uwlsu.com | facebook.com/uwlstudentsunion | @uwl_su | 0208 231 2276
UWLSU STUDENT STAFF APPLICATION PACK
Big Conversation Project Assistant
This pack contains:
- Welcome from the Deputy Chief Executive
- Guide to the students’ union
- What it’s like to work at UWLSU
- Job Description & Person Specification
- Application Process
- Application Form
- Equal Opportunities Monitoring Form
WELCOME FROM THE DEPUTY CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Hi,
We are so glad you want to be part of the UWLSU Army.
Our aim is to be the first excellent students’ union in a modern London university with a focus on retention and improving the student experience; and what better way to make that happen than by hiring as many students as possible.
We believe that students make us excellent, make this a great place to work and are most equipped to better the lives of other students.
The Direct Conversation Assistant’s purpose is to proactively support students by giving them useful information, simple advice and signposting through phone calls, texts and emails.
The union is a family and we are looking for people who are friendly with a can-do attitude who truly believe they can help improve the lives of students at UWL.
This pack will give you all the information you need on the role.If you have any question regarding your application please contact Matt Myles-Brown on
The deadline for application is 5pm Monday 9 May 2016
We’re the West London Army!
Ben Whittaker
Deputy Chief Executive
GUIDE TO THE STUDENTS’ UNION
University of West London Students’ Union (UWLSU) provides support, activities, events and representation for over 14,000 students studying at University of West London.
How is UWLSU run?
UWLSU is a charity run by a group of student leaders who have been democratically elected by the student body. On a day to day basis we are run by 3 full time student officers; President, VP Education, and VP Activities & Participation who are supported by a dedicated and professional staff team.
What does UWLSU do?
We exist to improve the student experience and we do that through offering the following services:
Advice Service: We support students with academic issues through advice, information and advocacy.
Course reps & Campaigns: We help students affect change within their university and supports students in running campaigns for change.
Student Activities: We support students in running and participating in a range of extra-curricular activities such as sports clubs, religious groups, political and charity groups and societies.
Events: We run a range of events that help students network and socialise as well as support students who want to put on their own events.
Employment Opportunities: We believe that students are best placed to be the face of UWLSU and as such we provide a range of part-time employment opportunities in administration, reception, communications, events, representation, commercial services and student activities.
Commercial Services: We provide a range of services for students from Freddie’s bar, kitchen and coffee house to a space that hosts special events throughout the year.
WHAT IT’S LIKE TO WORK AT UWLSU
At UWLSU we know that you are students first and so we offer flexible working that fits around your studies.
Our student staff get access to the UWLSU gym at half price!
At UWLSU we offer the living wage to all our student staff which is £7.85 an hour (plus holiday entitlement).
Across the year we run various events and campaigns like Freshers, Elections and Varsity of which our student staff get access to lots of cool stash like t-shirts and other accessories.
As our student staff are so instrumental in achieving our strategy we appreciate you with exclusive social events throughout the year (post freshers party, Christmas party) and an all-expenses paid overnight residential somewhere outside London.
Working in the student union you get access to a lot of great learning and development opportunities in a short amount of time.
We know how important it is for our students to get jobs after university so we ensure that apart from work related learning we offer personal development thus leaving you with higher employability and a cracking CV!
But don’t take our word for it, here it was a few student staff had to say about working at UWLSU:
“Working at the SU is an extremely rewarding experience and being able to help students from all over the University is a real pleasure and is most satisfying. It really can’t get better than this!”
“Being able to contribute towards a better University experience for the students makes me feel good- and in turn love my job that little bit more!”
“The SU is totally awesome and I actually love coming to work!”
“Our opinion is really valued and we are asked to put ideas forward to improve things”
“My development has gone up tenfold since I started working here”
“You get to learn a lot of things and the work is flexible”
“The SU care about your life after university and my manager even put a recommendation on my LinkedIn because she knew it would mean a lot to me”
JOB DESCRIPTION
Big Conversation Project Assistant
ACCOUNTABLE TO: Advice & Outreach Manager
SALARY:£7.85
CONTRACT:6-10 hours per week, for 40 weeks
LOCATION:SMR and Paragon Site (staff may be asked to travel to all UWL sites)
JOB PURPOSE
1. To provide day to day support for students seeking information, simple advice and signposting across all UWL sites
2. Play an active role in the Representation team
3. Participate in key union activities
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
1. To provide day to day support for students seeking information, simple advice and signposting across all UWL sites
- Carry out activities such as emails, phone calls and texts to proactively contact students and provide them with simple advice and signposting
- Support the maintenance of databases of students’ views and advice given
- Undertake some reporting activities on the advice given and views recorded through proactive contact with students
2. Play and active role in the Representation team
- To provide friendly, efficient customer service and create a warm and welcoming service to students.
