1. Activate your gradintel account
Sometimes new users struggle to log in to Gradintel, which, in most of the cases, is a matter of activation. Don't worry, we got your back: here's a step-by-step guide on how to do it!
1. On the Gradintel home page, enter your email and password.
2. You should see a screen that says "Username and password do not match or you do not have an account yet". To recover your account, please "Click here". Click it.
3. You should now see a screen that says "Lost account details". It asks: "Do you know and have access to the email address linked to your account?" Hit "Yes".
4. It should then have three options: I've forgotten my username / I've forgotten my password / I've forgotten both - hit the one that says both.
5. It will ask you for your student email - enter it and prove you're not a robot.
6. Now the site will ask you to enter your birthday. Fill in the boxes.
7. If a black error box shows up and asks if you're a student or a graduate, hit "Click here".
8. You will now find a page that says "Find Your Account". Fill out all the info: University of Essex, your student ID (the number on your student card that has 5 letters of your surname followed by 5 numbers) and your birthday again.
9. A verification page will pop up telling you they've identified your account. Out of the three options, only the email will be highlighted. Click on it.
10. A covered version of your student email will be shown. Just confirm it by entering it in the box.
11. Now an email verification page should show up with a box for a passcode. It says an email has been sent to you with a passcode in it. You will receive one email that is NOT the one you need, saying your account has been reset. A few minutes AFTER the first email, you will receive a second one with your passcode. Enter it into Gradintel and hit "Submit".
12. You will see a page that says "Oops! Your account is not activated!". Hit the "Activate now" button.
13. You'll see a very long page about account information. Scroll down and fill out all the information.
14. At this point your account should work and you should be able to explore the site and register for any projects you might be interested in. If you still have any issues with the activation, email us at vteam@essex.ac.uk.
2. Choose an opportunity
We have three kinds of opportunities for you to get involved in, placements, regular projects and one-offs. Find something you like the look of and register your interest (look for the big orange "Register" button at the bottom of the page of each project) - we'll get back to you as soon as we can. If you have signed up for a regular project, you will receive a welcome email asking you to pop by our office for a goodie bag and a safeguarding training. The first one contains a VTeam T-shirt that you can (and should) wear to the sessions, while the latter is a meet and greet with one of the VTeam members, and a laid-back chat about our policies (don't worry, we won't bite). After this, we will send a volunteering agreement for you to fill in, sign and send back to us via email (no need to print it out, let's save the trees). If this is done, you're ready to volunteer - just keep an eye on your emails from your Communications Officer for session dates and meeting points.
If you would like to volunteer at a one-off, you don't have to come for safeguarding or sign an agreement. We will send you an email one or two days before the event with all the information you need to know. Just turn up and have fun!
3. Do it!
This is the fun bit - once you've been added to a project, get out there and help the community.
4. Record your hours
You've done the hard work, now make sure it's added to your Gradintel profile. Below are some videos on how to do it!
Regular Projects: Sports Clubs: Societies: Peer Mentoring:
Part Time Officer: Essex Abroad: Student Parliament: Student Reps:
For one-off projects, we add the hours on your behalf as you complete them.
5. Review your year
At the end of the year, you can download your skills template which lets you keep all of your skills in one place and will help with job applications.