Problems of adaptation of University graduates to professional work

This article considers the urgency of the problem in professional adaptation of young specialists-graduates, an analysis of subjective and objective reasons, preventing successful adaptation of young specialists.It reveals the reasons, which have to some extent the impact of the stressful for young professionals-graduates in entering the labor market, and the statistical data, results of research experts and employers who say lack of professional experience at the university graduates.

Nowadays, an actual problem of training young specialists-graduates: is the peculiarity of their professional adaptation and socialization, the formation of their professional competence and readiness for professional activity in present times. In the process of young professionals training there must be received not only comprehensive knowledge, but also skills and habits that would enable graduates to be involved into professional activities and its successful implementation.

The process of human adaptation to the professional environment, causes such questions as: if a person should take for granted the working environment and be adapted for it or demand changes and for the environment itself; what are the ways and means of influence on a man and its environment and what are the criteria taking into account the requirement of an employee, etc. Therefore it is necessary to distinguish between active adaptation, when the individual tries to influence the environment in order to change it and passive one, when he doesn't seek for such influence and change.

There are progressive and regressive types of adaptation on an employee. The latter occurs in the case of passive adaptation to the environment with negative content (f.e. low labor discipline).

The significant place in the adaptation process belongs to the efforts of the specialist, his willingness to self-improvement. Problems and contradictions of graduates adaptation to the professional activity are reflected in the type of adaptation that they demonstrate in the workplace.

The results of the study show that only half of the students demonstrated a progressive or normal adaptation, which is characterized by fast or normal course of the adaptation process and its positive outcome, the absence of sharp differences between requirements to expected professional work and possibilities of young professionals. The rest either have great difficulty in adapting (difficulty adapting) or couldn’t adapt to the conditions of professional work (disadaptation). This situation suggests that the process of training at the university was not focused enough to the professional adaptation of future professionals to the current demands of the labor market and production and also the professional competence of a specialist were not taken into account.

In general, the problems of young specialists-graduates adaptation in order of importance are shown in Table 1.

T a b l e   1

The distribution of adjustment problems of college graduates in entering the labor market

Analyzing the adaptation problems of graduates in entering the labor market, according to employers estimations, shown in Table. 1, following characteristics are taken into consideration: high expectations of wages and the lack or absence of professional experience, this was indicated by 64 and 62 % of surveyed employers. The problem of inflated self-esteem of young professionals is in the third place (36 %).

Another group of problems are high expectations on the career promotion, inability to work in a team and lack of knowledge and skills of young professionals from the real practice (28 % of respondents reported these problems).

University graduates adaptation problems were also identified by experts. In their view, the most important challenges in the adaptation of young specialists is the isolation of knowledge and skills of young professionals from the real practice, the lack or absence of professional experience and the uncertainty of labor and professional interests [1].

The way out of this situation, in our opinion, is the movement in two directions. On the one hand, the organizational work of the university graduates to enter the labor market. On the other hand — employer’s awareness of necessity to differentiate treatment to young professionals and experienced specialists.

It means developing program of adaptation and learning to adjust the eligibility requirements for employment, in consideration of the specific personal qualities and expectations of the work.

Recently, an urgent problem considered in the pages of scientific journals and periodicals in practice is the problem of inconsistency of university training of young professionals in market requirements. By the manifestation of this problem in entering the labor market, above all, include reducing the competitiveness of this category of specialists, as well as high susceptibility to occupational stress.

Let us dwell on the consideration of the reasons that have more or less stressful impact on young professionals-graduates in entering the labor market.

The discrepancy of the quality of young professionals training to the labor market in Universities can be judged, in particular by the requirements imposed on them by employers. According to the study «Priorities for the modern employer» [2], the main reasons for refusal of employment for young professionals are ranked and shown in Table 2.

T a b l e   2

Distribution of reasons for the refusal by employers to employ young specialists-graduates

Therefore, contradictory mutual expectations of graduates and employers, the contradictory requirements for the level of preparation in high school, a different view on the causes of problems in employment both among graduates and employers, not only leads to adjustment disorder, but also the formation of significant stress of young professionals in entering the labor market [1; 49].

