Boost your CV and enhance your employability with a student leadership position at your Students' Union
We know that your employability is a top priority for you. The job market can feel like a bewildering place, and it can be hard to feel like you’re ready enough to go out there and find the right employer and role for you. If you’re still looking for opportunities to develop your skills and boost your CV, then you should definitely consider standing in the SU elections.
We have a number of roles available – whether it’s part-time paid work as the Postgraduate Students’ Officer, volunteering as a Part-Time Officer, taking up a committee position, or serving on LSE’s Council. There’s something for everyone, no matter what you’re looking to do with your time. We’re going to run through just a few of the skills valued by employers that you can improve through taking up a student leadership position at LSESU.
Influencing
When you take up a leadership position at the SU, you’ll be sure to build on your influencing skills. As an elected Officer of the Students’ Union, it’s your role to influence the School to act in the interests on the students you represent. Whether that’s through lobbying work based on policy and research, or through campaigning activity. If you take up a committee position, you’ll be able to demonstrate your influencing skills through effective interventions and proposals, or through the relationships you may have built with other committee members.
Self-management
You’ll also have an opportunity to improve your own self-management abilities. As the Postgraduate Officer, or one of the Part-Time Officers, you’ll need to oversee your own workload, making sure you’re using your time as effectively as possible. While you will receive support from Students’ Union staff, you’ll be responsible for your own portfolio, and will need to make sure you stick to deadlines in order to deliver projects and campaigns on time. You’ll also need to balance your role alongside your studies and any other responsibilities you might have.
Strategic thinking
Are you a big picture person? Well, taking up one of the roles on offer in the elections is a great opportunity to develop your ability to think strategically. The Postgraduate Students’ Officer sits on LSESU’s board of trustees and as such will be responsible for ensuring the Union achieves its charitable objectives through effectively carrying out its strategy. LSE Council is one of the highest decision-making bodies at the School – if elected to sit on Council, you will have an opportunity to think strategically about the School and what steps it needs to take.
Relationship management
Whatever position you might go for in the SU elections, you’ll need to use your relationship management skills. If you’re a committee member, you’ll need to build and manage effective working relationships with those who sit alongside you on the committee. If you take up an Officer position at the Students’ Union, you’ll need to manage relationships across the School and Students’ Union, whether that’s with other elected Officers, or LSE departments such as the PhD Academy or the Disability Wellbeing Service.
Decision making
Taking up one of the roles on offer in the SU elections will give you a huge opportunity to develop, and showcase, your decision-making skills. These elections exist in order to put students at the heart of decision making at both LSE and the Students’ Union. If you sit on LSE’s Academic Board, you’ll get to have a say on decisions around every students’ academic experience at LSE. If you’re taking up a
position on the AU’s Executive, you’ll get to make decisions around how the Athletics Union should work to ensure every student gets to take part in high quality sports activity during their time at the School.
Even just running your election campaign will give you an opportunity to develop skills around campaigns, communication, and volunteer management! So make sure you get your nomination in before the deadline of 5pm, Thursday 15th October. Head to www.lsesu.com/elections to find out more.