- Participate in Representation team meetings
- Provide information relating to Representation Teamservices as required by the Advice Manager
- To participate in team planning discussions by putting forward ideas for improvements of the Representation Team’s services
3. Participate in key union activities
- Support and participate in key UWLSU major events and activities
- Carry out other tasks as instructed by your manager
PERSON SPECIFICATION
CRITERIA / RequirementKNOWLEDGE
Understanding of how students’ unions works / Desirable
Strong understanding of confidentiality / Essential
EXPERIENCE
Good practical customer service experience / Essential
Previous experience working in a democratically led organisation / Desirable
Experience coming up with ideas and creating change / Desirable
Experience working effectively on own initiative / Essential
Experience handling cash and transactions / Desirable
Experience in office administration / Essential
Experience building relationships with people / Essential
BEHAVIOURS/VALUES
Desire to work within a democratic student led environment and understands without doubt that we exist for our members / Essential
Ability to engage a diverse range of students and understands their needs / Essential
Displays high levels of self-awareness and empathy / Essential
Takes a coaching approach to problem solving and management / Essential
Understands the importance of positive relationships and partnerships with key stakeholders / Essential
Ability to cultivate positive relationships with specific groups / Essential
Has the skills and knowledge necessary to do the job and keeps up to date in own field / Essential
Understands and adheres to relevant policies and procedures. / Essential
Known for delivering on time and to a consistently high standard / Essential
Considers the health, wellbeing, and safety of self and others / Essential
Demonstrates positivity, treats others as equals and has a strong commitment to Equality and Diversity / Essential
ATTRIBUTES/SKILLS
Strong IT literacy especially in Outlook, Microsoft word, excel and the ability to quickly learn new software / Essential
Strong attention to detail / Essential
Ability to work as part of a team / Essential
Ability to prioritize workload and meet deadlines / Essential
Good communication skills, both oral and written – particularly ability to communicate with people at various levels / Essential
Strong problem solving skills / Essential
Excellent Phone manner / Essential
Strong time management skills / Essential
Ability to demonstrate strong work ethic / Essential
APPLICATION PROCESS
Key dates
The deadline to receive applications is 5pm Friday 30 May 2016
Successful candidates will be invited to interview by Monday3October 2016
Interviews will be heldWednesday 5 October
All applications should be submitted to
The interview day
The interview process will be as follows:
- Direct conversation task (around 30 minutes)
- Face to Face interview (around 20 minutes)
- Opportunity to ask any questions you may have
Details of the tasks
Candidates will be given tasks to complete that are very similar to what will be done when on the job. The tasks are designed to test some aspects of the person specification and will be PC and/or paper based.
Successful candidates will be contacted by Monday 10 October.
Once successful there will be a range of training so candidates are asked to be available to work from Monday 17thOctober 2016.
Queries
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact Andy Irwin on toarrange a time to speak over the phone.
APPLICATION FORM
PERSONAL INFORMATIONName:
Address:
Email:
Mobile:
Course and Year:
PREVIOUS EMPLOYMENT
Name of most recent employer:
Address:
Position held:
Duration:
Summary of main duties:
SUPPORTING STATEMENT
Please use this section to tell us how you fulfill the criteria in the person specification and any experience you think is relevant to the role.
Please use this space to tell us about how you would approach contacting students proactively to provide them with information and advice, and what skills, knowledge or experience would help you to do this
Disclosure of a Criminal Record/Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (to be completed by all applicants)
If the post you have applied for is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and requires a Standard or Enhanced Disclosure (as indicated on the job description), you must disclose all convictions (whether spent or unspent), cautions, reprimands and final warnings on your criminal record. (Please read the guidelines carefully)
If the post is subject to either a Standard or Enhanced Disclosure, you must answer the following question:
Have you ever been convicted by the courts or cautioned, reprimanded or given a final warning by the police? YES NO
If the post is subject to Enhanced Disclosure, you must also answer the following question:
Are you aware of any police enquiries undertaken following allegations made against you or do you have any pending prosecutions, which may have a bearing on your suitability for this post? YES NO
For all other posts: Do you have any unspent criminal convictions? YES NO
(If you answer yes to any of the above questions, please give details of offences, penalties and dates on a separate sheet (which should be signed and dated), enclose in a sealed envelope marked ‘Private & Confidential’ and attach to the form. Write your name, the post reference number and job title on the envelope.)