Thus, a graduate of the university is the bearer of properties that may be useful from the standpoint of the employer (including personal qualities — his energy, enthusiasm, sociability, sense of duty, easy to assimilate new information to professional — the desire to try out different ways of training, lack of stereotypes in the professional approach, craving for «interesting» work and commitment to professional growth) and negative factors (lack of practical experience, often misunderstanding of the purposes of professional development, high expectations of work). Young professional expect from the employers an opportunity to try themselves in the professional field, get the necessary knowledge and skills, and improve their financial situation. Employers, in turn, want to see the candidates understanding of their goals, teamwork and knowledge of the necessary knowledge and skills. The collision of this opposite in fact demands and expectations is a stressful factor for young professionals-graduates in entering the labor market. Inconsistency of evaluation criteria of competitiveness of young professionals-graduates subsequently leads to the employment problems of university obtained degree [3].

G.Selye distinguished between external and internal stimuli stressor effects on the body [4]. The external stimuli stressor effects on the young professionals-graduates that can be attributed to contradictory requirements and criteria for assessing the competitiveness of graduates of the above, the internal — a sense of their own inadequacy, vulnerability, inability to cope with life's problems, increase feelings of uncertainty, insecurity, weakening of self-esteem, frustration in a trainee position in view of the fact that it does not meet the material and moral needs and, consequently, is not competitive in the labor market (this is often the reason). To these stimuli body reacts disequilibrium, which is to restore the established laws of G.Selye adaptation syndrome develops, and the body adapts to new conditions (adaptation).

In view of the stages of development of acute stress disorder produce a reaction to stress, posttraumatic stress disorder, and adjustment disorder. Acute stress reaction when entering the labor market occurs in young professionals as an answer (response) primarily on the mental trauma exposure. Because of this effect it is an emotional shock, which resulted in a broken design graduates from conventional thinking about the qualities demanded by employers, the first job, the employment relations when working in the team, etc.

The experts found that the essential feature of stress is the lack of information about the situation, responding with a destructive impact on the psycho. The young professionals, new entrants to the labor market and practically unprepared for the stresses acute stress reactions develop in 50–90 % of cases. It is therefore important when training at the university to provide graduate students an accurate and detailed information about the situation on the labor market, forecast possible changes in the criteria for assessing the competitiveness of young professionals from the position of employers about the challenges that college graduates may face in entering the labor market; to teach strategies of behavior in the labor market to form self-skills, teamwork, etc. In this case the frequency of symptoms of acute stress is substantially reduced.

Let us consider the role of universities in preparing graduates for the competitive labor market, designed to ensure that the job starting with the lowest cost with minimal stressful effects.

In this regard, we see such activities of the university, which can be defined in the following activities: improvement of technology training, marketing activities of the university, psycho-social and professional adaptation of graduates.

1. Improved technology in training — the basic unit of teaching and educational process, which forms a mandatory level of volume and quality of knowledge and skills that a graduate should possess in order to obtain the relevant qualifications, and developing a flexible system of continuing professional education. In this area, particularly stress the importance of improving the practical training of
2. Marketing activities of the university aim to develop partnerships with stakeholders of the university labor market: businesses, organizations, public authorities, public organizations, in order to develop social partnership and ensure the promotion of professional adaptation and practical training of students to the real conditions of production, from undergraduate students, understanding and knowledge of the needs of the labor market and employers; the transition from short to long-term relationship building in a «universityproduction» based on partnership and mutual trust with
3. Activities on the socio-psychological and professional adaptation of graduates seek to promote the graduate to identify the most appropriate to his interests and abilities of the scope of the light received by the university An important element in improving the quality of graduates training of the university is improving in the following areas:
4. Assistance in organizing training and employment practices;
5. The study of supply and demand of the labor market;
6. Interaction with the structures of employment services, government, civil society organizations;
7. Organization of seminars and workshops, aimed at self-presentation skills, resume writing, professional portfolio,

Currently, the universities create new departments: promoting employment of students and graduates, alumni associations and councils, departments of public relations. Preparing students for employment include the organization of contests «Best in Profession», job fairs for students and alumni, «Career Days», round table discussions with alumni, the scientific and practical conferences with participation of employers, representatives of public agencies, public authorities.

