Harry takes to the interview floor!

To start off our most recent session we finished off the good start we had made on redoing the CV! Again I didn’t like calling it “homework”, but after our last session I had asked Harry to have a go at filling in the skills and abilities section by himself just so it would be a little more organic, as I wanted to make sure that although I was helping with the overall editing, that it was still Harry’s original words. After playing around with the wording on this section, we then reread through the whole thing until we were both pretty happy with the final product. Please see a picture of the new-look CV, I’d like to think that compared to his old one (pictured in the last blog) it still paints an honest picture of Harry while portraying him as a very employable young man with a lot to offer any company.With the CV on the back burner for now, it was time to focus on Harry’s second goal of the programme, “Improve my Interview Skills”. After some discussions in previous sessions it turns out that Harry had only done one interview before (for this programme), and that had been with his mum present, so I thought it was a perfect opportunity to dip our toes out of the comfort zone waters (mixing up my metaphors there I think) and get some practice in!

For this practice I had enlisted one of the interns on my team (thanks again Ben! For payment feel free to use one of the photos of you looking professional here to update your LinkedIn) to be a quasi “interviewer”, while I sat in the corner and took some notes (given I am currently employed, by definition I must have passed at least one interview in my life and am therefore an expert). To simulate an interview environment more, we had him already sat down in another booth until he called Harry (and myself in), whilst since Harry had already talked in the past of his desires to potentially work in admin in the future, I had sent Ben over a list of job interview questions which were mainly office/admin-related.


As I have mentioned before, one thing that has always impressed me about Harry is his confidence, as he didn’t come across at all nervous for what must have been a very novel experience when meeting Ben. In fact this confidence maybe came across a little too strong at one point, on being asked the standard interview question “Do you have any weaknesses?”, Harry answered with a flat “No.” leaving poor Ben awkwardly having to move on to the next question whilst I stymied some giggles.


They interviewed together for a good 10 minutes before I decided to draw thing to a close, and give Harry some feedback on some points for improvement (there is also a photo of these notes here, for those brave/foolish enough to try and read through my scribbles). My first bit of feedback was the importance of body language, to really try and “fill the room” as you enter (apologies for the corporate jargon) by introducing yourself, giving some eye contact (but not too much that it gets creepy – this interview was on Halloween) and a firm handshake – for those wondering, in one of the photos of my giving feedback to Harry that is me gesturing a nice firm handshake! 

Harry had also been subconsciously fiddling with his lanyard for much of the interview, as one of the world’s worst fiddlers (just ask any of my primary school teachers) this is definitely something I could relate to, but I tried to explain to him that if he does need to do something with his hands to try and keep it below the eye-line of the table so as not to cause too much of a distraction to others in the room. (Though one huge advantage for us fidgets in this increasingly globalised/technologised world is that the increasing prevalence of Skype interviews means we can sit on our hands without it looking weird.)

Another takeaway was the importance of examples, as with the weaknesses question I explained that it is extremely rare that interviewers will be looking for a one word answer; but here I think that this is naturally something that will become easier for Harry the more he has interviews and starts experiencing the same questions again and again. And with this, I also emphasised that it is important that each example is relevant to the job being interviewed for and will make you come across more employable. For example on getting a more abstract question on what his favourite biscuit is, Harry started talking about how he always helps his mum with the shopping to get his favourite chocolate biscuits, this was all great to show he has a personality but probably wasn’t too relevant to the question at hand. 

The final takeaway (similar to another one we covered when working on the CV) was to always sell yourself! For example when being asked about his hobbies Harry mentioned he likes playing the piano in passing, but neglecting to mention how regularly he practises and that he performs sometimes – skills I wish I could add to my CV. He mentioned his punctuality but said he was on time for our meeting today because his bus is never late – both underplaying the input needed from him needed to get to the bus stop before this and the nerve needed to put ones faith in the reliability of British public transport. As with the CV work, Harry has a lot to offer any potential employer so it is just important that we help them see that. But overall I was extremely impressed, he was calm and confident throughout and you never could have told this was his first ever solo interview. We are going to do another practice interview a few sessions from now to measure how he has progressed in his interview skills, I hope you’re excited as I am to see the improvements.

