Melanie Ingle
'The My Birkbeck helpdesk is the first point of contact for current and prospective students. We advise students on all sorts of things: our courses, our services, our support – you name it. We also know where to refer them to to get the best advice, depending on their needs - whether it's paying their fees, topping up their study skills or getting disability support. We see ourselves as a listening service.
It's really satisfying when you know that what you're giving people is good advice. Often people aren't aware of how much support Birkbeck can give them throughout their studies, and it's great to tell people and open up a whole load of possibilities for them. You can give people something to think about and they go off happy, and you feel just great for being able to help them out. You can offer them possibilities they may not have thought of, because we have such a knowledge of the options that are available.
I've been at Birkbeck for almost 10 years now. I like it here, because I feel like I'm making a difference to people's lives. We often have people who may come to us 3 or 4 times needing advice but once they've sorted themselves out we don't hear from them again – that's the hardest part of our job, not knowing how people have got on and what they've gone on to do. It would be great to know – so do come back and say hello!'