As practice shows, the graduate, who did not find job in his field, will not be able to apply to an educational institution, as he had already graduated from it. He will have to register at the Employment Service Center as an unemployed, carry out «selfmarketing», resolve legal issues, etc. A reaction to this situation is a construction of new additional higher education structures, involved in the selection of the staff for the organization from the number of graduate students, their target training for meeting the requirements of employers and particular organization, because every organization is interested to get a specialist with a minimum period of adaptation to industrial conditions.

In this statement own position in a problem situation, may be accompanied by intrapersonal character conflicts. Factors contributing to these conflicts are:

• mismatches between the direction of the person (motives, self-esteem, values);
• mismatch of the nature of professional activity and the level of professional competence;
• contradictions between the orientation of the person for success, wealth, career and level of development of professionally important qualities;
• mismatch of representations about own professionally important qualities and real professional opportunities
• contradictions between professional opportunities and potential social constraints due to gender, age, ethnicity, appearance [5].

Lack of real progress in the initial stage of professional work and career prospects uncertainty actualize reflection of his career, which in turn may activate the new definition of vital important goals:

• increase and improvement of professional qualifications;
• changing jobs or initiate promotions;
• selection of related specialty or a new

The problem of professional self-determination at the stage of adaptation of professional work again becomes relevant for young professionals.

Although there are numerous definitions of «adaptation», objectively, there are several forms of manifestation of this phenomenon, which suggest that the adaptation, on the one hand — the dynamic education, direct the process of adaptation to environmental conditions, and on the other, — the self-regulating property of any living system, mediating its resistance to environmental conditions.

This property is inherent in man as a bio-social system and the social element of the macrosystem. Therefore, when considering the problems of human adaptation is divided into three functional levels: physiological, psychological and social.

Adaptation as a dynamic education is closely linked to the functional state of the organism, which is characteristic of the level of functioning of the body systems in a certain period of time, reflecting the characteristics of the process of adaptation and homeostasis. In the intensity and dynamics of the same states there are substantial individual differences, due to the peculiarities of activity regulation mechanisms, and primarily, individual psychological characteristics of personality.

Based on the above, we can formulate the following assumptions:

1. Adaptation — is not only the process, but also the property of any living self-regulating system, which is the ability to adapt to changing environmental conditions. The level of development of this property determines the interval of changes in the conditions and nature of the activities in which the adaptation is possible for a particular
2. Adaptive capacity of the individual is largely dependent upon a person's psychological features, determining the possibility of adequate regulation of the functional state of the body in a variety of conditions of life and The greater adaptive capacity, the higher the probability of the normal functioning of the body and effective activity with increasing intensity of exposure psychogenic environmental factors.
3. Rating the adaptive capabilities of a person is possible through the level of development of psychological characteristics that are most important for the regulation of mental activity and the process of adaptation: the higher it is, the greater the possibility of successful adaptation, the greater the range of environmental factors to which the individual can adapt [6].

Overall status of the issue of system adaptation mechanisms can be reduced to the following provisions.

1. Adaptation is an ongoing process of active negotiation by a human of his/her individual characteristics (individual, personal) with environmental conditions (requirements of jobs, especially partners, social groups, organizational culture, etc.), ensuring the success of his professional activities and complete personal self-realization in all areas of life.
2. Human adaptation to work is the collection of psychological mechanisms, manifested in the success of his professional activities and satisfaction with their They must be consistent with standard activities, group norms, organizational culture requirements, interactions with partners, appears as the optimum professional career. Overall career should reflect the quality of coordination «external» and «internal» conditions of life of the subject, the success of its full self-realization in different areas of life.
3. Adaptation is a phase process of periodic changes of its form due to population dynamics of biological, personal, professional features of a person as a subject of activity. These phases are shown in the periodization career (office move, crises, etc.), in the periods of his/her greater and lesser efficiency as the subject of his/her work, in greater or lesser periods of social well-being in general dynamics of life crises and opportunities for maximum self-realization [5; 387].