Pete

#MyMenteeAndMe  #MentoringMatters  #LoveVolunteering #LifeAtZurich 

Harry hits the CV high notes!

Let’s kick things off from the last blog’s cliff-hanger ending (up there with Empire Strikes Back) – the CV! 

Back when he was in college Harry had worked on a rudimentary CV as part of a job skills module. Although it had a good skeleton and covered some of the basics, it wasn’t doing a good enough job of selling him. I explained to Harry that some employers may be looking through hundreds of CVs, and even something as simple as adding a splash of (Zurich) blue to the trim and making the prose run a little better can really help it to stand out. For those with good enough eyesight to read my handwriting, you will see my comments to “Embellish!” and “Sell Yourself!” in certain parts. Some of it was simple formatting, of which I would like to think I am somewhat of an expert after submitting hundreds of CVs of myself, each one slightly tinkered, when applying for graduate jobs.

I would probably class myself as the sort of person who can be a little cynical when browsing LinkedIn for the way some tasks have been seriously “embroidered”; however I would argue that this is not the case here at all. Harry had got some great experience when working in his college’s library, organising all of the book shelves and helping with any ad-hoc admin tasks – so it was simply a case of making this apparent and showing what a crucial role he played in these tasks.

Moving on to the “About Me” section, and while Harry was listing some of his skills, there were a few more that I had picked up on even after just a few hours with him: he is very punctual and has a very good attention to detail; while his memory is also excellent, remembering aspects of our first coffee together that had slipped my mind! His current CV mentions that he plays the piano, though upon asking him a little more about it, it turned out that he has been playing diligently for years and even performs sometimes – I am sure I don’t need to elaborate on the countless great soft skills that this requires. Another trait that he has is both very employable, and great to see from my perspective, is that he has great self-confidence.

Before our first session together he had to complete a “Mentee Survey”, which asked him about things such as his confidence and self-esteem, and how he felt about his future; he will fill this in at the end of the mentoring programme where hopefully we can observe some improvements. There are still areas he can score better on of course (as I’m sure there are for all of us), but one thing that is great to observe right off the bat is that he is already scoring himself highly on how he rates his natural skills and attributes right now. It is always great to see for an employer (and a mentor) someone that backs their own abilities, so this should serve him in great stead no matter what happens after this scheme.

As a final touch on the CV, we had his Skills and Abilities section. I don’t really like using the term “homework” here, but I also wanted this to be something that he went away and thought about himself (obviously welcome to discuss more with his parents), without me putting words in his mouth too much. So for this last section I have asked him to go away and have a best stab at completing it himself, and then we will finish it off next time. Watch this space, and you should see the completed first draft of Harry’s CV in the next blog!

Although the bulk of our last two sessions have been taken up with working through his CV, we also had some time to talk about what current other areas he is not that confident in, that could potentially be a detriment in the workplace. As I mentioned in my last blog, Harry doesn’t like loud noises and enjoys his own peaceful area to get work done, while he was concerned that his communication skills with others could be a little muddled at times. Together we went through a list of the four different types of “noise” he could encounter in the workplace, and tactics he could use to combat these to make sure that he understands what the other person is trying to communicate to him, and so that he can communicate effectively with others. These are physical noise – and how there is nothing wrong with asking someone to repeat themselves if ambient noise is too loud; physiological noise – and how he just needs to remember to not talk too quickly when there is a whole plethora of information he is trying to get out all at once (this is something I have needed help with myself in the past so can definitely relate!); psychological noise – tactics to help him collaborate and try and reduce his pre-conceived notions if someone offers an alternative (and maybe better) idea, for when he is working in a team in the future; and finally semantic noise – we talked about how there is nothing wrong with asking someone to repeat themselves if you weren’t 100% sure what they actually meant. Harry also mentioned that he can be very sarcastic with people (especially if he’s frustrated) so I explained that sarcasm is often not something often appreciated in the workplace – especially if the other person may also be frustrated.

