The Hallam Award is the Students’ Union skills award that recognises and rewards students who have developed their skills through extra-curricular activities within the Students’ Union, university and in the community.

The Hallam Award is designed to help you reflect on the transferable skills you have developed that will help you in your future career aspirations and beyond – for information about how to get nominated yourself, go to the page here for more information.

As nominations for this end soon (it closes on 10 June!), we thought we’d catch up with one of our past winners, Guinevere Chan, from Hong Kong, to find out how easy it is to apply and what she got out of winning the award. We asked her the following questions:

1. How much work was involved in applying and the process?

Applying for Hallam Award does not really involve a lot of work. Mainly I was asked to write a self-reflection on a range of skills that I have developed during my voluntary work experience at SHU.

2. What is involved in the award? (did you have to attend many meetings etc.)

There were many workshops available for students who are interested in applying for a Hallam Award. There are introduction sessions as well as self-reflection workshops but they are voluntary. Students can choose to attend these meetings according to their needs.

3. How has the award helped with your employability?

I would say the award has definitely improved my CV as it was a recognised achievement. However, the most rewarding part is that the application process really got me to evaluate and reflect on the skills that I have developed, and how these skills could be transferred to my future career.

4. Would you recommend the Award to other international students?

I would highly recommend the Award to anyone at Hallam. If you are already involved in any kind of voluntary work such as a course rep, Culture Connect mentor/mentee or student society committees, you are already eligible to have your contribution recognised!

5. Do you have any other advice or information?

An extra tip is to keep a reflective diary along your journey. It does not need to be a lot of writing, just note down some thoughts of self-development; it will go a long way. This will definitely help you to write the final report!

Many thanks for Guinevere for sharing her experiences; if you are interested in applying for the award, the take a look here to find out more.