What’s it like to work at NTU Sport? A deep dive into our placement and graduate roles

What work had been done by the graduate before you?

The development of extra sporting opportunities for the students throughout the year, including one-off tournaments across multiple sports. Research was also completed in order to understand the student journey more from our trials and tasters at the beginning of the year and creating recommendations from this for this year.

What is the main thing you are working on at the moment?

Building upon the research conducted from our trials and tasters’ sessions from this year and formulating new recommendations for the next academic year. Specifically, looking at what is working well and what needs amending to create a more seamless experience for the students. I am also working on providing so more term 2 sporting opportunities across 5 different sports.

What had been your favourite part about your role so far?

Working in such a fun and supportive team! Joining such a well-established department and organisation can be scary, but I couldn’t have joined a better team. I’ve really enjoyed being given the opportunity to work within different groups of the department and work on different projects throughout the year with different members of staff. It has meant I have been able to gain a better understanding for the different aspects and levels of the department and sporting offer at NTU.

What is something big you are looking forward to/ coming up for you in the next few months?

We have just begun the planning for the NTU Sports Awards, and this is something I’m really looking forward to see come to life. It’s a huge project with a lot of planning and organisation, but it will be great to be able to reward the students from the year and celebrate all their achievements.

What has been your favourite experience since you started working in NTU Sport?

I got to help run and attend our ‘Girls Night In’ event during term 1 and it was a great opportunity to meet lots of females who were not necessarily involved in sport at NTU and explain to them the different ways they could get involved with their friends, within a fun and safe environment. It was also just generally a really fun event to meet lots of our female students and get the chance to chat to them about their experience so far at NTU.

What would you have liked to achieve by the end of your time in the role?

When I finish this position, I would like to think that I have been able to create and offer some fun sporting opportunities for the students throughout the year, across multiple sports and reaching a wide range of students. I would like to think that students feel like there is something for them within our sporting offer, and that they feel within a fun and safe sporting opportunity no matter their level or experience.

What will you take from the role into your next work placement?

I have already learnt so much working within the sport department at NTU. I already had a basic level of understanding of programmes such as excel, but I have been able to develop my skill level, learning new formulas, in order to help create informative reports and presentations whilst handling large amounts of data.

What work had been done by the graduate before you?

My role is the first of its kind. However, there was a placement marketing assistant before me who left a detailed word document of hand over notes which was really useful.

What is the main thing you are working on at the moment?

At the moment my main focuses are: Creating a new NTU Sport Brochure, The Notts Varsity 2023 campaign, Sport Club Committee Elections campaign, helping to run, maintain and create content for the NTU Sport Instagram account.

What had been your favourite part about your role so far?

The creative side and making things I’m visually proud of.

What is something big you are looking forward to/ coming up for you in the next few months?

Attending the Varsity sport games, Ice Hockey had such a good atmosphere, so I am excited to see more of the sport teams in action and capture content for socials.

What has been your favourite experience since you started working in NTU sport?

I really enjoyed our ‘Girls Night In’ event. I had a lot of fun creating the graphics for that and was passionate about the message behind it. The actual event was really fun to be at and I loved that it gave the opportunity for a diverse group of female and female identifying students the chance to meet new people and have fun.

What would you have liked to achieve by the end of your time in the role?

I would like to have developed my graphic design and visual communication skills even further as well as refined my content creation and social media management skills.

What will you take from the role into your next work placement?

A few things - definitely workplace/office etiquette skills, improved strategic marketing and creative thinking skills.

What work had been done by the graduate before you?

The graduate before me implemented a lot of the suggestions from the ‘Perceptions of NTU sport’ study which was done in 2021. This is something that we are continuing to do this year through tings such as the Levelling the Playing-Field Workshop which now all the NTU Sport club presidents attend every year and the Sport Access Fund.

What is the main thing you are working on at the moment?

I am collecting feedback from students who have been funded from the Sport Access Fund. This feedback is important to help us highlight impact the Sport Access Fund has and will also allow us to make the process better for student who apply next year.

What had been your favourite part about your role so far?

I’ve really enjoyed being able to work on lots of different projects in all areas of the NTU Sport department. Additionally seeing the impact of the changes put in place and this leading to more students being able to engage with NTU sport has been really rewarding.

What is something big you are looking forward to/ coming up for you in the next few months?

I am really looking forward to the Sport Awards that will be coming up in April. I am currently helping to organise them so it will be really fun to see them come together and celebrate Students as well as Sport Clubs from NTU Sport.

What has been your favourite experience since you started working in NTU Sport?

I really enjoyed the ‘Girl’s night in’ event. It was put on by the team I sit in and being involved in the process from start to finish and seeing it come together was really rewarding. I’m excited for us to put on similar events in Mansfield and Brackenhurst soon.

