We love that our Ambassadors come from all walks of life, and Rachel Webster is passionate about opening students to the “amazing career potential” in the worlds of hospitality and retail, where there is “so much to learn, do and see”.
Name: Rachel Webster
Current position: Global APP Development Director
Organisation: The Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET)
What other jobs did you do, before this one?
I completed the Graduate Training Scheme at Majestic Wine and then went on to work for the WSET. I’ve been there for 12 years now and have always been in the international development and customer experience department of the organisation.
Complete this sentence: “When I was growing up, I wanted to be..."
When I was growing up, I wanted to be police detective or an interpreter in Brussels.
Best piece of career advice you have ever been given?
Don’t rush and do it properly. I worked in retail for a long time and was keen to progress as quickly as I could because the pay was average, and the hours were long. But I would definitely say there is no rush, spend time finding doing something you love instead of being in a race to the top (I was given the advice that the top doesn’t really exist, it’s an ever-changing goalpost that we set ourselves). I learnt so much from my time in retail and I miss it hugely – I loved meeting people and talking about and selling what I loved – they were great times and I needn’t have been in such a rush to move on.
When and why did you start volunteering with Form the Future?
I started volunteering at the beginning of 2023. A lot of people I work with are in the hospitality or retail sector which is really underrepresented in Cambridge. I wanted to make sure kids were aware of the amazing career potential in those sectors as they often get overlooked. Offering great customer experience is a real skill and not everyone can do it. I’d love to encourage those going into hospitality to be proud to work in that industry – there is so much variety and so much to learn, do and see. I’ve travelled the world with my career which all started from working in retail and restaurants.
What do you like most about being an Ambassador and/or what keeps you coming back?
I spend most of my time volunteering doing the Mock Interviews – most of the teenagers I see have never been in that situation before and I love being able to extract some great impactful information from them. Many of them think they have no relevant work skills because they don’t have a job, but I love being able to show them how their hobbies, passions, school-work and home life contributes to their employability skills. Showing them what their value and impact can be is very rewarding for me, and I hope some of them leave the interview being less worried about speaking confidently to adults and that they understand their own worth a little bit more. I often leave having learnt something new, which is thanks to the students taking part.
Putting aside the benefit to the student, how else has volunteering with Form the Future been a beneficial experience for you?
It’s great for me to see what’s going on in schools around Cambridge. I have a young daughter who I want to inspire in her education and future career, so understanding what’s going on in school and career options is really helpful for me, to be able to help her now and further down the line. Form the Future’s recent Annual Conference really highlighted how important grown-ups are for kids – whether that’s parents, family, friends and teachers – being more informed myself hopefully will help her and others further down the line.
I also have a much better understanding when I’m recruiting at work, having access to current trends at schools helps me understand new recruits better and enables me to ask more relevant questions to people seeking employment with us.
What would you say to someone who’s wondering whether to sign up as an Ambassador with Form the Future? (or) Why would you recommend volunteering with us to a fellow professional?
Yes, I would definitely recommend it for all sorts of reasons. Instead of listing all the reasons to do it, I’d say instead that I can’t think of any reasons not to be an Ambassador!
We share the Ambassador Spotlight in our monthly Ambassador Update emails, as well as on our website and social platforms. It’s a wonderful way to raise the profile of your own volunteering whilst supporting Form the Future in a new and different way.
If you’d like to feature in our next Ambassador Spotlight, email Dawn, our Ambassador Engagement Manager and she’ll send you questions to respond to.
