to train all new starters. We’ve been continuously recruiting (virtually) due to the overwhelming call volumes.
I have been training everyone while at home on Teams and through call listening. I also work in the office as a key worker sometimes with socially distanced training of new starters.
How did you get into this line of work?
I studied film and theatre at Reading University and had just started teacher training for older drama students.
It became rapidly apparent that I needed to find something else. When I saw this job advertised, I thought it was perfect.
It has great graduate progression and I have found that I love working as part of team in an office and even virtually.