Our Alumni Volunteer Awards celebrate all of our amazing volunteers and say thank you to those exceptional individuals who do so much to support us all.
Volunteer
Every year, hundreds of alumni volunteers support the staff, students and alumni of the University of Exeter.
Our volunteers help us to enhance the student experience and improve career prospects, bring their industry expertise and insights to the curriculum, support the alumni community, and provide valuable strategic advice and guidance to University staff.
How you can support us:
You can help across a wide variety of projects and we are happy to work with you to find a way to get involved which suits your skills and circumstances. We have opportunities for you to volunteer from home, at work, or on campus. All opportunities are available to international alumni – those marked * could happen remotely.
The Career Mentor Scheme brings bright, enthusiastic students together with successful professionals in mutually beneficial mentoring partnerships. The Scheme gives students the opportunity to get an insight into their preferred employment sector and develop personal networks and employability skills.
Mentor requirements: Three years professional experience in any career sector (mentors range from graduate trainees to managers and company directors) and a keen interest in supporting a student to help improve their employability.
Time commitment: Approximately 1 hour a month for up to 6 months.
Ask An Alum is a simple and reliable way to connect University of Exeter alumni with current Exeter students or recent graduates to answer careers questions via a short email exchange. With over 27,000 current students and thousands more recent graduates we are always seeking alumni volunteers to share their experiences and careers information on:
• their job roles;
• working for certain organisations or as an entrepreneur;
• employment in their chosen industries and sectors;
• what is it like living and working in different town/cities and countries around the world;
• using their degree in their careers.
Requirements: No requirements beyond a willingness to answer careers questions by email and offer advice and signposting. This opportunity is relevant for both recent and experienced alumni across all sectors and job types and based anywhere in the world.
Time commitment: You would be contacted on an ad-hoc basis as/when student queries come in which are relevant to your line of work. You will not be contacted more than once a month and you can limit this further.
Further Information: https://www.exeter.ac.uk/careers/employment-services/develop/aaa/
Register to as a volunteer: Please complete this Ask An Alum: Alumni Registration Form and the Careers Team will be touch by email as soon as possible with the next steps.
Every term, we welcome alumni back to speak and share their career experiences with students. Your careers insights can make all the difference to students struggling to identify the right career for them or to those applying to work in your field.
Requirements: Just a passion for your chosen field and the ability to communicate this to a group (sometimes large) of students and field questions. We try to feature talks across a wide variety of professional backgrounds.
Time commitment: 1 – 2 hours to give a talk and answer questions, either in Exeter or Cornwall.
Help students practice their interview techniques by acting as a recruiter at a mock interview on campus. This experience is enormously beneficial for students, most of whom have had little exposure to formal interviewing.
Requirements: No particular requirements but alumni should have experience of conducting recruitment interviews and/or work in recruitment roles.
Time commitment: Full or half day either in Exeter or Cornwall.
We feature alumni profiles across the University website, intranet and student newsletters. Profiles provide valuable careers insights and top tips for getting into a wide range of industries – and then progressing.
It’s a resource that students can dip in and out of and gives information to really help them stand out against the competition.
Requirements: Nothing beyond a passion for your chosen field and the ability to communicate this in writing. We try to feature profiles from alumni across a wide variety of professional backgrounds. Photo or video - ideally in the workplace.
Time commitment: 15 – 30 minutes.
Are you living outside of the UK? Could you act as an Ambassador for Exeter in your country of residence? If so, we would love you to join us as a Country Contact volunteer!
You would help to develop an alumni community in your country or region by acting as point of contact for fellow alumni, current and potential students, as well as visiting staff. Country Contacts can organise local activities and events to bring alumni together.
Requirements: Your name and email will be listed on our Country Contacts webpage for alumni, students and staff to see and get in touch with you. There are no other requirements beyond a love of Exeter and an interest in bringing alumni in your country together to have fun.
Time commitment: It can vary depending on activities you might wish to organise or numbers of enquiries. On average, you might volunteer for two hours each month in this role.
We run a large number of professional networking and social events for our alumni both in Exeter and Cornwall and in London. We try to run events for little or no cost to attendees and therefore rely on the generous support of other alumni by hosting our events at their offices, clubs, etc.
Requirements: We run events and receptions of all sizes, from 30 – 150 alumni.
Time commitment: Very little! We will set up before the event and clear away afterwards. We can also organise our own refreshments if these are not available onsite.
Exeter alumni ambassadors represent the programme they studied (or college they studied in) and support the University with a range of activities such as:
- Speaking to prospective Exeter students by phone, email and social media or by attending offer holder/recruitment events.
- Helping us to organise employability, networking and social events for alumni of your programme and integrate newly graduated alumni into the network
- Using your network to spread the word on social media, to increase awareness of Exeter alumni community activities in your discipline and share messages about other important initiatives
Requirements:
Your name and email will be listed on our alumni ambassadors webpage for alumni, students and staff to see and get in touch with you. You will need to be willing to answer questions, and share your experiences of studying/living in Exeter with prospective students. There are no other requirements beyond a love of Exeter and an interest in bringing together alumni from your discipline.
Time commitment: On average this role will involve approximately 2-3 hours per month of volunteering time. You will be supported by the Global Advancement team and the role will be reviewed on an annual basis.
