An Oxford summer job isn’t all about the money. It’s also the perfect environment in which to build some really key skills, which will stand you in great stead when applying for positions in the future. Here’s our short read covering the top 5 skills you’ll build with an Oxford summer job – and believe us when we say it was tough to draw the line there!
1. Teamwork
A summer job with a leading Oxford summer school is the perfect place to learn how to work effectively as part of a team.
Oxford’s summer schools are busy, diverse environments where the phrase ‘nobody is an island’ really comes to the fore. It takes a range of people, with a variety of skills and knowledge, to come together in order to make it a success.
If you’re thinking of a teaching role in Oxford this summer, you can expect to work as part of a broad teaching faculty, and closely with others who are teaching the same or similar course to you. You can also expect to work with an admin team who will help you get everything you need from registers to printing to homework; with activity leaders and pastoral staff who will assist you in class, on field trips or in labs; and under the guidance of a Course Director who will observe your lessons, give you feedback and provide support. Experience working alongside all of these people will help you enhance your teamwork skills.
If you’re looking for an Administrative Oxford summer job, you’ll need to work closely with a Course Director and other senior staff to effectively run your campus – coordinating activities amongst teachers, pastoral staff, nurses and more. You’ll quickly learn each others’ strengths and weaknesses, learn when to refer things upwards, and find new tips and tricks for getting things done effectively as a team.
And with a pastoral role or a position as an activity leader at one of the leading Oxford summer schools, you’ll develop a strong team ethos with your team members as you all use your relevant strengths to keep safe and mentor a diverse group of enthusiastic students. There will be plenty of occasions where the team has to work together to get things done – often against the clock – and that experience will be invaluable to you going forwards.
2. Organisational skills and time management
In order to deliver an outstanding Oxford summer school experience, organisation is key.
In a single day, a student could experience lessons, workshops, seminars and social events (alongside all of their meals!) so each day needs to be organised, and each event planned to ensure students have a good time, and that they’re kept safe whilst doing so.
You’ll learn the importance of this with an Oxford summer job – and more importantly you’ll learn how to organise and manage your own time to make sure you achieve what you want to get done. The busy, fast-paced environment of an Oxford summer school is the perfect place to work on this key skill, and gain some real world experience of when you’ve had to be super-organised to achieve a successful outcome (great for interviews!).
3. Communication
An Oxford summer job will give you plenty of opportunities to improve your communication skills in a myriad of ways.
Firstly, you’ll gain experience in communicating as a team – whether it be with your fellow teachers, the senior campus team or as a team of pastoral staff, actively listening and communicating with each other will be vital to getting things done. As you work alongside such a diverse set of individuals, you’re likely to learn new styles of communication as you learn how you and others like to be communicated with. Communication is a key part of being organised, and working successfully as a team, so this plays into points (1) and (2) above.
In addition, regardless of your role, you’ll be learning to communicate with students from around the world. These are teenagers and young adults from different cultures, with different perspectives, often different first languages, and perhaps different ways of expressing themselves, too. Exposure to this at an early stage in your career / whilst still studying is a great thing to have on your CV, but more importantly being able to communicate with positivity, empathy and understanding with people from around the globe is a great skill to develop – especially if you’re looking to work globally in the future.
Finally, many Oxford summer jobs with the leading summer schools are client-facing – you’ll be hard-pressed to find one where you’re not communicating regularly with either students or their parents. Practising your communication – whether in person, over the phone, over email or over Zoom – with customers will help you lay a solid foundation for future work. Many roles you take on in the future are likely to require customer or client service, and having to do this is one of best ways to learn what works and what doesn’t!
4. Public speaking, networking and confidence
Throughout your time in any Oxford summer job role, there will be ample opportunities for you to gain experience in public speaking. From giving an opening speech to parents at a graduation (or simply welcoming them at the door), to taking a register on a coach, to maintaining control of a class of excitable teenagers on a Friday afternoon, you’ll learn and be trained to find your voice and have the confidence to speak up when it’s required.
When working within your small subteam – whether that be teaching, administration or pastoral – you’ll have plenty of chances to build your confidence to speak and communicate verbally in a small group setting.
And finally, you may have the opportunity to meet with parents from around the world at welcome and graduation events. This is the perfect chance for you to improve your networking skills in a low-pressure environment – in our experience, parents are always delighted to hear details of the programme, and even more pleased to talk about their children and their ambitions. If you’re invited to one of these events, we would highly recommend taking the opportunity to develop your confidence in this kind of environment.
5. Problem solving and divergent thinking
In a busy Oxford summer job, with lots of different activities going on, you’ll almost certainly be presented with situations and challenges that are out of your control.
Whether it’s the faulty projector putting paid to your carefully planned slideshow, the guest speaker that can’t come at short notice, or the expected airport departure who’s flight has been cancelled, an Oxford summer job will give you plenty of opportunities to work on and develop your problem solving skills.
You’ll learn how to think ‘outside the box’ to come up with solutions that keep students and your team happy – and although the situations may be challenging at the time, learning how to deal will them will stand you in great stead for the future.
In summary
There is so much to be gained from an Oxford Summer Job! You’ll learn a number of new skills and attributes, and have the opportunity to work on others that you already possess.
The leading Oxford summer schools are busy environments with so much going on. To put on such a complex timetable, they need a variety of people with a range of skills to pull together as a team. This presents chances to learn independently and from each other – and we’d encourage you to push yourself out of your comfort zone, and take the opportunity to build some key transferable skills for the future!
We would love to help find you to an Oxford summer job that’s both suited to your current skills and experience, but also provides you with opportunities for growth. Sign up for our updates below and follow us on Instagram @oxfordsummerjobs!
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