Committing to Committee
It’s that time of year again when your societies will be looking for new student leaders to take the reins. With the wealth of societies and positions available at the University, it can be a little overwhelming deciding how to get involved, or indeed whether to get involved. We at the Harry Potter and Quidditch Society love our members to get involved and want you to join our committee, where you can influence the running and events of the society. If you’ve already decided to run or are undecided, we’ve been talking to committee old and new to give you insights and tips on why you should run, what you can expect from the experience and the many benefits of a committee position.
Of all the societies at Exeter, you may be wondering, why run for HP&Q? For founding President Jen Garside, being a part of committee meant representing a great universal series that brings lots of people together. Likewise for Treasurer of two years, Hannah Davies found the members’ love and enjoyment of the society she had helped to create and run to be incredibly fulfilling. The HP&QSoc is a great place for people to come together. Harry Potter’s international charm means that as a member of committee, you will meet all kinds of fun and interesting people. It is this connecting quality that motivated former Secretary and Creative Director Amy Young to join committee.
Joining HP&Q committee, like any society, is also a great way to gain experience to help boost your CV and skillset. This is no doubt something you’ve heard over and over again, but having a committee position on your CV will make you stand out, especially if it’s for HP&Q as it is so different. Past Social Media Secretary James Pidduck attributes his position to developing his leadership skills. In any position on the HP&Q committee, you’ll be leading projects, events and teams. These are all great opportunities to use and develop management and leadership skills. A committee role is also fantastic for public speaking and organisation. As President, Jen often had to address large groups of people and she found this experience great for developing confidence in public speaking. Most of our previous committee were also involved in other societies and student bodies and so having these extra responsibilities was a great way to become better organised.
Now that she’s graduated, Amy has found that her experiences on committee have been crucial to her new job at a London PR firm. Amy found running a society to be essentially like running a business and all the experiences and skills she gained in team management, finance, administration and customer service were transferrable to her new job. When Jen and Hannah have had interviews, they’ve always been asked about their position on HP&Q committee. Although some people may laugh at first, they’ve found that their positions were a great means of demonstrating their abilities, skills and passion.
Chiefly, a position on HP&Q committee is a brilliant opportunity to meet other enthusiastic people with a common interest. It will provide you with a number of key transferrable skills that can be applied to many careers. Deciding whether to join a committee can be a difficult decision but Amy’s advice to you is not to be afraid. A committee position may be a lot of work but it is most definitely worth it. James advices to demonstrate your passion and not to be disheartened if you don’t get a position, there will be plenty more opportunities. Hannah notes that ‘no one walks into a committee role knowing everything; the fun is in the learning,’ ‘Being enthusiastic and hard-working is more important.’ From Jen, her advice is to ‘go for it, throw yourself into it… be bold and clever and analytical and kind (the perfect combination of all houses).’ From all past and present committee, none of us would change our experience for the world.
Becky Parrock
Vice-President
‘Anything is possible if you’ve got enough nerve’
-Ginny Weasley, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The deadline for nominations for the Harry Potter and Quidditch Society AGM is Friday 11th March. To nominate yourself for a position, email Laurel at lb493@exeter.ac.uk with your name, position you are running for, year of study and Hogwarts House.
To find out more on the experiences and advice of our previous committee, read their comments below:
Hannah Davies – Treasurer 2013-15
My friends and I decided to start the Harry Potter society in 2013 thinking it would be a great experience and something to put on our CVs. It became so much more than we imagined. It is incredibly fulfilling to organise and market events, branch out into sports and volunteering and see all our hard work enjoyed by other students. We were shocked when over 150 people came to our first sorting ceremony and have since then sold out balls and feasts to 200 even 300 people and played inter-university Quidditch matches. I am very proud of how far this society has come – from a fun idea discussed in Costa to one of the biggest recreational societies on campus. We wanted it to be a fun places for all kinds of students and were really touched when some of our international members described it as being the place they felt at home.
As Treasurer for 2 years I managed and budgeted accounts of between £6000-8000, contacted and booked independent contractors, companies and locations and applied for grants and sponsorship. Whatever role you take on a committee it is what you make it. I had a vision of what I wanted our society to achieve and I expanded my role, challenged myself and gained incredibly valuable experiences. These financial skills along with experiences such as team management, organisation and communication are all qualities integral to any job and being on a society committee will build your confidence in using these in the work place.
It’s always something that stands out on the CV as different – this is definitely a good thing. Often people have laughed and asked about it in interviews. When I list the things we have achieved, events we’ve run and my experience on the committee and as an active Guild member I think it reveals a number of useful and transferrable skills.
Never be embarrassed. Some people might not take it seriously but that’s probably because they don’t know what the society does and that the same effort goes into running it as any of the ‘serious’ societies. Be ambitious. Push the society in new directions, always aiming to be bigger and better is the way to get there. And finally, being enthusiastic and hard-working is more important than already knowing the job. No one walks into a committee role knowing everything; the fun is in the learning.
