Blogs
As you’ll be well aware sometimes we post up things that are not really ambassador jobs.
We make sure people show how an activity will match the ethos of the scheme and sometime it nice do something different. So here are a couple of things you can do differently this month:
At number one. You might not have heard of it, it the Olympics
You can sign up to be a volunteer or learn more about the short term jobs they have going, perfect for the summer holidays and the CV.
Find out more at london2012.
And finally at number two it MicroVolunteering. Are friends over at KUSU Volunteering having already blog about it but basically it a quick and easy way to volunteer and do something different.
Find out more at the KUSU Volunteering awesome blog here.
It might be January but September feel very close and as part of this month blogs serious Emily Butters, in her new role as Widening Participation Project Manager give us the low down on fast forward and why you might want to sign up for it. Don’t worry we put in the KUSA diary on the website so you can’t forget!
“Fast Forward is a pre-induction event for Compact Students. We are planning to run one day activity per Faculty. The day includes a variety of workshops that prepare Compact Students for their first few weeks at University.
Ambassadors are there in a supportive role. Making the participants feel comfortable. Engaging with them in addition to either facilitating or supporting sessions led by others.
It a great opportunity to work closely with new students and impart their knowledge and experiences about university. It is a light-hearted and informal event and the Ambassadors are instrumental in setting the tone and supporting the delivery.
In addition to this Ambassadors in the past have also benefitted from a lot of the generic sessions about services that the University offers.
Ambassadors are always briefed prior to the event so will know exactly what their role is and what the expectations are from them.
If an Ambassador is taking part in the delivery of a session/workshop then I would ensure that the particular Ambassador is instrumental in the development of it.
Ambassadors will work alongside staff on this event and would always have someone to go to with any problems that arise over them.”
Thanks to Emily for providing this insight into Fast Forward. I could make a joke here about fast forwarding to September but best not. Next time we be looking at what UK recruitment have to offer.
As part of our January blogs on what activities you can get involved in, we spoke to Andrea Harris, Education Partnership Manager about the Working with Students Conference, held last June.
Andrea, what does Working with Student Conference involve for ambassadors that go involved?
“They had to Devising, planned and producing a national conference including running registration, coordinating workshops and introducing the conference on the day.”
What do think ambassadors take up this opportunity?
“It’s a great opportunity to get some medium scale event planning experience (app. 70-100 people in attendance), improve your organisation skills and learn about presenting.
What kind of support do ambassadors get?
You’d be in a team of 2 or 3 Ambassadors, supported by the Student Ambassador Manager and other staff. Staff will work with you to devise an appropriate conference plan and support you with regards to logistics. You’ll also get some prep support for presenting.
What do you think ambassadors get out of get involved in this activity?
“Previous Ambassadors have been surprised at how exciting and interesting an event like this can be and have learned a lot about event planning, aspects of marketing and PR, academic research into the field of student-led work and student engagement and generally looking important with a clipboard.”
Welcome back, we hope you had a good a new year. The next few months at KUSA are going to be busy, on the 16th of January we’ll be opening applications for new ambassadors.
So this month in our blog section we be looking at the different roles that ambassadors do and why they choice to be ambassadors, this week it over to Jack James Marlow to explain why being part of KUSU is no ordinary job:
Sitting there looking at my bank account and wondering how was I supposed to pay my rent? Call the parents, extent my overdraft or borrow from a friend were all options I had exhausted the previous month, and seeing that my student loans were not being paid for another month I decided I needed a job!
This is how my student ambassador role came about, by me wanting a job, actually by me needing a job. What I found instead was not just an ordinary job but an experience! I personally had never heard of the Kingston University Student Ambassador scheme (KUSA) before I applied, it was in my second year that some friendly people approached me and explained to me about KUSA and the roles it entails!
I was shocked I had never heard of such a big scheme and wanted to know more,
so I logged on to the website and applied. I then went onto the next stage of application in the form of a group assessment, this was a challenging time and at first quite daunting, as at first glance so many people in a room all going for the same job was competitive.
