Rachel S.
About me
| Rachel S. | |
| Environment | |
| Environmental Economics & Environmental Management | |
| Undergraduate | |
| 2014 | |
| United Kingdom |
My employment
| Sustainability Project Officer | |
| National Union of Students | |
| United Kingdom | |
| Environment and energy | |
| 2014 | |
| £24324 |
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A day in the life of a Sustainability Project Officer in the United Kingdom
Where I hope to be in 5 years
I want to stay in sustainability - where exactly that will take me I'm not sure, but for now I'm happy in my current role.
My advice to students considering work
Having a degree just isn't enough in today's job market. At University I had a part-time job, volunteered, got involved with societies and undertook and internship with the Student Internship Bureau. This meant that when it came to sending off job applications I had a wealth of skills and experience that you can't get from a degree alone.
Getting involved in anything and everything extra-curricula is really important if you want to stand out - especially in this sector which is really competitive. The environment and sustainability is also a lot more maths-based than people think so make sure you're confident with numbers and technology.
My advice about working in my industry
Once again I would stress that getting involved in anything and everything extra-curricula is really important if you want to stand out - especially in this sector which is really competitive. The environment and sustainability is also a lot more maths-based than people think so make sure you're confident with numbers and technology.
What I do
I work with universities across the country, encouraging staff and students to go green. I spend a lot of time talking to students in halls of residences or giving workshops to staff on how to make their office greener. I also train up student volunteers to become environmental auditors and run online competitions for students to encourage them to save energy. I spend about half of my time out and about on visits and for the rest of the time I do admin work from home.
Skills I use and how I developed them
Extracurricular skills:
I use communication skills a lot - both verbal and written - as I give presentations run training sessions. These skills have been developed mostly through my course as we had to do lots of presentations. I also use social media and web design skills which I developed during my internship in the Estates department at University. Time management is hugely important in my role because I work with lots of different universities and there's always 101 things that need doing for different organisations - I think working in hospitality while at university helped me develop time management skills and also my course (juggling lots of different modules and assignments at once)
What I like most
I love talking to students about the importance of saving energy and recycling - especially when you meet someone equally enthusiastic who totally gets behind the campaigns. Working with student volunteers is great as well because I was in that position just a couple of years a go and I know how valuable the opportunities are. I also get to give out a lot of Ben & Jerry's ice cream as prizes in competitions which is awesome!
What I like least
There's a lot of travelling which I never thought would be a problem, but it really tires you out and can make you pretty miserable. Plus it means there's a lot of time sat by yourself on trains which can get lonely!
Next steps...
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