Jennifer Garside – President 2013-15
I set up and wanted to be part of the Harry Potter society because it's something that is universal and brings lots of people together for a great reason. University is the perfect place to explore your hobbies and interests and find in a pool of thousands of students people who share your exact interest. Being part of committee meant I got to help shape how the society affected people, influence the fun things that we did and throw my craziest ideas out there, as well as work closely with lots of new people who share my passion!
I gained countless things from the experience - leadership skills, got over my nerves for public speaking, became more organised for my degree because I planned my time more efficiently, event management experience, amazing friends and just a tonne of hilarious and truly unique memories and experiences. It sounds ridiculous but something like Harry Potter society will stand out on your cv. It's absolutely amazing to have academic achievements and be part of your subject societies and have a part time job, and don't get me wrong I've done my fair share of those things too, but for every single job interview I've ever had, I've been asked about it - and that includes when I was working in fashion, not just now I'm in publishing! At the end of the day it legitimately makes you stand out as a memorable candidate who has interests and is driven to create and pursue new ideas. Plus it gave me all the skills above which I draw on daily.
To prospective candidates I would say GO FOR IT, throw yourself into it and commit some of your time. It doesn't have to take over your whole social life or compromise your degree, it's NOT EMBARRASSING AND PEOPLE DO STILL THINK YOURE NORMAL. Be bold and clever and analytical and kind (the perfect combination of all houses) and just take the opportunity to have some fun before you enter the adult world of work. I miss it (and you all) every day and wouldn't for one second change my involvement.
Amy Young – Secretary 2013-14, Creative Director 2014-15
When I was in first year, the Harry Potter Society didn’t exist. There had been previous incarnations, but the last version of the society had actually disbanded at the end of the previous academic year. So at the end of my first year, my Birks flatmate Jen (who would become our first President) approached me and asked if I would sign a form to get the society reinstated. Of course I didn’t hesitate. Then when committee positions became available, again the opportunity was too exciting to pass up. I wanted to be the society’s first Secretary, because I wanted to help establish a group where Harry Potter fanatics and students unfamiliar with the franchise could come together to discuss and enjoy J.K. Rowling’s work -- something which had inspired me since I was a child.
My experience as the Secretary and the Creative Director for the Harry Potter Society has given me a wealth of experience for my professional career. I have learned how to organise social events ranging from small gatherings to large parties (which includes assisting with booking venues, entertainment, organising other social activities etc.); how you need to and can effectively budget funds; and how to regularly contact, manage and support a society of over three hundred members --and that’s only for starters.
I am currently working in an administrative role in a London PR firm, and my roles in the Harry Potter Society have been crucially beneficial for my present employment. My role involves managing important documents for our various clients, and using my customer service skills to assist external companies, clients and other interested parties. I learned how to do all of those things working in the Harry Potter Society committee -- after all, societies are essentially small student businesses, and can provide an endless resource of new experiences that can help after you graduate. In the committee you can learn essential team management, financial, administrative and customer service skills, which can help you in any line of work.
Don’t be afraid to go for a committee position -- chances are that you will have some competition, but all you have to do is make a little speech in a really relaxed election space, and then you’re done. However, you do also have to be aware that a committee position is a lot of responsibility. You will be attending regular committee meetings, and you will have to dedicate a lot of your time to the society, so only take it on if you are absolutely sure you can do it. It’s a lot of hard work, but trust me, that hard work is completely worth it.
James Pidduck – Social Media Secretary 2013-2015
I initially wanted to be on the committee as it was several of my close friends who set up the committee and encouraged me to get involved too. I knew it would be a great way to get more involved in the Students’ Guild (as I was pretty unfamiliar with it at this point) and thought it would be a way to enhance my university experience away from my studies
I definitely gained a lot from my experience on the committee for 2 years. First of all it was great to be involved in a student team and work with other students to see our ideas come to life and see our goals realised. It definitely improved my leadership skills as organising and helping run student events encouraged me to be more confident in myself and my abilities, while the committee role definitely improved my organisation and creativity in suggesting ideas, brainstorming events and generally building the society more and more
Being involved in the society has helped enhance my cv for sure, as teamed with other positions i held at university it’s definitely proven my skillset to employers and my ability to work well alongside others - plus you never know what employers could be a hard core HP fan... i was social media secretary too with is useful for me in proving an aptitude and experience with using social networks effectively and a general knowledge of media
My advice to prospective candidates would just be to get involved in the society early on and get your face recognised, and even if you’re a late arrival to the society just demonstrate your passion and have some clear and refreshing ideas and it should go to plan. Even if you don’t gain a role, there’s always other opportunities to get involved through the year and just reapply next year if you can!
