Hello! My name is Elliot Simmonds, and I am a third year Law student. I have been a Lead Ambassador for nearly two years now, having started in April/May of my first year of study. At the time, I had been enjoying working as an Ambassador supporting a number of events but wanted to try my hand at something with a bit more responsibility. When the additional roles were released, I read through them all and the Lead role appeared to be the job most suited to my personality.
Applying for any position within the Ambassador Scheme is very simple. After I submitted my application, I was called to interview with members of the Partnership Development Office. Once I was accepted, I had a specialist training session with the other new Lead Ambassadors before being set loose on the new work opportunities. However, support doesn’t end after training as there were plenty of opportunities to shadow other ambassadors and work along staff before tackling a solo event.
Personally, I enjoy the huge variety of work that is made available to you. Since becoming a Lead Ambassador I’ve been a part of large-scale events such as World Language Day, acted as a solo lead for a number of school campus trips and, more recently, hosted online mentoring sessions alongside the academic tutors. The training you receive as a Lead allows you to deal with these different situations and opens you up to working in many more.
My advice to you if you’re thinking about applying is just do it. Taking on additional roles was one of my best decisions at university and I truly appreciate everything that I learned and the experience I gained working as a lead. It may be daunting initially to take the step forward but all the staff are incredibly supportive.
Other than Lead Ambassador, I also support the Scheme as an Outreach Tutor and an Evaluation Intern. Outreach Tutors act as the delivery method for the content the Ambassador Scheme provides for schools, and I am sure a lot of you have worked alongside us many times. Those interested in becoming a Lead should also seriously look at Outreach Tutor, as I regret not starting out earlier in that role, too.
Evaluation Intern is a lesser-known position that primarily works alongside the PDO team to assist the behind-the-scenes processes that go into running the Scheme. This mostly involves inputting register data and creating evaluation reports but can also include more in-depth projects.