A big well done to everyone in Finance & Planning who supported Clearing on the 16th August. There were 17 people from across the Directorate who took on the opportunity to man the phones and make students’ dreams come true (with the help of many coffees and a bacon sarnie).

Emma, Lauren, Marie, Dana and Simon have told us all about their experiences.

Emma Scoffield – FPLT

This is my third clearing experience and just as enjoyable as all the others. The pressure was on clearing this year to perform at least as well as last year in an incredibly competitive climate and with less 18 year olds than in previous years. Every time a student was made an offer there is a little sense of achievement that you have really helped the university meet their numbers . The stats are looking promising so hopefully we will make the number we need!   If you haven’t tried it yet then give it a go next year  – block the day out in your diary now – next year it will the 15th August!

Lauren Wagstaff – SP&BC

It was my first time at Clearing and I will definitely be doing it again next year.  The #teamhallam ethos made the whole experience enjoyable, It was fantastic to engage with students at the metaphorical coal face and I also learnt a lot about the admissions process, the types of courses we offer, qualifications and equivalency that will help me to better understand the context of projects that I may work on in the future. A positive experience all round and highly recommended.

 

Marie Williams – Directorate Management Accountants

This year was my fourth year volunteering for clearing. It’s a day when you do something entirely different to the day job, it’s an early start  6.15am and you have to be ready for the calls that start coming in from 6.30am, the day is hectic, very tiring, but very rewarding, you come away with the knowledge that you may have made someone’s day and changed their lives for the next 3 years, you feel like you have made a difference.  If you have every thought about volunteering I would just say do it!  Hope to see you there next year.

 

Dana Dudley – Strategic Procurement Team

This was my first time experiencing clearing and what it involved. I expected the day to be more frantic than it was! We had a couple of hours of non-stop calls but there was also quite a bit of downtime to catch your breath before the next set of caller descended on us.

It was a lovely atmosphere, everyone was excited and it was nice to mix with other people from the university, also, it was really fun to talk to prospective students and answer their question. Overall a positive experience and I would wholly recommend it.

 

Simon Taylor – FPLT

So, this was my second year in Clearing and could not wait to sign up as soon as the annual request for volunteers was sent out.  “He’ll do anything for a free bacon sarnie!” I hear some of you cry and whilst it was a welcome energy boost was not my only motivation!  It would have been easy to say no, decline the opportunity, we always have a wealth of talented and enthusiastic members from the Finance & Planning Directorate to answer the call but I really wanted to get involved again.

I took several calls from applicants who seriously believed that they had blown their chances of getting into Uni.  Having the opportunity to tell them that we could offer them a place was a fantastic feeling.  It was a steady start as the phone lines opened at 6.30am but soon the volumes picked up and it was literally one after the other.  The refresher training had left me feeling a bit nervous about being able to remember everything I needed to but it some came flooding back and the supervising staff were brilliant!

There was also a wealth of experienced “clearers” sat around me who I could always ask for help.  In the afternoon we switched to outbound calling – taking every opportunity to maximise offers to students.  There were highs and lows but the overall feeling was real sense of achievement after 11 hours in the midst of the whole process  which is extremely slick and fantastically organised.  I will certainly be there next year (if they want me back that is…..)

 

Here are some other pictures from the very very long day…..