The Student Room Group

Join the Forum Helper Team

Join the team!

If you use TSR regularly, why not join our volunteer team? The team is a group of proactive people, set out to help others while simultaneously having a rewarding experience. We’re growing our team of TSR members who work together to help students across the UK, supporting them in their studies and their personal lives. In doing so, you will be part of an amazing team, learn new skills, develop as a person, meet new people on exclusive meet-ups while making a real difference to the lives of students. You can find a full list of our team members here.

We’re looking for committed, enthusiastic and mature members who want to roll up their sleeves and get stuck in with making TSR a better site for all students. If you have a particular interest or expertise in a given topic or subject across TSR, a positive outlook and you are a real people person, please get in touch. You can find information about the different roles you can progress to here.

In basic terms, you apply to become a Forum Helper in a particular section of the site (Chat, Life & Style, Entertainment, Debate & Current Affairs, Study Help, Universities, Careers). If successful you will join that team as a Forum Helper. After 3 months, you will be eligible to progress to a Volunteer Team member who work more closely with the Community Staff and have greater variety of permissions to use on the forums. Long-term members of the Volunteer Team are asked to fill vacancies as a Volunteer Section Leader as well.

Why you should join…
- Take a leading role in facilitating discussion and nurturing a community within a forum around a subject / topic you care about to help set its tone.
- Work together to develop and organise projects on TSR, for example Grow Your Grades, Uni Advice, and the Christmas Grotto.
- Welcome new people and help them settle into the community.
- Help make TSR a friendlier, more useful place by actively offering advice and help to members.
- Keep the forum tidy by moving misplaced threads and help members by responding to unanswered questions.
- Develop the community further by engaging with users that are drifting away.

Some of the perks…
- Becoming part of a friendly team as a force of positivity and support in people’s lives by helping them through their tough student years.
- Taking part in a fun and life changing experience, where people make friendships, build relationships and develop as people.
- Seeing the impact of your work with data on how your user base grows and how often they engage.
- Building new skills in an advisory and social media role for the UK's No.1 Education website, read by 8 million people per month.
- Receiving training on various topics including: university application advice from UCAS; offering peer support from Nightline; and editorial feedback on articles and blogs from our Editor.

To become a Forum Helper, you must be:
Aged 16+
Able to demonstrate a good understanding of the community guidelines
Able to commit to making regular contributions on site.
(NB - if you progress to becoming part of the Volunteer Team or attend events in person, you'll then be required to undergo a DBS check)

To apply, post in our Forum Helper Applications forum outlining which forum you would like to help out in and why: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=361
(edited 1 year ago)

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The Application Process

Where to apply?
The Forum Helper and Volunteer Team applications forum is where you should create your application thread. This is a private forum, so you won't see any other threads in there apart from your own. You, the Volunteer Section Leaders, Community Staff and a small number of volunteers will be able to see your thread. Nobody else.

Who to involve?
Volunteer Section Leader(s) for your section are responsible for the application. So (at the time of writing), if you are applying for Entertainment - this would be @Chronoscope. You can find the full list of VSLs under each section heading here.

Which section should I apply for?
This has to be your choice. Before deciding, have a look at our full list of forums so you can get a sense of all that TSR has to offer. Also look at your own post history and see where you might naturally be excellent.

How long will my application take?
As long as a piece of string. Please bear in mind that the people processing your application are volunteers and don't get paid. Sometimes their lives are busier and so if you are waiting a few days for a response - this is normal. If it's been over 7 days and you aren't sure your application has been seen - tag several of the Volunteer Section Leaders into your application thread. Usually when they reply to you, a VSL will say how long you should wait before tagging them again.

After your application has first been seen, it's fine to be waiting up to 14 days between each stage as this is simply dependent on the amount of time our volunteers may have available. If you have been waiting longer than 14 days, it is reasonable to tag multiple VSLs to ask for an update. Alternatively, you could visit Ask the Community Staff and request that the Community Staff help to process your application as well.