After CV writing, one of the skills him and his mum were most keen for him to work on (and one of the most important in terms of employability full stop), was interview technique, so in my next blog I will be writing all about our practice interview, where I got a generous colleague to pretend to be an interviewer for a fake job for 15 minutes!

Pete 

#MyMenteeAndMe #InspiringOthers #MentoringMatters #LoveVolunteering #LifeAtZurich

Let me introduce Harry

Firstly before I get started on my second blog, I just want to say a massive thanks for the huge amount of acknowledgements I received after my first blog. When it comes to the art of journalism, I am hardly Samuel Pepys (not even Adrian Mole) – so really value all the feedback I am getting. And with that being said, I can very much appreciate that blogging can be a bit of a closed-loop dialogue wise, so always welcome any suggestions, whether that is an aspect of the scheme or my relationship with my mentee that you would like to hear more about, or even some ideas of what I could do to help him more – as that is always the #1 priority here.

Time to introduce you to my mentee! He is a 19 year young man called Harry, he is from Swindon and he finished college in the summer. Harry is on the autism spectrum, however I won’t be talking too much about his “disability” over the course of this blog, unless I feel it is directly relevant to the matter at hand and might help shed some light on the experience of those with disabilities both looking for jobs, and their experience when they are already employed. This is because I don’t feel that anyone should be defined by their disability, yes Harry may have additional requirements and may find some things more challenging (as many of us do to a greater or lesser extent), however he is a human being first and foremost before he is a walking condition.

We were mutually introduced over email with a quick fact sheet to get to know each other, it turns out we are both big movie fans – it was a great icebreaker on our first meet-up talking about the new Avengers movie – while Harry also enjoys swimming and playing the piano. We had to hold off on our first meet-up for a few weeks while he was busy sunning himself on holiday, though I’m sure he would have much rather been in Swindon working with me! We arranged a time for him to come over to the office for us to grab a coffee for our initial meeting; Harry had asked if his mum could come for the first time which was understandable as he was a little nervous, and his profile had stated that he can feel a little uncomfortable when doing things that are a break from the routine, such as meeting new people. At first it was mainly his mum and myself chatting, as he did seem a little shy and would reply to her instead of talking to me directly, however his mum was excellent at pushing him to talk to me and answer my questions. I explained to the two of them more about the scheme, how Harry and myself would be meeting regularly over the next 6 months to work on his employability skills, though there wasn’t a set structure and we had a lot of scope to work on the skills that we wanted to. After around 25 minutes I could tell that Harry was starting to get tired out by the meeting, so we made our arrangements for our next meeting and then I let him and his mum get on with their day.

Harry came back to meet up with me a fortnight later by himself. I found out when he got there that this was his first time taking that bus route by himself (he had practised it on the weekend before with his parents), which made me feel proud that this scheme was already starting to take a small part in improving his independence and confidence (not that I am taking any credit myself for that particular aspect!). Although he was further out of his comfort zone being there alone, he was noticeable more confident and talkative this time, which is something I hope that we can continue to see him build on over the months. We grabbed a small pod, this was quite near the lifts and it was quite loud – his notes had mentioned that he liked a calm, quiet environment, though again he did admirably being able to focus well.

To start with, we went through his “Getting to Know You” form – this was a set of questions on the topics on his personal development, self-esteem, aspirations for the future, life satisfaction, and his overall health and wellbeing. This is a document that Volunteering Matters have asked to be completed at the start of the scheme, and once again at the end to help measure our progress. We spent the majority of our first session going through his answers. One thing that is great to see is that he is very confident in his own abilities and will always “back himself” (I wish I'd had that confidence myself as a teenager!). While some areas that he scored himself lowly on were his ability to work in a team and cope with problems. Although certain roles offer the opportunity to avoid those aspects, I talked him through some examples of where collaborating and crisis-management can be unavoidable in any job, from bomb-disposal to quarter-end reporting (I will leave it to yourselves to find any similarities there).

