There are plenty of opportunities at university to get involved in initiatives that grow your employability.
A student ambassador undertakes a varied and rewarding role within the institution. There are chances to be individual department ambassadors, general university ambassadors and even various brand ambassadors.
Not only do you get the chance to earn a little cash but you are able to give back to the university and inspire students, or prospective students, to engage with wider university activities.
The skills you learn as a student ambassador are guaranteed to be relevant in the working world. If you are a student ambassador, or are considering applying for the position, check out these 5 Skills You Learn as a Student Ambassador:
1. Public Speaking
Speaking in front of an audience can be a daunting prospect. As a student ambassador you will be expected to deliver talks in front of others but the audience could be as few as a couple of students, or as many as a lecture theatre full. In actual fact, the size of the audience doesn’t matter. Once you have got your confidence speaking in front of others, you can translate this to any situation.
It is important to pick up this experience early as a group of fellow students are a gentle introduction compared to a room full of employers looking to hire. You can hone your skills in a safe environment.
2. Networking
Networking is a popular buzzword. Quite simply it means building relationships to further your career prospects or build chances for collaboration. Done properly, networking is a positive circle that everyone mutually benefits from. You are not trying to trick anyone into hiring you. Instead, you are discussing mutually interesting topics and the trick comes in recognising where collaboration would be beneficial.
As an ambassador, you get the chance to interact with students, staff and often external organisations. It is an invaluable chance to get your name recognised and meet people who may be in a sector you are interested in pursuing in the future.
3. Time Management
Time management is a crucial skill. It proves you can work to deadlines and reliably deliver a service.
If you work while studying, it shows to an employer that you can manage multiple projects and meet multiple goals. This gives you not only the chance to practice your time management skills but also gain examples of how you managed your time to add to your CV.
Having a system in place to prioritise activities based on deadlines, even if it is as simple as list-making and utilising calendars, is a valuable thing to be able to show employers.
4. Customer Service
Customer service is a skill that is transferrable to a wide variety of roles.
As an ambassador, your role is often outreach and recruitment. A huge part of your remit is to give a positive experience to a prospective student, or students, and make them want to engage with the university or product. If you can let an employer know that you have experience of this kind of role then you are ticking an important box.
Unlike communication or other soft skills, this is not the sort of experience you can extrapolate from your course. Customer service is a work based skill.
5. Sales
Sales is sometimes considered something of a dirty word. Arguably, sales is a skill that we all use day to day as we communicate our own point of view and persuade others to its merits.
As an ambassador, you are ‘selling’ the university, service or scheme. No doubt, this comes naturally as you recount your own experiences and opinion. However, you are unconsciously improving your ability to explain and showcase an item.
Don’t underestimate the skills you can gain from working as a university, scheme or brand ambassador.
EP are currently open to applications for our own ambassador for 2017-18. For more information on, or to apply for, our EP Ambassador role, please see here. The deadline is the 4th September 2017.