Guide to having a Buddy

Joining a new team or taking on a new role can be daunting. It is made even more challenging when you also have to navigate a whole new country and culture. Your workplace may have a Buddy Scheme in place to help new international staff settle into life in their new job and their new life in Ireland.

If there is a Buddy Scheme available to you, this is a helpful guide about what to expect – and what not to expect.

Don’t worry if there is no formal Buddy Scheme in place. Most workplaces will have a number of colleagues who have gone through the same experiences as you and will be delighted to share what they have learned with you. It is likely you will have more than one ‘Buddy’ to help you navigate the new surroundings.

The Buddy Scheme should pair you with a colleague who can offer you support and advice. Your Buddy will be there to answer questions that you may not feel comfortable asking as a new member of the team in a busy work environment. The Buddy is not intended to replace the support that you should expect from your line manager and members of your team.

Your Buddy will give you information on the local community and offer practical advice on the likes of public transport, shopping and things to do.

Goals

There are a number of goals of a Buddy Scheme

• Make you feel welcome and give you a friendly face to seek out if you need advice or support
• Offer practical advice on work life, i.e. where to buy a sandwich for lunch, where has the best coffee, where do people eat their lunch, where the toilets are. If they work in the same field, this can also include helping understand some of the Ireland-specific clinical terms or medicines, or colloquialisms that you may encounter during the work day.
• Offer practical advice on life in Ireland and what the local area has to offer, i.e. where to buy their groceries, where to go for a day out nearby, nearby places of worship, best restaurants; where the bus goes to, best areas to rent a house; etc.
• Support you to settle into the new work environment by letting you know about social outings or helping you to engage with colleagues during the work day and make new friends.
• Help you to become settled into the community by signposting to local sports or community groups.

What to expect

You will be paired with a Buddy who is the closest match to you. This may mean that you come from the same part of the world, or work in the same hospital, or in the same general clinical area.

Your Buddy will offer a friendly ear and can offer advice on how to get things done and generally get used to life in Ireland.

After being matched, your Buddy should get in contact with you within the first week – then you can both continue with regular communication and contact whenever suits you both. This can be done via a mixture of text message, telephone call or face-to-face meetings. You can expect them to maintain contact for up to three months – or longer if you develop a lasting friendship.

Your Buddy has volunteered their time to help you. They are offering up their time to help you. They may not be in a position to respond straight away to a query but they should be in contact with you every one or two weeks. You should feel happy and supported with the arrangement, however, so please reach out if you do feel that your matched Buddy is not offering proper support.

The role of your Buddy is to provide information and support. They are not to be approached for financial support. Although they have experience, they may not have the answer to all your queries. They are also not qualified to give mental health advice so please do not be offended if they need to refer you on to someone who can help.

Everything you say to them is absolutely confidential: nothing gets written down or passed to anyone else.

Despite the best efforts of both sides, sometimes Buddy relationships don’t work out. Don’t be afraid to approach your manager to express concern and/or request an alternative Buddy.