Towards the end of the session we talked about what he wanted to get out of the scheme, and something that him and his mum had both mentioned was his CV. I will leave that with a very dramatic “To be continued…” and will document our experiences working through his CV in Blog #3!

Pete 

#MentoringMatters #LoveVolunteering #MyMenteeAndMe #LoveZCT #LifeAtZurich

Welcome to my blog!

Hi everyone. I have signed up to the “Inspiring Young Disabled People” 2018 scheme and, for the next few months, I will be documenting my experiences in this blog. For those who aren’t aware, last year the Zurich Community Trust in partnership with Disability Inclusion Group (DIG) got involved in a work shadowing programme with the charity Volunteering Matters. This programme was set up across the UK with the aim of breaking down barriers to hiring disabled employees, while also improving the confidence and career aspirations of young disabled people. Young people were matched with mentors across six Zurich offices, who will help them to think about their career opportunities, build their confidence and aspirations, and open their eyes to the world of work.

The scheme was a resounding success, with 90% of mentees reporting and increase in confidence, 84% said they felt they had developed new skill, and 100% had enjoyed the projects. There were also huge benefits for the mentors, with 93% having a better understanding of the barriers young disabled people encounter. 92% also felt that the experience had helped reduce barriers around working with disabled people, and 100% felt #Proud to tell others they are part of Zurich! With these incredible metrics, The pressure is really on us 2018 mentees to try and have a similar impact – and from talking to some of them already I am positive it is one that they (and fingers crossed maybe myself) can rise up to!

For those who are going to be reading my ramblings over the next few months, I thought you may be interested to find out a little more about me (for those that aren’t, feel free to skip this paragraph). Disability has always been a topic very close to my heart. When I was a teenager, I took on a Saturday job working for Disability Challengers, a charity based in the South East that provides play centres and activities for young people aged 2-25. As I got older, I used the expertise I had gained to set up my own network of parents with special needs children in order to work as a babysitter. This could often be for parents who hadn’t had the chance to have an evening out in years, simply because there wasn’t anyone else with the skills and confidence to handle their sometimes more demanding children in a 1:1 setting. I then had a gap between graduating university and starting at Zurich where I spent a year working at a primary school as a Special Educational Needs Teaching Assistant. I worked 1:1 with some children on the autistic spectrum who needed a little bit of extra help with reading and writing in the classroom. So, when I started looking at graduate schemes, one of the big selling points of Zurich was how active it’s charity arm, Zurich Community Trust was, and since then I have loved the opportunity to get actively involved in these schemes away from my day job. This includes abseiling off the tallest structure in the UK and fundraising for my team’s summer challenges. 

I joined Zurich on the graduate scheme back in the summer of 2016 (how the time has flown!), and I became actively involved in DIG as its working lead at the start of this year. The opportunity to combine three of my four biggest passions: Zurich, Disability, and volunteering (haven’t found a way to weave Portsmouth FC into this yet but watch this space!) felt like something too good to be true. Yet, I have loved every minute of it so far this year despite the extra work and time commitments. I have relished the opportunity to get involved in various Zurich schemes, helping to sustain our recognition as the first Disability Confident Insurer. The chance to get involved in a programme like the mentoring one, which acts more at the “ground level” of the issue, is a really exciting one. Though it is a little nerve-wracking to be in a position of such responsibility for an individual who is potentially more vulnerable.

I have my first meet-up with my mentee next week, so I will be talking about that some more in my next blog. I have never been a mentor before, nor have I ever blogged my experiences (let alone through a platform that will be read by others), so this will be somewhat of a novel experience for myself as well!

If you have any questions or feedback about this blog or the scheme, please get touch with me on email or Yammer, or just say hi if you see me about! I promise I don’t bite (even if it might look that way before the morning coffee has hit the system).

Pete       

        #LoveVolunteering       #MentoringMatters        #LoveZCT       #LifeAtZurich