The role and responsibilities of the position:
In this role you’re the primarily representative of LSE students to the school, the media and the wider world. So this means a lot of committees, a lot of emails and a lot of meetings. It’s all about building relationships with individuals inside the school and originations outside in order to get what students want and need!
Three qualities someone interested in this position should possess are:
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An ability (and willingness) to talk to an incredibly diverse bunch of people. From journalists to the Director, students having personal issues to societies at their events – you need to be able to communicate effectively in different situations every single day.
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Being able to see the lighter side of stuff. You’ve got to learn to not sweat the small stuff. There are days when you can feel a bit dragged down by everything or overwhelmed, so it’s important to be able to see the positives and take the good along with the bad.
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Being diplomatic. There are times you have to bite your tongue, work in situations you don’t particularly want to, or on a project you disagree with. By the very nature of the job you have to be able to be a mediating and neutral voice even when you personally disagree. That doesn’t mean it is not political – it absolutely is, and I think you should have a strong ideological vision about how you see the Union, LSE, and the wider world, but you also need to have a strong diplomatic voice.
The best part is:
I think it offers an absolutely unique experience. It is a lot of fun – the officers and staff at the Union and the University are fantastic and make it so. I love working on the London/National side as well and working with Officers from across the Country at various events and conferences. Further, you can really make a tangible difference on a local or national scale. Not a lot of other roles can offer that at the age of 21.
It’s not all fun and games. The most challenging aspect is:
Sometimes it feels a little like you’re just fire-fighting, dealing with issue after issue – which means that the things you wish you could get done can get relegated a little. As General Secretary I have no real remit, which means that so many issues come to me. Which is great, but there is only so many hours in the day. Juggling a large number of committees, a huge influx of emails as well as working on the full spectrum of student issues on campus can be a little tiring!
The most surprising part of the job is:
The variety of things you do each day. In any given day you might be in a senior university committee meeting first thing in a morning, spend a the mid-morning having a coffee and talking to a student who has had a serious family issue, after lunch work on planning an event launch for a national event and spend the afternoon choosing design work for a latest campaign – all the meanwhile answering emails on every possible issue that could apply to LSE or the LSESU.
The advice I would give to someone thinking of standing:
I genuinely think it is the best job in the world. It is very hard work – it can be emotionally draining at times, incredibly frustrating and unbearably stressful – but the good times definitely outweigh the bad. You need to know yourself very well as you will be challenged constantly through the year, but you will have fantastic support throughout your time and it offers you so much in terms of developing yourself.
Current Secretary: Alex Peters-Day