Content adaptation is implemented complex self-regulatory processes that are based on the relevant congenital and acquired psychophysiological and psychological mechanisms, due to various factors: the objective or external (environmental conditions and activities) and subjective or internal (individual psychological characteristics of personality).

Subjective well-being, as socio-psychological characteristics of personality expresses emotional and evaluative attitude of man to himself/herself, to the social reality and in this way determines the intensity and direction of behavior. Sense of own well-being plays an important role in the course of professional adaptation of the individual to work. L.M.Kulikov mentions subjective well-being as an integrative, relatively stable experience, that merged many features of the relation of man to himself and the world around him [7]. In addition, subjective well-being is a unity of cognitive, emotional and behavioral components. Its cognitive content are values, which are defined as socially conditioned overall thrust, as the ratio of the individual to life goals, the means to meet these goals, i.e. to the circumstances, determined by the general social conditions. However, it is the system of the professional relationship determines the nature of experiences that integrate feelings and emotions. Experience of subjective well-being (or ill-being) in the professional area is largely determined by the reactions of the individual and subjective interpretation of certain situations in which it is included. In addition, cognitive and emotional-evaluative interpretation of the situation determines the direction of activity of the person [8].

Feeling of self-affirmation is possible only when the adaptation of the individual to the social and natural environment is followed with continuously flowing adaptation processes. For overall holistic picture of overcoming life's difficulties and solving the getting up problems, the activity of the person and the ratio of activity and adaptability are of fundamental importance.

If the facing difficulties of a person does not exceed his capacity of psychological stability, then their overcome increases flexibility of adaptation processes, expanding the range of ways out of difficult real life situations enriches the experience of demonstrating his/her activity and dealing with such situations. All this leads to the strengthening of psychological stability and a sense of their own well-being. In addition, many difficult situations allow surviving a variety of feelings, to find a new self-understanding, other people, and a lot of the phenomena of real life. The ultimate result of such events may progress in their personal and professional development [9].

Subjective well-being, as an integrative, especially significant experience, has a permanent effect on various parameters of mental state of a person and as a consequence of the success of the behavior, productivity professional activities, the effectiveness of interpersonal interaction with colleagues and many other aspects of internal and external activity of the person. Prosperity depends on having clear goals, successful implementation of plans of action and behavior, availability of resources and the conditions for achieving the objectives.

Welfare is created by satisfying interpersonal relationships and professional interaction, the effective implementation of his/her potential, the ability to communicate and benefit positive emotions from this. The welfare is violated by intrapersonal conflicts, social isolation (deprivation), the tension in meaningful interpersonal relationships. The strongest emotional discomfort is caused by internal causes, while environmental effect is less important. However, interpersonal interactions serve as basic units for mediating social and professional adaptation of personality, realizing the possibility of social support in difficult situations [10].

Thus, professional activities, labor features, social status and success of the process of self-realization in various areas of life have a significant impact on the welfare of the individual. 

Therefore, in the near future the work of the university is to promote the socio-psychological and professional adaptation of graduates and employment assistance should be focused, targeted to help the graduate to select the most appropriate scope of interests and abilities of professional activities, taking into account the university degree and get into gear with the lowest starting costs.

Thus, for elimination of the existing discrepancy in criteria of an assessment of competitiveness of university graduates, minimization of stress impact on them at entry into the market of work two equal parties — employers (business community) and academic community should participate, it should be fixed in legislative way with the subsequent development of appropriate forms and institutes of education with labor market collaboration.

References

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6. Maklakov A.G. Psychological Journal, 2001, 22, 1, p. 16–24.
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