Volunteer Mentor Review
at City Year UK
Placement (10 Months+)
Teaching
Manchester
Review Submitted: August 2023
Overall Rating
3.9 /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!
5/5
-
Overview of Role
3.8/5
-
Skills Development
4.5/5
-
Support and Guidance
4.3/5
-
Company Culture
3/5
-
Overall Experience
3/5
-
Future Career Prospects
Overview of Role
Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis.
Mentoring children through in-class support and SEL sessions. Extracurricular activities and duties. Admin tasks and note/log taking. Extra projects such as culture and social action projects. LDD and training/professional development once a week.
Were you given much responsibility during your placement / internship?
Given a lot of responsibility in our school role
Please rate how meaningful the work you were doing was
5/5
Skills Development
Have you learnt any new skills, or developed your existing skills?
- Mentoring and coaching skills
- Skillsbuilder framework
- Time management
- Skillsbuilder framework
- Time management
How would you rate the training provided during your experience?
3/5
How would you rate your development of industry-specific skills during the experience?
4/5
How would you rate your development of personal / soft skills during the experience?
4/5
Please rate how these skills have helped you in your career development
4/5
Support and Guidance
How much support and guidance did you receive during your placement / internship?
Guidance from impact officer and other VMs.
Support from school staff and wider community
Support from school staff and wider community
How would you rate the support and guidance from your line manager?
4/5
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?
Very Americanised, some of the cringey aspects don't fit into British school culture
How would you rate the inclusiveness of the culture?
5/5
How would you rate the social opportunities?
3/5
How would you rate the diversity initiatives?
5/5
How would you rate the charity, sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives?
4/5
Overall Experience
To what extent did you enjoy your placement / internship?
Some months were incredibly difficult - you have to motivate yourself because of the lack of pay. It is a long day and sometimes the children can be difficult, even though the overall job is rewarding. Some of the staff don't understand the difficulties of being a volunteer and the stress you are under, sometimes as a young person out of college or an undergrad, because they haven't experienced it.
Please rate your level of enjoyment on your placement / internship
3/5
Please rate how your experience met your expectations
3/5
Future Career Prospects
Please rate the future employment prospects at City Year UK
3/5
Recommendations & Advice
Would you recommend City Year UK to a friend?
Yes
What advice would you give to others applying to City Year UK
It is not an easy journey whatsoever - some days are incredibly hard and you may feel overwhelmed and under supported. Don't feel like you can't reach out for support even if it is externally through loved ones or your university. At the end of the year you will feel like you've achieved a lot and changed people's lives for the better but the journey can be hard
