Ways to get involved in TeenHelp if you're not a Staff member.

[Rob]

I'd like to tell you about a range of new ways you can help TeenHelp without becoming a member of Staff. We have a series (I repeat: a series) of new positions starting up, though not all of these are available yet. You should, however, notice a new "Volunteer" page on your navigation bar, which contains information about all of our current volunteering opportunities, and will be updated as we roll out the positions we will be developing over the coming weeks and months. The following positions are currently available:

Associate Staff

The first new position is Associate Staff. Within this class there two positions - Associate HelpLINK Mentor and Associate Live Help Operator - both of which map on to current Staff positions. These positions are very similar to the full Staff positions but with some key differences. These positions are aimed particularly towards unregistered users, though if registered users apply we don't object to that either.

Advantages

• Do not need to register an account.
• Do not need to be registered for one month.
• Do not need to make twenty-posts.
• No formal minimum activity requirements.

Disadvantages

Obviously in exchange for the dramatically reduced requirements for these positions we've had to restrict what such a Staff person would acquire:

• Not recognised as a Staff member (no username colour, no mention on Staff List).
• No access to sensitive Staff information (i.e. Staff forums).
• No opportunity to be promoted (i.e. to Moderator positions and above).

Unchanged aspects

• Must submit an application form.
• Can use time towards volunteering hours/seek a written letter of reference.

Facilitators

The second new position we are opening is the ability for non-Staff members to run our weekly Facilitated Chat Room Discussions (FCRDs). This will involve a select number of non-Staff members being given the opportunity to volunteer to lead discussions. The application procedure for this position is a little different to how we typically recruit: you have to impress us in a real FCRD and be invited to apply. This is because we think the complex interplay of skills needed to successfully navigate this situation could not be adequately assessed with a simple application form. Don't let that put you off, though, because if you impress us in the 'real' situation then the written application form will be pretty easy for you to pass through once you're invited to submit one! [It's going to be really short.]

Social Networking Team

If you didn't quite get the memo yet, we have recently launched a Social Networking campaign via Facebook and Twitter. We still need members for our Social Networking Team to contribute to developing this project.

Check out our Volunteer page for information on all of these and to apply.

If you any questions about any of these, please either reply here or feel free to message me.