Joe
Peer Support Intern at the University of Manchester
I am a graduate intern working with the Peer Support team. My role is to help and support Student Coordinators, Peer Assisted Study Session (PASS) leaders, and Peer Mentors. I started University at age 21 and had worked in various roles before Uni. In this internship I have enjoyed working in a team that has allowed me to by myself. As a person who finds getting to grips with life admin tasks like job appliations a nightmare, I have appreciated the support I have recived in getting to grips with the world of graduate jobs.
Give a quick snapshot of your role
The core of my role is to provide support for student peer support volunteers as they support first year students. This particularly involves meeting up with student coordinators regularly to find out what their needs are in their roles and helping them plan and resource their schemes. It also involves attending debriefs with PASS leaders and Peer Mentors to hear how they are doing and help problem solve where necessary. I work in a team of four interns and each of us is assigned to about 15 peer support schemes from a range of schools at the university. As well as the regular, weekly support, my role has also involved a range of other things including delivering training, designing and running network events, and carrying out observations. It has also involved stepping in with other parts of university life such as invigilating exams and being part of graduation processions.
What have you learned during your MGT?
My team had been a fun team to work in and I have also found that the job has given me a good, broad view of life at the university. Working in this team has allowed me a lot of freedom to bring my creative and idea -generating side to work, which have found refreshing and certainly not the case in all the places I had worked. I have also develped in my knowldege of teaching and learning facilitation techniques, through both practice and training. During quieter times in the university calendar, I have been given the freedom to come up with my own projects. This has given me the opportunity to read into and learn more about the theory behind schemes like PASS and how they run internationally. As well as the presentation and group facilitation skills that I have developed over the year, this job has also helped me adjust to the world of work; for example by making use of 1-1s with my line manager and team meetings and developing my IT and administrative skills.
Why would you recommend MGT?
The management and leadership style I experienced in this role was very pleasant. It was nice to work in an environment where I felt like I could bring my personality to work. Compared to other places I had worked before becoming a student, this internship provided enough responsibility to keep me engaged, whilst also being low-pressure enough to give me time and energy to invest in life outside of work.
What are your future plans?
Broadly, I’m looking for a job that serves people and local area communities. I am applying for the national detective programme with the police. I am also looking into roles in chaplaincy such as in hospitals, prisons and schools, where my faith can be an overt part of how I serve people.
Please summarise your MGT experience in three words
Social: The Peer Support internship in particular gave me the opportunity to work with and get to know a broad range of people and building relationships was a key part of my role.
Creative: More than I expected, my role has given me the opportunity to bring ideas and initiatives to the table.
Freeing: I have felt like my job has left me with time and energy to pursue other things outside of my work. For example, I have been able to take a lead in cleaning up an alleyway in my local area. This is partly because of the balance of structure and flexibility my job provides. Having a clear cut 9-5 made creating boundaries between work and life easier, whilst having access to flexible working, as well as a generous annual leave package, meant that I could plan around other projects. It is also partly because of the nature of the job itself. Having work that I found interesting and a nice team of people to work with meant that I left work with energy that I could invest in other parts of my life. Being able to get involved in other projects not only felt like a worthwhile in itself, but also helped me develop skills and experience in areas such as local leadership that interest me.
