Volunteering and Working whilst at University Step Ahead Presentation Stafford 04/08/08 Bob Mee Careers Adviser

Volunteering or Working You could do both! Both will get you employability skills Volunteering – hours, days, months Working – give you extra cash Employers value both paid and unpaid work experience

Employability Skills Examples of employability skills Discussion (2 minutes) Ask the person next to you about any work or volunteering you have done, and see what skills they have gained, then swap over.....

Some employability (transferrable)skills Communication - ability to communicate orally, in writing, or via electronic means, in a manner appropriate to the audience; Teamwork - being a constructive team member, contributing practically to the success of the team; Leadership - being able to motivate and encourage others, whilst taking the lead; Initiative - ability to see opportunities and to set and achieve goals; Problem solving - thinking things through in a logical way in order to determine key issues, often also including creative thinking; Flexibility/adaptability - ability to handle change and adapt to new situations; Self-awareness - knowing your strengths and skills and having the confidence to put these across; Commitment/motivation - having energy and enthusiasm in pursuing projects; Interpersonal skills - ability to relate well to others and to establish good working relationships; Numeracy - competence and understanding of numerical data, statistics and graphs.

What’s in it for you? Discuss for a few minutes with the person sat next to you what you gain from volunteering

What’s in it for you? Social aspects – having fun, making new friends, etc. Strengthening existing skills and developing new ones Sharing your ideas and experiences with organisations Means to explore possible career pathways Opportunity to become an expert in a field Build confidence and challenge yourself Support a cause you’re passionate about ‘Feel good’ factor

Volunteering has always been about helping other people, but what about how it can help you? As a future employee – and employer – you need to be a good communicator, a team player and a skilful networker Today you need to demonstrate that you have shown initiative and leadership, that you are open to new ideas and experiences and can analyse and solve problems outside the academic world. Volunteering can provide all this if managed and resourced in the right way. However, you need to know how to go about it!!!!

WHAT’S THE VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE ABOUT? Joint University-Students’ Union initiative A high quality volunteering experience for students and staff Establish local partnerships in the community Build and foster a volunteer culture throughout the university and students union Provide access to a wide range of volunteer opportunities to allow Volunteering at your own convenience Enhance student employability

Jonathan Pace Community Volunteer Co-ordinator inVOLved – Volunteering at Staffs

Working as a student Work part time during term time Up to full time during holidays Your academic studies remain priority University recommends 16 hours or less per week during term time as a guide All jobs will help your future career Help available from JobShop (next slide)

Help from JobShop All jobs are at Get a step ahead - register now –use your personal address if you wish More jobs being entered towards September We advertise part time and vacation work and give students advice and information on work JobShop is based in Careers – come and see us

Examples of part-time work Think of some examples of part time work with the person next to you

Examples of part-time work Shops, bars, restaurants Sports related – lifeguarding, children’s summer camps (local and rest of UK) Call centres (telesales or telemarketing) Administrative Warehouse work Summer projects (subject specific)

JobShop Stafford –Careers, Beacon (opposite Dolche Vita) Stoke –Careers, Cadman (opposite B10, ground floor) Individual help with part time work with Kathy: –Stafford – Monday and Wednesday (10 to 4pm) –Stoke – Tuesday and Thursday (10 to 4pm) Welcome to JobShop sessions running September and October (check out the resources section for dates) Part time Job Fairs in October (October 1 st and October 8 th ) (links to all jobs) (advice on working)