What inspired you to work for Student Works?
I came across the company through a university presentation. The job description covered a range of activities completed on a typical day at work. This appealed to me because of the range of skills and responsibility I could develop in a small firm compared to working for a bigger organisation.
Describe a typical day at work.
I start with an hour of emails, between 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. The next hour is dedicated to social media marketing and interacting with customers, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Each day of the week has a different task for the hour after. I could be advertising new accomodation for that week or checking rent payments. The next hour in the calendar is normally left free for the last hour just before lunch, this allows time to catch up the morning tasks if any customers come through the door.
After lunch depending on the day we might be finding new businesses to work with or chasing students to see if they are still interested in proceeding with our services. My 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. slot is left to go over emails and social networking sites. Then 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., depending on the day, can be spent visiting a host family, doing a house viewing, or filing office papers into folders.
No day is the same; the tasks in the calendar are there as a guide, but things can be moved around if needed.
What is your favorite part about your job?
Interacting with customers from different backgrounds. Both doing the interviews and visiting host families makes the role more unique, because not many roles allow you to do a range of tasks. The families visited and people interviewed are always different, even though you are doing the same task it doesn't feel repetitive.
How do you use your education and international background in your current role?
At university I study events and leisure marketing, so some of the theory and concepts learnt from university is applied to the role. One of the units I took in my second year was digital marketing communications. The drip marketing techniques covered in the unit are now used in the workplace. For example, we have a set time each day to do a social media post.
My international background helps students we work with find it easier to relate with me.
Why should someone choose Student Works over your competitors?
Our services are tailored to the customer. Access to services from schools and companies all over the UK allows us to accomodate more needs than our competitors. We also offer discounts for booking through us all year round.
What makes Student Works easy to market to potential participants?
The human resources of the company. The company is small and the staff are friendly. The low number of staff allow customers to develop strong bonds with the staff. Staff members are multilingual making it easier for customers from different countries to communicate.
What questions do participants often ask you, and how do you typically respond?
Most the questions we get are around visas, such as “Can you help me get a visa?” or “Will I be able to get a visa to come to the UK?” We have Google Drive documents with all the requirements for the UK visas, so these are attached to the responses we send back and links to .gov.uk are also included for more information.
Why do you think learning a new language is important for travelers?
It opens you up to new experiences and allows you to connect on a deeper level. Because you speak the same language, nothing can be lost in translation. It also makes it easier to meet new people, since you have something in common.
What advice do you have for individuals thinking about going abroad?
Don't be afraid to get out of your comfort zone in your home country. You never know who you will meet or how life will pan out if you do decide to move to another country. Apart from seeing new places and eating different food, you will also get the opportunity to get to know yourself.
What does meaningful travel mean to you?
Not just travelling and taking pictures of beautiful sites, but also getting to know the culture and people of the destination you visit. This requires you to visit places not included as tourist destinations to visit.
