I volunteered with Warwick Volunteers throughout my three years studying undergraduate economics: first as a student tutor for mathematics, secondly as a project leader for student tutoring and thirdly as Media and Communications Officer of the Executive Committee. Volunteering was a great contrast from my degree and helped me to develop leadership, communication and teamwork skills. My volunteering led to a job with an anti-bullying charity and helped me to realise I did not want to be a teacher (I now work in risk management; quite a contrast).

When applying for jobs as a graduate, it was my volunteering, alongside my employment, which became the topics of conversation in interviews and heavily featured in my answers to competency questions.

My advice to current students is to do two things:

• Use Warwick Volunteers as a way to step outside of your comfort zone: The support you’ll receive is fantastic and the development that comes out of it will make you a more rounded person. I spent my third year developing a celebration video. Never did anything like it before, learnt a lot from it and still watch it from time to time!
• Reflect on what you are doing as you do it: Rather than have a last minute scramble in your third year (whether applying for jobs or further education) trying to remember what you did and what you learnt from it, try to reflect throughout your time at university. I would recommend keeping a log of all the activities you have done, why you did them, what you gained from them and what challenges you had along the way. Not only will this allow you to reflect on your development personally but it’ll help bring those activities to life in interviews."

Attached photos: Two of the certificates I received from my time volunteering with Warwick Volunteers and me posing with Bertie!