What could the outcome of my application be?
In some cases your application may be approved quickly and you are given Forum Helper permissions straight away.

In some very rare cases, your application may be rejected for having a poor Community Record. In these circumstances you should be told how long it is before you can re-apply. In extreme cases you may be ineligible for joining the team (such as recent bans).

In most cases, you may have feedback that takes you some time to action. You could be asked to create some content in a forum, or to reply to some unanswered threads and then return in a number of weeks. This is totally normal and your application thread is usually left open during this time. There is no one length of time that it is expected an application should take, it may be done in days, it may be more like months.

You might also be asked some questions to elaborate on why you want to be involved in the team and what you can bring. The person handling your application may have something specific for you to answer.
(edited 11 months ago)
Frequently Asked Questions

Can I apply to be in more than one section?
Not initially, we ask you to choose one first to get you on board with. After three months on the team you are eligible for an extension to another section. This is approved at the discretion of all appropriate Section Leaders.

How do I join the Volunteer Team?
After you've been a Forum Helper for at least 3 months, you are eligible to join the Volunteer Team. These users have some more buttons available to them to help keep the community safe and our forums tidy. VTs work more closely with TSR Community Staff and also support the mentoring of FHs. As a Volunteer Team member you would have permissions in the same forums as you did when you were a FH, and can extend across sections in exactly the same way.

How do I become a Volunteer Section Leader?
VSLs are experienced members of the VT who are appointed to lead one (occasionally two) sections of the site. VSLs run FH applications and a whole host of other admin too. To become one you need to have become a FH, joined the VT at least three months later, and then been a consistent presence within the VT team for that section. The Community Staff make the final decision on who can be a VSL.

How clean does my Community Record need to be?
This is assessed by the Community Staff @ TSR HQ and is done on a case by case basis. We can't give a figure for how many of which cards you are allowed to have. All of the below are assessed:
- Which type of cards you have received
- How recently you received them (regardless of whether they are still active)
- The nature of the rule-breaking
- How many cards you have received in total

Most FH applicants have no cards and don't need to worry about this in the slightest.
(edited 7 months ago)
Cool beans.

I should keep my secret thread unlocking abilities secret....
(edited 8 years ago)
I'd love to help in some way! :h: :yep:
Are there currently any open roles?
Sounds a little long winded.
Are there still roles? I'd love to be a part if the setup!
Is it just me who can't see the linked forum?
Original post by 2007PSanHa
Is it just me who can't see the linked forum?


You should be able to see the forum but no threads in it apart from your own if you create one

Posted from TSR Mobile
Reply 10
What if I've already been DBS checked?
Original post by chelseadagg3r
You should be able to see the forum but no threads in it apart from your own if you create one

Posted from TSR Mobile

Ah okay, silly me! Thank you!
:crossedf::crossedf::crossedf:
Original post by Kalail
What if I've already been DBS checked?


You’ll still need to be DBS checked. :smile:
Original post by Paracosm
You’ll still need to be DBS checked. :smile:


Do you have to submit a CV? :smile:
Original post by Paracosm
You’ll still need to be DBS checked. :smile:


Back in my days... :shakecane: :tongue:
Original post by Command&Conquer
Do you have to submit a CV? :smile:


You don’t, no. You need to let the guys know where you’d like to help out, why, give examples of content created in that area and anything else you think is pertinent! :smile:

Original post by usycool1
Back in my days... :shakecane: :tongue:


Ussssyyyyy :hugs:

Also, I’ve changed the title of this thread to β€˜Join the Community Assistant team’ :smile:
Reply 17
I'd love to join :biggrin:
All the people in the Community Assistant team are so friendly and wonderful to hang and chat with :h:
It would be great to be on a team with such amazing people, also someday I hope to meet some :smile:

Nothing better than helping others to be happy and comfortable especially those who arent in the best positions or perhaps struggling through their current life.
I appreciate all the work this little community does to help others despite the odd trolls here and there :h:
I replied to one of your assistants with reference to my application but they haven't got back to me :frown: If you could I'd appreciate it! :smile:

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