Leiden schools have a team of student ambassadors. A Student Ambassador inspires and encourages other students to consider debating, (re)presenting and / or reporting.
The team have a high performance culture and drive and excel in forward thinking and innovating. They demonstrate a strong commitment to ethos and values. Some Student Ambassadors may also visit other schools to give presentations and help run workshops. The Student Ambassador Team actively takes part in the organisation of the debates and the content of the debates. Some Ambassadors excel in writing reports and using social media in good citizen journalism.
Advantages of joining the team: the Ambassadors are building their C.V. by getting more experience working in an information-providing capacity, increasing verbal communication, spoken and written, skills, using their enthusiasm to inspire others and raising aspirations, improving presentation skills to groups of people, developing more effective team working skills, time-keeping skills, organising skills, and showing evidence of their being responsible, reliable, and approachable young people.
5 Skills You Learn as a Student Ambassador:
1. Public Speaking
As a student ambassador you will be expected to deliver talks in front of others. The audience could be as few as a couple of students, or as many as a lecture theatre full. In actual fact, the size of the audience doesn’t matter. Once you have got your confidence speaking in front of others, you can translate this to any situation. It is important to pick up this experience early as a group of fellow students are a gentle introduction compared to a room full of employers looking to hire. You can hone your skills in a safe environment.
2. Networking
Networking is a popular buzzword. Quite simply it means building relationships to further your career prospects or build chances for collaboration. Done properly, networking is a positive circle that everyone mutually benefits from. You are not trying to trick anyone into hiring you. Instead, you are discussing mutually interesting topics and the trick comes in recognising where collaboration would be beneficial. As an ambassador, you get the chance to interact with students, staff and often external organisations. It is an invaluable chance to get your name recognised and meet people who may be in a sector you are interested in pursuing in the future.
3. Time Management
Time management is a crucial skill. It proves you can work to deadlines and reliably deliver a service. If you work while studying, it shows to an employer that you can manage multiple projects and meet multiple goals. This gives you not only the chance to practice your time management skills but also gain examples of how you managed your time to add to your CV. Having a system in place to prioritise activities based on deadlines, even if it is as simple as list-making and utilising calendars, is a valuable thing to be able to show employers.
4. Customer Service
Customer service is a skill that is transferrable to a wide variety of roles. As an ambassador, your role is often outreach and recruitment. A huge part of your remit is to give a positive experience to a prospective student, or students, and make them want to engage with the university or product. If you can let an employer know that you have experience of this kind of role then you are ticking an important box. Unlike communication or other soft skills, this is not the sort of experience you can extrapolate from your course. Customer service is a work based skill.
5. Sales
Sales is sometimes considered something of a dirty word. Arguably, sales is a skill that we all use day to day as we communicate our own point of view and persuade others to its merits. As an ambassador, you are ‘selling’ the university, service or scheme. No doubt, this comes naturally as you recount your own experiences and opinion. However, you are unconsciously improving your ability to explain and showcase an item.