With one week left to apply to become a Students’ Union officer, so we’re bringing you our top 10 reasons why you should apply!

1, Gain great experience that employers are looking for!

Representing your student peers either as a full-time officer or assembly member will provide you with a great amount of experience which you can add to your CV. This means you have the opportunity to stand out of the crowd, giving you an advantage over others in your field!

2, Build your confidence and develop your skills!

Through your experiences and provided training in this role, you’ll develop essential skills which will all be extremely useful later in your professional career. Skills like problem solving, conflict resolution, leadership, project and people management, policy making and public speaking among many, many others will help equip you for your career journey.

3, Perfect transition between education and working life!

Being a full-time officer at the Students' Union is the perfect transition between your academic studies and the corporate world. First of all, since you already go here you’ll have the comfort of working in a familiar environment. Secondly, because you’ll be working on projects that are close to your heart as a student, you can have the professional freedom to participate in important campaigns and meetings that could really make a difference!

4, Work on social issues that really matter!

Are you passionate about social issues? As a full-time officer or assembly member, you’ll have the opportunity to work on campaigns about the most important social issues of our society! This includes campaigns such as Islamophobia Awareness, Black History Month, LGBTQ+ History Month, Pride and sustainability campaigns! (Imagine how good this would look on your CV!)

5, Work with flexible, like-minded individuals!

As an officer, you’ll be working closely with passionate and open-minded students and staff members who share the main goal of support you in achieving your policies and making your experience both as a student and full-time officer the best it could possibly be.

6, Make the University better for your mates!

Both as a full-time officer and assembly member, you’ll have a huge say in what’s going on around the university and you’ll have the power to change things. These can be small but important issues such as more common space on campus or more sockets in classrooms. But, they can also be large-impact issues, like a shift in investment policy or creating systems for a more sustainable City.

7, Experience the democratic transition at City!

This will be a very exciting year for the Students’ Union as the whole democratic structure has changed! Applying this year means you will be part of City History as part of the first Students' Union team to fully implement and develop this new democratic style.

8, Do it for the sweet money!

Full-time officers receive £24k+ benefits per annum and as part of the new democratic system, all assembly members will have reasonable expenses paid for their time at the assembly to make it as inclusive as possible!

9, Gain networking experience!

You’ll not only meet tons of people during your role but you’ll also be able to liaise between organizations, administrators, academics, students, staff members and more. The role also includes invites to fancy dinners with leading members of the partner organisations of City, where you have the opportunity to network with important people.

10, Use your experiences in your own area!

The experience you’ll gain is not only useful for this job but it is universal for any career path you decide to follow.

• Law students: These roles will enable you to advocate for students and master the art of debate which will be very helpful in your future job.
• Business students: The full-time roles will help you network, gain the skills such as chairing a meeting, understanding how to lead a team and how to navigate decision making processes. (You can even tick that Project management skills on LinkedIn!)
• Health Students: The Students' Union will provide you with disability training, mental health training, First Aid training, motivational training and any other training that you feel might support you in this role and in the future.
• Politics students: Your career would benefit from being involved in a democratic process, listening to students’ issues, campaigning and managing a campaign as well as experience in accountability sessions.

We hope these top 10 reasons are enough to convince you to apply today! But if you would like to find out even more information about the specific roles, head over to the elections page and read the Students' Union Officer Job packs.