What would you have liked to achieve by the end of your time in the role?

By the end of the year, I hope that I will have added to the offer at NTU sport that allows sport to be as accessible as possible to all students. A big aim of mine for this role has always been to increase the participation of underrepresented groups and I hope that the work I am doing in this role will contribute to this.

What will you take from the role into your next work placement?

I will take a lot from my role in NTU sport: how to work in a professional environment; communication with both students and colleagues and leadership skills when helping to organise a team or event.

What work had been done by the placement student before you?

The placement before myself completed a set of handover notes which I could use in the early stages of the year while I was still learning my roles and responsibilities. There was also a crossover period where I received lots of help for the first week of my placement.

What is the main thing you are working on at the moment?

Currently I am working on the NTU Moves platform, carrying out weekly reports, as well as creating and adding challenges to the app.

What had been your favourite part about your role so far?

My favourite part about the role so far has been the different fairs and events I have taken part in. This includes open days, freshers fairs etc.

What is something big you are looking forward to/ coming up for you in the next few months?

I am looking forward to the next open day which is soon, as well as various events such as global week.

What has been your favourite experience since you started working in NTU Sport?

My favourite experience so far has been working at the freshers fair, as I got the opportunity to speak to lots of people, as well as learn more about activities at the university from neighbouring stalls.

What would you have liked to achieve by the end of your time in the role?

I would like to be a part of the operations of a BUCS Wednesday, as I feel it would be rewarding to be a part of a fixture, hopefully where NTU are victorious!

What will you take from the role into your next work placement?

I have gained lots of new skills whilst on placement so far. I think the most important thing is that I have been able to experience a working environment, and be a part of a successful department/team.

What work had been done by the placement student before you?

The placement student prior to me, created a handover document all the login details for all the systems we have access to such as the blog or Instagram and a timeline of the biggest campaigns in her time with example of what she did for them and the time of year they were in.

What is the main thing you are working on at the moment?

The main thing I’m working on at the moment is general external communications about BUCS and participation on social media and other platforms such as the blog, In addition to single handily managing the NTU fitness account and liaising with the fitness team to create content.

What had been your favourite part about your role so far?

Being involved in events such as Freshers week & Varsity and being able to create and pitch ideas such as our NTU Sport wrapped video and VP Tries.

What is something big you are looking forward to/ coming up for you in the next few months?

I am really looking forward to Varsity coverage.

What has been your favourite experience since you started working in NTU Sport?

Being involved with Ice Hockey event, going around backstage and seeing how a massive event like that is ran.

What would you have liked to achieve by the end of your time in the role?

Have NTUfitness be a fully active account with a highly engaged follower base, have the NTU sport account be a highly effective source for all students interested in university sport promoting all the clubs not just the big ones and gain more experience in many different areas of Marketing.

What will you take from the role into your next work placement?

Having experience in so many different areas from Direct marketing at the freshers’ fairs, to creating digital posts.

What work had been done by the placement student before you?

The previous Sports Finance Assistant carried out the same tasks as I am doing now. Although she produced/improved handover notes for me to learn from, these made the job a lot easier when I started, and they are always there if I need to double check something.

What is the main thing you are working on at the moment?

I am currently acting as a purchasing agent in processing invoices to be paid and to deal with supplier queries. I am also, processing incoming expense claims and refunds. I manage the club accounts on a regular basis to ensure accuracy.

What had been your favourite part about your role so far?

My favourite part of my role is working in a such a welcoming and friendly team! The work environment is casual and chatty however, it is very productive. So, if there is ever an issue, everyone is willing to help.

What is something big you are looking forward to/ coming up for you in the next few months?

In June, I will be joining the central finance team to lessen the workload in the department. I will be sad to leave the sports department, but I look forward to improving my understanding of the finance systems and taking on new responsibilities.

What has been your favourite experience since you started working in NTU Sport?

My favourite experience was carrying out the term 1 sports finance meetings. I found this a little challenging at first, but I enjoyed getting to know all of the committees and this gave me an insight on how each club runs.

What would you have liked to achieve by the end of your time in the role?

I would like to carry out ad-hoc tasks so that the processes and procedures within the role can be improved. I’m specifically focusing on the handover of my role, so that the next finance assistant will find the learning of the role comfortable.

What will you take from the role into your next work placement?

From the role, I have developed my communication and interpersonal skills. I have learnt how to communicate in a professional manner, whether this is with students or colleagues. My written communication has development vastly, I found sending emails challenging at first but now I send them with ease. On paper I’ve developed many skills, though specifically what I’ve taken from the job is that I want to work in an environment like NTU Sport, which is comfortable and open-minded.