My thoughts were wrong as when the student ambassadors took stage and explained the roles of the job from there perspective they brought a nice atmosphere into the room, one of cooperation and team work, some of the main key components of the job! The ambassadors came around and joked with us all and communicated to us on a student to student level which was help full when one is sitting there nervous or a bit shy. After the assessment and a short wait for places to be offered (felt like a lifetime), I was accepted and was ready to start my time as a student ambassador.
This is how I became a student ambassador, and looking back now I'm so glad I did apply or stop to talk to the random person who told me about the scheme! I personally can't explain every single good point of KUSA because there are so many, you are investing into your own personal development whilst helping others whilst getting paid!
A couple of weeks ago Kingston University Ambassador Scheme held its annual employability event. Thanks to all of you who attend. A special thanks to those that provide presentations ranging from interview skills to networking and CV advice.
We join by Alex who runs his own recruitment company. In my first blog on the site I wanted to just provide you with a summary of the key tips Alex shared at the event.
A couple of weeks ago Kingston University Ambassador Scheme held its annual employability event. Thanks to all of you who attend. A special thanks to those that provide presentations ranging from interview skills to networking and CV advice.
Alex who runs his own recruitment company join us for the event. In my first blog on the site I wanted to just provide some top tips when thinking about applying for a job. Enjoy!
Key Tips from Employability Event
Tip One
At the employability event we talk a lot about interviews, one tip from Prospects is to end the interview positively, they say:
“If the interviewer does not tell you, at the end of the interview ask when you should expect to hear news of their selection decision and, if you are successful, what the next stage of the process will be. End the interview on a positive note. Thank the interviewer and reiterate your enthusiasm for the job for which you have applied.”
You might want some more interview tips by going the prospects website here
Think about the type of place you’re working for, if you’re applying for a large pharmacy company they be looking for the leaders of tomorrow so try and develop experience of a leadership role. You could become a lead ambassador or apply for project work as an ambassador.
Make sure you try to find out as much about the company values. Also use what networks you have to gain information about the company.
Tip Three
Spread your search across sectors; don’t think about one specific sector. Try and reflect on what you really like doing or enjoy and you find that you can apply this across a number of sector and type of jobs. This straight away adds to the total number of jobs you can search for.
I was sat in my usual role at the registration desk; we had a couple of new faces, Alex and Andrea. The day was relatively quiet, being a post-application day; I prefer it when it's busy, but it was great speaking to potential students who had already picked Kingston as one of their final choices. I gave the Return to Study Talk with Sheila, and sadly we only had one attendee. But this turned out alright; it was more of an informal chat than anything else. We gave her some good tips on how to prepare for coming to Kingston: buy your textbooks from previous students, don't be intimidated by the complexity of StudentSpace, and above all just talk to people. They're all as nervous as you and are all pretty friendly.
So all-in-all the day went by without a hitch. There weren't too many irate parents, despite the incessant rain and the large number of people ending up at the wrong campus! There were the usual visitors who dropped by at around 2.30 when the day was ending, but they still got some valuable advice from the different Faculty Departments. Hopefully we'll be seeing them at the next Open Day a little bit earlier :)
Hey Guys!
As you may have noticed, one of Kingston uni's students, Carla Fanning, produced a cookbook for new students and old who, like me!, may find it difficult to adjust to cooking for themselves. The Launch was in the foodstore this morning and a few of us went down to show our support to a fellow student and of course...to taste the merchandise!!!
The book itself is small but has the essential ideas of basic living and even tells you what utensils you need so it will be great for first years in halls, which is where it will be distributed! The food samples were lovely as the guys will vouch!!! and just proof that the receipes work.
Carla herself was really nice and said she saw it as a starting point for students but i have to say that even in my third year im still getting ideas from it! if you want to see one, we all have a copy, otherwise facebook her, im sure she will help! Click here to see a picture: http://www.kusa.org.uk/image_gallery
I took my camera along because I'm not sure when the next event will be before I graduate and possibly leave Kingston university forever-and-ever; sorry if the piccies look wonky: the site crops them even if they're under the size requirements 
The Celebration at Raven's Ait was awesome. Everyone made a real effort - especially greg etc with their ambassador song!!!
check out mike and the girls