Volunteer Mentor Review

Item: Volunteer Mentor at City Year UK
Rating: 2.5
Author: Anonymous

at City Year UK

Placement (10 Months+)

Teaching

Bolton

Review Submitted: August 2023

Overall Rating

2.5 /5

The Overall Rating is the average of all the ratings given in each category. We take those individual ratings and combine them into one final score!

4/5 - Overview of Role

2.3/5 - Skills Development

3/5 - Support and Guidance

2/5 - Company Culture

2/5 - Overall Experience

4/5 - Future Career Prospects

Overview of Role

Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis.

Start at 8am, supporting in breakfast club then onto in class support, break/lunch duty, more in class support followed by clubs at the end of the day. Despite having timetabled breaks often these are in practical to take

Were you given much responsibility during your placement / internship?

Yes, I was working in a secondary school and you are hugely responsible for the children on your focus list. Teachers will come to you for help/support/ideas and often you are supporting the whole (180 student) year group as apposed to just your 10

Please rate how meaningful the work you were doing was

4/5

Skills Development

Have you learnt any new skills, or developed your existing skills?

Yes, CY prides itself in giving you opportunities to develop skills however this is done under a lot of pressure with little time given to do this

How would you rate the training provided during your experience?

2/5

How would you rate your development of industry-specific skills during the experience?

3/5

How would you rate your development of personal / soft skills during the experience?

2/5

Please rate how these skills have helped you in your career development

2/5

Support and Guidance

How much support and guidance did you receive during your placement / internship?

The support is available however the time to access this isn’t given and you struggle to be able to talk to your line manager without the whole company finding out what you have going on

How would you rate the support and guidance from your line manager?

1/5

How would you rate the support and guidance from the wider team?

5/5

Company Culture

What was the company culture and general atmosphere like?

Toxic positivity atmosphere, forced to share a joy every day even on the days that have been horrendous and you don’t have any. Micromanaged

How would you rate the inclusiveness of the culture?

1/5

How would you rate the social opportunities?

2/5

How would you rate the diversity initiatives?

2/5

How would you rate the charity, sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives?

3/5

Overall Experience

To what extent did you enjoy your placement / internship?

I enjoyed the school aspect of the placement, feeling a real purpose, however when CY get involved it makes the whole experience drag/painful as you are questioned every step you take. No trust