References
Please give names and addresses of TWO referees, not related to you, who are willing and able to provide up-to-date information on your qualifications, experience and skills. One of these must be your line manager from your current or most recent employment or if you have not been employed, a referee related to relevant voluntary or community work or, if appropriate, your head teacher or lecturer/tutor from your last school or college or university.
We reserve the right to contact your present/last employer if an offer is made and accepted. References may be taken up prior to interview, unless you have specifically requested otherwise in the section below.
Name / 1. / 2. / 3.
Position
Working relationship
(if any)
Address
Post Code:
Tel No:
Fax No:
E-mail address:
May we contact
prior to interview? / YES NO / YES NO / YES NO
I.Declaration
I understand the Students’ Union reserves the right to withdraw an offer of appointment or to terminate my employment with or without notice or payment in lieu in cases where: (a) it is discovered I do not have the claimed qualification or experience (b) I do not obtain, for whatever reasons, any appropriate examination or licence; (c) I become disbarred from the appropriate Regulatory Body or Authority.
I understand that an offer of appointment will be subject to references satisfactory to the Students’ Union.
I understand that, if the post is subject to Standard or Enhanced Disclosure, I must disclose details of any criminal record, including convictions, cautions, reprimands and final warnings and (for Enhanced Disclosure) any other information that may have a bearing on my suitability for the post.
I understand that providing false or misleading information will disqualify me from appointment or if appointed will render me liable to dismissal without notice.
I declare that the information I have given is, to the best of my knowledge, true and complete.
I agree that the information given may be used for registered purposes under the Data Protection Act 1998.
Has anyone else completed this form on your behalf YES NO
Signed (please insert electronic signature or leave blank):
Date:
EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES MONITORING FORM
We are committed to equal opportunities in our recruitment process and in order to find out how well we are doing with this we need to collect monitoring data. This form is not sent to the recruiting panel and has no part in the shortlisting process.
How did you find out about this post?
Where did you see this job advertised?
Your ethnic origin
Asian, Asian British, Asian English, Asian Scottish, or Asian WelshAsian / Asian British
Bangladeshi
Chinese
Indian
Pakistani
Other Asian background (specify if you wish): / White
British
English
Gypsy or Irish Traveller
Irish
Scottish
Welsh
Other White background (specify if you wish):
Black, Black British, Black English, Black Scottish, or Black Welsh
African
Caribbean
Other Black background (specify if you wish): / Mixed
White and Asian
White and Black African
White and Black Caribbean
White and Chinese
Other mixed background (specify if you wish):
Other ethnic group
Arab
Other ethnic group (specify if you wish): / Prefer not to say
Your gender
Male Female Prefer not to say
Have you ever identified as transgender?
YesNoPrefer not to say
Your age
16 - 24 25 - 34 35 - 44 45 - 54 55 - 64 65+
Prefer not to say
Your sexual orientation
Bisexual
Gay man
Gay woman/lesbian
Heterosexual/straight
Other (specify if you wish):
Prefer not to say
Marriage and civil partnership
Single
Married/in a registered same-sex civil partnership
Separated, but still legally married/in a registered same-sex civil partnership
Divorced/formerly in a same-sex civil partnership which is now legally dissolved
Widowed/Surviving partner from a same-sex civil partnership
Prefer not to say
Your religion or belief
No religionBuddhist
Christian (including Church of England, Catholic, Protestant and all other Christian denominations)
Hindu / Jewish
Muslim
Sikh
Other (specify if you wish):
Prefer not to say
Disability
The Equality Act 2010 defines a disabled person as anyone who has or has had a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. Taking this definition into consideration, do you consider you have a disability? : YES NO
If you have a disability and have demonstrated in your application that you meet the minimum (essential) criteria for the vacancy you can request a guaranteed interview. Do you wish to claim an interview under the 2 tick’s scheme?
YES NO
Please describe any special requirements/reasonable adjustments which will help you participate in an interview or to carry out this post if appointed:
uwlsu.com | facebook.com/uwlstudentsunion | @uwl_su | 0208 231 2276