Professional Ambassadors

Advocating for your profession and sharing your geographical knowledge and skills can be an excellent way to support and inspire other geographers.

From school students thinking about career options to colleagues in your organisation, geographers at all career stages can benefit directly and meaningfully from your insights and expertise.

It can also be a fulfilling experience for you and an opportunity for continuing professional development.   

Here is a short guide of how to get involved and the support the Society can offer you..

 

With schools

• Use our resources, including our UseGeography sector resources, to support presentations or career discussions within schools

• Work with teachers in schools to deliver curriculum linked workshops or sessions. See our schools resources for ideas.

• Facilitate workplace visits or work experience – see our current register of work experience opportunities and contact professional@rgs.org to add yours.

• Work with us to create an I Am A Geographer career profile

• Volunteer as a tutor or think about getting involved in the National Tutoring Programme

 

With students and universities at undergraduate or postgraduate level

• Use our I Am A Geographer career profiles as examples of how you can develop a career with geography in many directions

• Volunteer to take part in a skills/careers workshop, careers talk/panel or careers fair at your local university or geography department during term time

• Take part in events with student geography societies to share your advice and experiences

• Support the development of students’ fieldwork skills by offering work experience placements or research projects/opportunities for students carrying out their dissertation research. Contact your local geography department or rhed@rgs.org to share such opportunities

• Support networks and initiatives supporting geographical specialisms or underrepresented groups in geography to strengthen the diversity and inclusivity of the discipline, such as our Geography for all project

 

Within your own organisation

• Mentor or coach your colleagues, developing their geographical skills and how they apply them, including within our Chartered Geographer scheme. See more about mentoring in our resources

• Support colleagues through accreditation applications such as for Chartered Geographer

• Run masterclasses or internal CPD events to share your specific knowledge and skills – see our resources and professional insights series for ideas

• Share our professional and public events and geographical resources through your internal networks. We showcase professional practice with geography in our impact case studies, Geovisualisation series and I Am A Geographer series

• Host or facilitate work experience, work shadowing or secondments for graduates, apprentices and early career professionals in your organisation

 

Working with community groups

• Local community groups, such as Scouts and Guides, will often welcome visitors who can teach geography-related practical skills (such as map reading, orienteering and map making) or provide talks about professional experiences