Main duties

Successful applicants will be allocated to service-based teams and will be fully trained to be able to support any one of the key service teams. You will:

• Adhere to safety measures and protocols laid out by the University and through training.
• Be friendly, approachable, and proactive in whatever role is required.
• Welcome new students to the University of Birmingham and act as an information point for new students and their families.
• Support the smooth running and operations of Welcome activities.
• Support venue managers to manage events safely.
• Check Teams and other communications for updates.
• Undertake any other duties as necessary and appropriate to the successful delivery of Welcome.

Some roles will:

• Support the Airport Collection service, including travelling to Birmingham airport to welcome students and provide directions.
• Deliver campus tours to new students and their families.
• Provide information and answer queries at indoor or outdoor Welcome Information Points.
• Support Welcome events for students, such as fairs, talks and drop-in activities.
• Proactively encourage students to engage with activities such as the Welcome Fair and Student Community Hub Marquee.
• Proactively collate student and visitor feedback through various mechanisms.

Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications & Experience

• Must have the confidence and ability to talk to and communicate with a wide range of people and be proactive in doing so (e.g. look out for people who might look lost or unsure what to do).
• Must have the ability to work on own initiative, and able to demonstrate a good team working ethos.
• Must have the ability to manage time effectively and ensure that timings/working hours are adhered to.
• Flexibility to maintain a professional demeanour across a range of formal and informal settings and a varying pace of work.
• Must have an understanding of what good customer service is and ideally experience of working in a customer facing environment.
• Must be available to work between Saturday 19 and Friday 25 September 2026.

Further details

Arrivals Weekend and Welcome Week: Saturday 19 September to Friday 25 September (up to 35 hours), with a very small number of shifts available on the Thursday 17 and Friday 18 September.

All Welcome Assistants are required to be available for the duration of Arrivals Weekend and Welcome Week. The hours/days of work may vary but are likely to be in the region of 20-35 hours throughout this week. These hours cannot be guaranteed and will vary depending on business requirements. Hours will be agreed and discussed with successful candidates by the team in the lead up to the week. Hours are subject to continuing satisfactory staff performance.

Welcome Assistants are expected to be flexible, due to the variety of roles required.

Successful candidates will be expected to dress smartly and appropriately for the role and weather, adhere to safety protocols and measures, and act in a professional manner at all times.

Successful applicants will be expected to attend an in-person training session on Wednesday 16 September, 14:00 – 16:00, which will be paid. Following completion of the training, or at any point during the period of employment, Student Services reserve the right to end the employment without notice. This is to ensure that all staff have a proven aptitude for customer service focussed work and maintain professional standards at all times.

Work is dependent on the continuation or change to these guidelines; hours of work may change or become unavailable, due to unforeseen circumstances.

Our students’ health and safety is our primary concern. We will take all necessary steps to ensure you stay safe whilst undertaking your roles. We also expect that you abide by any instructions or safety measures you are provided with to help ensure the safe running of venues and events and highlight any issues you become aware of to a relevant staff member.

For any informal queries, please contact the Welcome Team (welcomeassistants@contacts.bham.ac.uk)

The University of Birmingham restricts all students to working up to 20 hours per week during term time for a maximum of 13 consecutive weeks. If your application is successful and your course does not follow the usual academic term timetable (e.g. PGT, PGR or PhD student), you and your supervisor must formally agree vacation periods if this role exceeds 20 hours per week. In addition to this, please be aware if you are an international student you will be required to apply to the Registry for the appropriate authorised absence.

You are only eligible to apply to this role if you are a current University of Birmingham student. If you are not a University of Birmingham student your application will not be considered.

To work you will need to carry out a right to work check. These checks will need to be completed prior to work commencing.

Regarding the use of AI in applications, we review hundreds of applications and shortlist candidates based on their unique perspective, motivations and potential. Cover letters generated through, or edited by, AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT or CoPilot) are easy to identify. They produce generic answers and will not score highly enough to progress. You may use AI tools for research, but all written content in your application must be your own work. Authenticity and originality are key to standing out in this process.

Due to the high volume of applications we receive, we’re unable to contact all applicants individually. You can check the progress of your application by logging into the Worklink jobs portal using the same email address you used to apply. If you haven’t heard back within six weeks of the closing date, please assume your application has been unsuccessful.