Risga S.
About me
| Risga S. | |
| Politics, Economics and Philosophy | |
| Politics and Philosophy | |
| Undergraduate | |
| Goodricke | |
| 2013 | |
| United Kingdom |
My employment
| Policy and Influencing Officer | |
| NUS Scotland | |
| United Kingdom | |
| Politics and public affairs | |
| Large business (250+ employees) | |
| 2016 |
Like this profile?
Add this profile to your favourites so you can return to it later from your account.
A day in the life of a Policy and Influencing Officer in the United Kingdom
It's great to be working on issues of national importance within the NUS
My career goals when I graduated
As cliched as it may be, to work in politics and to make a difference.
My career history
After university I took a summer volunteering position with an international charity to oversee a campaign, this role was extended and lasted to the end of that year, when I left due to a bereavement and unhappiness with the work environment. Following a break, I worked for the Scottish Government (via Pertemps) for just over a year as a Communications Assistant before leaving for my role with NUS Scotland.
What has helped my career to progress
Going the extra mile. A lot of the experience on my CV from my time with the Scottish Government was things I did above and beyond the job description. Look for areas where you can do more, make work more efficient or where a service is lacking (and make sure to discuss this with someone higher up - don't just go it alone without checking first).
Courses taken since graduation
I have been taking Languages for All Japanese as night classes at Edinburgh University (after starting during my time at York). It proved useful for a colleague's trip to Japan while working at the Scottish Government and is a great piece of trivia to bring up when asked about my outside interests during interviews (since other candidates are unlikely to be doing this).
How my studies have helped my career
My studies at York mostly helped me to have a greater understanding of what I was (and was not) interested in.
What surprised me about my career so far
How many places and events I get to go to. It's far less of a desk job than I imagined.
Where I hope to be in 5 years
Still working in politics, possibly internationally.
My advice to students considering work
Consider alternate routes into your career. I researched which temping agency supplied the Scottish Government and applied, they managed to get me a position very quickly which was invaluable and looks very impressive on my CV.
My advice about working in my industry
Politics is a very small industry and everyone knows each other. I've already found a friend of a friend who went to York working elsewhere in the business and found a number of shared acquaintances with my new colleagues. Consider who you know who might be able to give you interview tips or tell you about the hiring practices of organisations you're interested in.
Other advice
Try and volunteer during your time at university, whether as a student representative or with outside organisations within the field you want to go into. This can lead to further opportunities and looks good on your CV.
What I do
I work in policy and influencing. This involves supporting elected officers, responding to government consultations, providing briefing for MSPs and students associations, meeting with partner organisations and more.
Skills I use and how I developed them
Writing - aside from university essays, I've volunteered doing social media for a couple of organisations.
Confident speaking - my two years as PPE course rep really helped my confidence in speaking at senior-level meetings, this has really helped in my current role.
Political knowledge - this goes without saying but establish a daily routine of keeping up with political developments. This is not only useful for interviews but has been useful in my roles for keeping up with breaking events.
What I like most
Being part of an organisation whose staff genuinely care about the issues they're working on. This was not the case in a charity I volunteered with previously and it makes a huge difference to the working environment.
What I like least
I've yet to find anything I don't like.
What surprised me most
The range of subjects covered. I went into the role with (what I now realise was) a rather limited idea of student politics so it's great to be working on issues with national important such as refugee and asylum seekers.
Next steps...
If you like the look of Risga’s profile, the next steps are down to you! You can send Risga a message to find out more about their career journey.