Bristol - Head Office

My role within Unite Students is extremely rewarding. It allows me to learn a variety of different skills from sales to student welfare and safety training. The business rewards our hard work, which motivates me to push further and be the best I can be. I’m always encouraged to share new ideas, so it has allowed me to embrace my creativity and I love that these efforts never go unnoticed.

Unite Students as a company has supported me from the get-go to progress in my role. The training provided in the first few weeks was extremely beneficial and allowed me to meet my new, friendly colleagues. This has been the best job I’ve had to date; I love how different my role can be from day to day. Despite the different departments, we all come together as one team which makes me feel supported.

Being a welcoming face for our students allows me to get to know them throughout their stay with uS – I love hearing the students’ great feedback, especially when they want to book again for another year.

Before I joined Unite Students, I used to work for a recruitment agency and Unite Students were a client of mine, so I used to help them recruit staff. I always found everyone I met to be very friendly and welcoming, and I liked what the business stood for. I liked the ambition it had at that time to be more than just an accommodation provider and to actually think about they could do for the students/university stakeholders over and above that provision. When I saw a job come up with them that I was interested and I didn’t hesitate in applying – and I still very much enjoy working at Unite Students seven and a half years later. It’s now a very different business to the one I joined, but in all sorts of positive ways.

I’m a Higher Education Engagement Coordinator, which means I look after all of the conference and hospitality activity we do as an HE Team. I also coordinate all of the HE Comms activity we do, liaise with our University stakeholders to arrange meetings and undertake research/write reports when needed. My role is very varied and busy role and I get to interact with colleagues from all over the business, as well as external stakeholders, and the office environment is welcoming, friendly and fun – even though everyone is always busy.

It’s a fun, fast-paced office environment and there’s a great atmosphere in the office and people genuinely get on. The senior leadership are very approachable and friendly, and very much operate an open door policy. They encourage employees to take responsibility for their careers, and will support your development, which makes it a dynamic and innovative company who genuinely care about their employees, and values their thoughts and ideas.

I’m Head of Marketing and I’ve been at Unite Students for five years. My job is to make sure that we have the right national and local sales and marketing plans in place to achieve our customer acquisition and retention targets. I’m also accountable for our marketing spend and for optimising return on investment. In addition, I am responsible for developing additional products and services that will benefit our students – such as in property printing services.

Before Unite Students I worked for big grocery retailers and I wasn’t sure that working in student accommodation would be very exciting – how wrong I was, it’s an incredibly dynamic business. However, there are similarities to retail – we’ve several properties across the country so need to do both regional and local marketing. Each city has its own challenges so our sales and marketing plans vary. This is a cyclical business, just like retail, so we have peak sales periods, for example, when A level results are released.

The culture here is collaborative, inclusive, customer centric, young, energetic, modern – the list could go on! Everyone is treated equally and with respect and we truly appreciate diversity and individual contributions. The leadership team is accessible and there’s no sense of hierarchical importance either. The people that work here really believe in what we stand for and we all want to be able to give students the best experience whilst they are living with us. It if doesn’t add value to the student experience, we don’t do it. And hearing students talk so positively about living with us, makes me feel so proud to work here.

We invest in employees. There are management and leadership programmes, but there are also opportunities to develop softer skills, too. There are some great benefits to working here, such as the opportunity to buy additional holiday – I love travelling so this is really important to me. Overall I feel valued, rewarded and listened to. And the free fruit and coffee are fab perks, too!

As Sustainability Engagement Co-ordinator, I’m responsible for the development and implementation of Unite Students’ nationwide student and staff engagement programme, which aims to reduce our waste, energy and water consumption, reduce our carbon emissions and support our partner universities. The campaigns in the programme encourage life-long responsible living habits in our customers, as well as our staff. I joined the team in August 2016, but actually lived with Unite Students in 2009, so I already had knowledge of the business.

It’s different to anywhere else I’ve worked before – it’s flexible and there’s a lot of focus on personal development. It’s really interesting to see how the different departments work together and are so passionate about what they do. There’s such a positive and relaxed vibe but it’s also fast-paced and busy. The management and board are approachable and everyone is open to trying new things. I also think that the fact we’re a youth brand keeps things feeling fun and friendly.

I enjoy working with students – they are so passionate and switched on. It’s great to work with the next generation. There’s so much pressure on them, be it economic, political and environmental and it’s satisfying to be able to support them through their development at an exciting time of their lives.