Where have these last five months gone! It seems like just a few weeks ago that I was starting my first rotation in Membership Recruitment. Since day one I have loved every minute of my time at the Royal Society of Chemistry, and I can only see it getting better and better.
This rotation has had me travelling up and down the country (including Edinburgh and back in a day), arranging a showcase event that promotes all that our members do for the organisation, creating fun and somewhat cheesy quizzes and a whole host of other recruitment related initiatives.
With a nomadic October and November I was rarely seen without a pop-up stand and suitcase full of Royal Society of Chemistry goodies. Well equipped to encourage chemical science students to take advantage of the support we provide for them, I have been welcomed into chemistry department’s right across the UK. Having the opportunity to help our membership community grow with passionate members who are early on in their careers has been a real privilege as well as meeting existing members and keeping them up to date on all the innovative work we are doing.
With the membership department reaching a record high of 49,112 members at the end of 2013 there was also cause for celebration! Hence a mini grad project was born. Charlotte, Jenifer, Andrea and I got asked to organise an internal showcase celebrating all the hard work that not only the membership department but in particular our members do. Creating an exciting game allowing colleagues to slip into the personality of someone else for a day has been a very different aspect to my role but equally as enjoyable. Getting to see how parts of the organisation such as the design team run and really understanding the work that our members do on our behalf has made my time in the membership department feel even more special.
In amongst these I’ve been able to write an article about nanogenerators for
chemistry world, voiced Cutthroat Kevin the pirate in
Molecular Treasure, eaten the gingerbread version of myself, made the most fantastic friends throughout the organisation, and walk into work every single day with a smile on my face. Who could want more than all that!?!?
Gareth is a Graduate currently working in the Membership Development Team on the Royal Society of Chemistry's Graduate Scheme. To see if we are currently recruiting for the RSC Graduate Scheme click here
