Thoughts on a very positive (and at times surprising) start to life at 50 Degrees…

I wasn’t expecting to find myself in a ‘health and wellbeing’ session during my first week in a new job. Matt (our Head of Wellbeing) gave us a comprehensive overview on the way that stress actually impacts your brain, and advice on how to best manage it. I left thinking how useful this would have been a few years ago, and how many of my friends would benefit from hearing the same thing.

Having grown up in London, I’ve lived my life inside one of the biggest capitalist engines in the world. But as a student, you exist somewhere outside of this machine. We go to university to get a degree and a job, yes, but it’s also primarily a time of personal development. You discover what you’re interested in, how you work best. It’s about you. After you graduate and start your first job, you are suddenly part of something much bigger. Something that’s not about you. Personal development, and with that stress management, can take a backseat.

As it is for many thousands of graduates, breaking into your first job is hard. Often you apply for a job vaguely related to your chosen field and hope for the best. You know you are probably going to have to spend a few years doing something tedious, before you have enough ‘experience’, that golden ticket, to move into something more relevant. Weary of sounding cynical, employers know this too. Often, new graduates have to do a lot of work (pronounced ‘office admin’), before being given the chance to develop skills that really benefit their long-term career goals.

So, sitting in a meeting that really focused our long-term mental health on day 4, I realised I’d arrived somewhere quite unique. Charlotte (my fellow 2022 grad recruit) and I started on the same day, and have exchanged several surprised looks throughout our induction. In comparison with other friends fresh out of university, we feel lucky to be where we are.

We’ve spent our first few weeks being introduced to some of the sectors 50 Degrees work in and have been let loose on various research projects. Everyone has been unfailingly kind, taking time with us, making those ‘new job nerves’ that Charlotte spoke of last week, much easier to deal with.

After two weeks I was asked what bid sections I would be interested in working on. As a geography graduate, Emily offered me the chance to work with the sustainability lead on one of our current bids. And, just like Matt’s talk, there is a focus on our longer-term goals and interests, training us up to become skilled members of the team and making sure we have the tools to get there.

Kesiah Roe