The application period for the International Alumni Volunteer Programme 2021-2023 was open in August for the Alumni Network Hungary members and final year students. Here are some details about our new, diverse and professional community, which improved our network in 2021.
The international alumni volunteer work is always a bit special among many various volunteer programmes because you can use many skills, develop in your profession and become a member in multiple small groups simultaneously. The International Alumni Volunteer Programme is a long-term project (of 2 years at least), during which the volunteers can help us promote Hungarian higher education by writing blog posts and making vlogs about their professional or personal experiences. It could be about their time at the university, their career path, or things they've learned along the way. Some of them are senior alumni, who can share their stories in an interview. Some volunteers are planning to stay in Hungary, so their organizational assistance is appreciated at various Tempus Public Foundation events.
In the last promotional season, more than 100 people applied to be our alumni volunteer! The International Alumni Volunteer programme 2021-2023 offers two strands for the volunteer activities upon acquiring their Alumni Network Hungary membership: Promotion and communication and Facilitating the alumni activities in different alumni chapters. There were 67 applicants for the promotional activities and 45 applicants want to boost our small group communities, the alumni chapters.
Alumni members are interested in our volunteer programme from 40 countries, most of them from Pakistan, India and Jordan, but some new countries are appeared such as Georgia, Angola or Ecuador. Most of the applicants finished or in their last year studies at the University of Debrecen, Corvinus University of Budapest and Budapest University of Technology and Economics, but 15 other universities are represented such as the University of Physical Education or the University of Sopron.
There are 88 different fields of interest and mostly mechanical engineer alumni applied to be our volunteers. Besides various engineers, some alumni earned their degrees in the field of International Relations, Law, Public Health, Clinical Medicine, Wildlife Management and English Studies. 64 % of the applicants did their doctoral or master studies in Hungary. Half of the applicants are in the final year and a third of them are working.
This group speaks more than 30 languages from all over the world besides English and a third of them speak basic Hungarian too! Besides English and Hungarian, various languages are represented such as Swahili, Kyrgyz, Farsi or Italian.
Stay tuned, and you will meet lots of new people, and your co-volunteers may come from different fields, which can be invaluable for boosting your interpersonal skills. There is a great chance that someone you meet while volunteering may become a valuable business contact later.