Antonia Barton

Looking back on Clearing I think to myself crikey that’s a bit of a blur, from getting in at silly o’clock to the hype that surrounds it you know that you are in for a roller-coaster. You will  absolutely make someone’s day, the phonetic alphabet will become engrained into your brain, you will speak to a few irate parents and sadly you will be delivering some bad news. There’s so much going on, punctuated by food and water breaks before you know it, it’s over in a flash.

Working in Finance and especially working in Oneleven, sometimes you forget that we are here for the students, but Clearing is that one opportunity where you get total exposure, you really understand why it is that we are here and first hand touch the lives we are impacting and changing.

Clearing is a whirlwind of an experience and is something you should definitely consider taking part in.

Lorna Pettifer

Ok so getting into work for 6am isn’t the most appealing of requests, but we were welcomed with bacon butties, coffee and smiling faces.

Clearing day is a hive of activity (kind of like transfer deadline day for the football fans out there), where we were taken to our room and most importantly our phone for the day. The instructions are clear and easy to follow (for those of you worried there is training before the big day) and at 7am we went “LIVE” and were taking calls from prospective students. The atmosphere is the room is electric with many high-fives being dished out and although you are very busy there is so much going on you don’t have time to take it in.

In the afternoon our room tried something different (first time this had happened) and instead of receiving calls from prospective students WE were calling them (they’d expressed interest in clearing and SHU) and inviting them to consider our courses, our University, our City. This was very successful and for me the most enjoyable part of the day/experience.

If you are interested in getting involved with the students, seeing what the processes are for recruiting and making a difference on THAT day to THAT young person then I cannot recommend joining the clearing team highly enough.

Emma Scoffield

The day started with a handwritten note from the VC, thanking us for volunteering which was on all of our workstations when we arrived bright and early at 6 am for a 6.15 start, it was a really lovely touch and an excellent example of giving thanks in practise and certainly put me in a very positive frame of mind. The day was amazing, it felt so good to be part of this day which has to be the single most important day in the University’s calendar academically and financially. The Clearing operation is impressive, very slick and professional. It’s hard work  as we were on duty for 11 hours, albeit with regular breaks ( including excellent bacon sarnies!)  but with a level of focus required the whole time you were working so by the end of the day you were shattered, it has given me a newly found admiration for call centre workers! Ultimately it was an incredibly rewarding experience, made you feel connected to the students and the university (not always that easy in finance) and I really felt that I contributed to securing the admissions targets. If you have never done this and ever have a feeling that you don’t have any opportunities  to connect with students then volunteer – you won’t regret it!

Liz Windle

So……. this year will be the third year that I will be volunteering at Clearing and the fact that this is the third year should indicate that I quite enjoy it.

When I had been at the University for just under a year I decided that I wanted to get more of a flavour of what we are all here for – our students.

I put my name forward for clearing and was accepted.

I want to be honest with you,  after the training session my head was swimming there was just so much to take in and I was really nervous about the day. I didn’t have to be nervous at all – yes there is a lot of information to digest and a new system to work but I can honestly say once I started talking to potential students on clearing day all of my nerves went away.

Speaking to the students was as other people have said uplifting, heart-breaking but most of all you really feel like you are part of the recruitment.

If you are thinking of doing it – DO IT. If not for anything else do if for the free Hallam merchandise (so far I have a t-shirt, hat, water bottle, pens and lanyard), free food and drinks (hot and soft – although you will need something stronger when you get home). It is a long tiring day but on both occasions I have had such a laugh with members of staff from all around the University that I would probably have never met otherwise.

Find out more about Clearing here, and email clearing@shu.ac.uk if you’d like to get involved.