jobs.ac.uk - Great jobs for bright people
  • Find a Job
  • Find PhDs
  • Career Advice
  • Jobs by Email
  • Recruiters
  • Your Account

  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

career-advice.jobs.ac.uk

Secondary Sidebar

jobs.ac.uk Career Advice

  • CV and Cover Letter Advice
    • CV Tips
    • CV Templates
    • Cover Letters
    • Personal Profiles
    • CV Resources
  • Jobseeking and Interview Tips
    • Jobseeking Tips
    • Academic Interviews
    • Professional Interviews
    • Jobseeking and Interview Resources
  • Career Development
    • Academic Careers
    • Research Careers
    • Professional Careers
    • Working in Industry
    • Career Development Resources
    • Global Careers
  • Women in Higher Education
  • Resources
    • Academic Case Studies
    • Professional Case Studies
    • Interview questions tool
    • Webinars
    • Job Profiles
    • Blog
    • Vlogs
  • Country Profiles
    • Africa
      • Egypt
      • Ghana
      • Kenya
      • Nigeria
      • South
    • Americas
      • Canada
      • United States of America
    • Asia
      • Bahrain
      • Brunei
      • China
      • Hong Kong
      • India
      • Japan
      • Kazakhstan
      • Malaysia
      • Qatar
      • Saudi Arabia
      • Singapore
      • South Korea
      • Turkey
      • United Arab Emirates
    • Europe
      • Belgium
      • Denmark
      • Finland
      • France
      • Germany
      • Ireland
      • Italy
      • Netherlands
      • Norway
      • Russia
      • Spain
      • Sweden
      • Switzerland
      • United Kingdom
    • Oceania
      • Australia
      • New Zealand
  • Studentship Advice
    • PhD
    • Studentship Resources
    • Vlogs
  • Sections
    • CV and Cover Letter Advice
      • CV Tips
      • CV Templates
      • Cover Letters
      • Personal Profiles
      • CV Resources
    • Jobseeking and Interview Tips
      • Jobseeking Tips
      • Academic Interviews
      • Professional Interviews
      • Jobseeking and Interview Resources
    • Career Development
      • Academic Careers
      • Research Careers
      • Professional Careers
      • Working in Industry
      • Career Development Resources
      • Global Careers
    • Resources
      • Academic Case Studies
      • Professional Case Studies
      • Interview questions tool
      • Blog
      • Vlogs
    • Country Profiles
      • Africa
        • Egypt Country Profile
        • Ghana Country Profile
        • Kenya Country Profile
        • Nigeria Country Profile
        • South Africa Country Profile
      • Americas
        • Canada Country Profile
        • United States of America Country Profile
      • Asia
        • Bahrain Country Profile
        • Brunei Country Profile
        • China Country Profile
        • Hong Kong Country Profile
        • India Country Profile
        • Japan Country Profile
        • Kazakhstan Country Profile
        • Malaysia Country Profile
        • Qatar Country Profile
        • Saudi Arabia Country Profile
        • Singapore Country Profile
        • South Korea Country Profile
        • Turkey Country Profile
        • United Arab Emirates Country Profile
      • Europe
        • Belgium Country Profile
        • Denmark Country Profile
        • Finland Country Profile
        • France Country Profile
        • Germany Country Profile
        • Ireland Country Profile
        • Italy Country Profile
        • Netherlands Country Profile
        • Norway Country Profile
        • Russia Country Profile
        • Spain Country Profile
        • Sweden Country Profile
        • Switzerland Country Profile
        • United Kingdom Country Profile
      • Oceania
        • Australia Country profile
        • New Zealand Country Profile
    • Studentship Advice
      • PhD
      • Studentship Resources
      • Vlogs

Student Support Roles

With the advent of much higher fees there has been an increased interest in UK universities in the issue of student satisfaction, with many faculties and departments hiring specialists to perform student-facing support roles to supplement the pastoral work of academics and administrators.

Why might this interest you?

In many ways, this is the ideal job for someone who wants to work in academia but is unable to secure a permanent lecturing or research position, perhaps because they don’t have the flexibility to move far from home. It suits someone who is familiar with the systems and procedures of a particular university and so a finishing PhD student would be ideal for this job. A PhD student would also have some experience of working with students and understanding the needs of students who struggle or need extra support.

Of course, there are other routes into this job too. People with expertise in aspects of university administration such as recruitment and admissions would also be good at this role, as would those with a background in counselling or careers advice who want a new challenge.

What sort of skills/knowledge do you need?

There are three distinct aspects to this job. You need to be able to relate to university hierarchies and negotiate your way around the different policies and procedures at central, faculty and departmental level as you will be receiving information and direction from these areas. You will be working alongside managers and administrators as well as academics, so being able to talk the language of both will be valuable.

You also need to be a very good organiser and administrator because you will have large numbers of students under your care. You might have to deal with record keeping in both online and paper systems, and maintaining a proper paper trail in your work is vital, especially as some of your work will involve sensitive issues and distressed students.

And that’s the final aspect of the job that you must consider: do you actually enjoy working with young people on a one to one basis? While you won’t be involved in teaching them subject specific material, you will be offering support, skills and assistance that will be vital to their university experience. You will help them to negotiate challenging bureaucratic systems as well as providing pastoral care and offering a sympathetic ear. Some of the problems you will be faced with will be traumatic, others will be frustrating, and therefore you must have patience and empathy.

Challenges in this role?

It is important to get the balance right between offering individual support to the most needy students and helping the broadest range possible. This sort of role isn’t for everyone because you can feel as though you are being pulled in many directions by the university policy makers, by academics, by students and even by their parents. However, on the plus side, it will never be boring and no two days will ever be the same!

Catherine Armstrong,Professional, Managerial & Support Services Jobs

Share this article

Reader Interactions

You may also like:

Professor Susan Bernal Lopez, School of Civil Engineering
Why we need more women in engineering
Senior Level Academic Jobs in Medical Technology

Comments

  1. Elaya Musangeya says

    5th November 2020 at 1:21 pm

    This role is of interest to me.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Follow us

Latest Jobs

  • Specialist Mentor

    Academic and Student Administration, Oxford Brookes University

    Location(s): Oxford

    Salary: £32,344 rising annually to £35,326 pro rata


  • Co-ordinator (Projects & Data) Grade 6

    Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) - School of the Arts, University of Liverpool

    Location(s): Liverpool

    Salary: £29,615 - £34,304 per annum


  • Student Recruitment Events Officer

    Marketing and Communications, University of Leicester

    Location(s): Leicester

    Salary: £28,756 - £33,309 per annum (pro-rata), grade 6


  • Research Technician in Structural Biology

    School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham

    Location(s): Birmingham

    Salary: £24,291 - £26,094 Full time starting salary, with potential progression once in post to £30,207


  • Lecturer in Greek Culture and Classical Receptions Grade 7/8

    Department of Archaeology, Classics & Egyptology, University of Liverpool

    Location(s): Liverpool

    Salary: £35,327 - £53,348 pa


  • Lecturer in Forensic Psychology

    School of Psychology , University of Derby

    Location(s): Derby

    Salary: £33,309 - £40,927 per annum


Footer

jobs.ac.uk - Great jobs for bright people
  • Find a Job
  • Find PhDs
  • Career Advice
  • Jobs by Email
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Terms of use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Accessibility Statement

Copyright © jobs.ac.uk 1998 - 2022

  • Find a Job
  • Find PhDs
  • Careers Advice
  • Jobs by Email
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Terms of use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Accessibility
jobs.ac.uk - Great jobs for bright people

Copyright © jobs.ac.uk 1998 - 2022