How did I kick-start my career? A spot of student volunteering…

As well as making a massive contribution to community projects across London, many of these students pick up skills and experience that they take with them as they begin their careers.

We caught up with some recent graduates and asked them to look back at their time as UCL student volunteers. Here's what they told us.

Patrice Baptiste (MBBS BSc Medicine, 2013): "I am constantly making decisions on my own all the time, from working during a busy twelve hour shift, to managing patients on my ward. Volunteering has helped me to trust myself and to rely on my own initiative."

Caitlin Nisos (MSc Social Development Practice, 2015): "Volunteering allowed me to contribute to the London community, nurture my own roots within the city, network with third-sector practitioners from various disciplines working on a variety of issues, and gain experience in the 'field'." 

Luke Penketh (BSc Biological Sciences, 2012): "I gained a huge volume of skills in managing people, as I maintained and managed a group of volunteers. This has proven essential in my career as a conservation biologist, where managing volunteers is often a crucial component of the role."

Jasmin Lee (MBBS BSc Medicine, 2009): "As a medic in training, my weekly visits were also a good way for me to improve my communication skills and confidence in interacting with someone from a different culture (I had only moved to the UK in 2002). Gaining these soft skills also enabled me to negotiate the generational gap in a sensitive way. This set me in good stead when I began working in the NHS and needed to form many different kinds of relationships with colleagues, other allied professions, patients and relatives."

Tom Trail (MSc Economic Policy, 2011): "Although my course was very useful for my subsequent career, the experience of volunteering - taking me out of the bubble of academia - was far more informative in terms of how we can live in a big city, with so many injustices, and play our role."

Nick McKenzie (MA Human Rights, 2013): "Leading the team in my second year was a great experience in terms of learning the skills necessary to recruit people, encouraging them to take ownership their areas of the project, and helping them to develop their own project management skills. This was really useful for getting leadership experience, which I have transferred now into my career as well as my voluntary roles as a mentor."

Jonathan King (MBBS BSc Medicine, 2011): "Volunteering was definitely one of the most satisfying parts of my university experience. The social aspect with other volunteers made the weeks of preparation really enjoyable and the satisfaction of providing a high quality product at the end of it all was genuinely amazing."

Find out more about the volunteering experiences of UCL alumni.

Volunteer through the UCLU Volunteering Services Unit.

John Braime
Volunteering Manager, UCLU Volunteering Services Unit