{"alias":"blogEntry","byline":"Alanah Reid, Creative Content Producer","standfirst":"To celebrate World Youth Skills Day on July 15, we spoke to some of our members to see how Scouts gave them the skills they need \u2013 for life, but particularly for work.","content":{"layouts":[{"type":"singleColumn","areas":[{"items":[{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp class=\u0022Body\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EAt Scouts, we give things a go and we learn. We might fail at times, but we get up and try again. We lend a hand, help others and have brilliant experiences together, gaining skills for life every step of the way. \u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp class=\u0022Body\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ESo much of what we do at Scouts, from our smooth sailing adventures to our plan Bs, help prepare us for getting a job.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Ch3\u003EResearch on youth employability\u003C/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EDemos is the UK\u003Cspan\u003E\u2019\u003C/span\u003Es leading independent cross-party think tank. Back in May, they launched new research about youth employability.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research showed that, at Scouts, young people can learn the skills employers are most keen to see.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EKnown as the \u003Ca href=\u0022/scouts-and-employability/the-employability-badge-report/\u0022 title=\u0022The Employability Badge report\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EEmployability Badge report\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/a\u003E, one of the key findings was that an impressive 74% of former Scouts felt\u0026nbsp;optimistic about getting what they want from their careers.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThis was compared to 47% of people who didn\u2019t take part in extracurricular activities, such as Scouts.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Ch3\u003EHow Scouts helped me in my career\u003C/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAs well as these fantastic figures about youth employability, we caught up with a few Scouts who\u2019ve started their careers.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFrom presenting their \u003Ca href=\u0022/activities/a-scouts-own/\u0022 title=\u0022A Scouts\u2019 Own\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EScout\u2019s Own\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/a\u003E to running their first sessions, they told us how Scouts gave them the skills, experience, and confidence to enter the world of work.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Ch4\u003EAbigail\u003C/h4\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"gtmId","gtmClass":"gtmClass","image":"/media/21345/abigail-world-youth-skills-day.jpg","width":2133,"height":1200,"altText":"Abigail has sunglasses on her head and her brown hair is straight going past her shoulders. She\u0027s smiling at the camera and wearing a brown jumper with her initials on and a red, blue and white Scouts necker. She\u0027s stood outside and there are bushes and flowers behind her.","caption":"","link":null},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECurrent job: \u003C/strong\u003EProduct Legislation \u0026amp; Sustainable Development Assistant at NEXT\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EScouts role: \u003C/strong\u003ECounty Executive, Trustee and Youth Rep in Hereford \u0026amp; Worcester\u003Cbr /\u003E\u003Cbr /\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETop three employability skills from Scouts:\u003C/strong\u003E Resilience, self-reflection, and self-confidence\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAbigail says, \u003Cspan\u003E\u2018\u003C/span\u003EYou naturally develop resilience in Scouts, since you\u003Cspan\u003E\u2019\u003C/span\u003Ere exposed to new things. Instead of being in a high pressure environment that\u0027s all or nothing, Scouts allowed me to fail, learn from the experience and have another go.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWe\u2019ll always face barriers and/or rejection in life, especially when applying for jobs. By learning to be resilient, we can make sure these experiences don\u003Cspan\u003E\u2019\u003C/span\u003Et stop us.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EScouts helps you learn to self-reflect, too. From doing a Scouts\u2019 Own and a \u003Ca href=\u0022https://www.scouts.org.uk/top-awards/kings-scout-award/\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EKing\u2019s Scout Award\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/a\u003E presentation, I learned to identify my personal strengths and weaknesses. This really helps when writing applications and personal statements and it\u003Cspan\u003E\u2019\u003C/span\u003Es key when trying to make yourself stand out.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThanks to my volunteers believing in me, I\u2019ve confidence in myself, my abilities, and my knowledge. This self-confidence meant I pushed myself to apply for a master\u003Cspan\u003E\u2019\u003C/span\u003Es degree, even when I didn\u0027t totally enjoy my time at university. My master\u003Cspan\u003E\u2019\u003C/span\u003Es degree \u00A0then helped me get my first job in the sector I wanted to work in.\u003Cspan\u003E\u2019\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u200BWhat would you tell a younger person about how Scouts can help with employability?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Through Scouts, you can meet so many different people with a wealth of knowledge that you can learn from. Want to know more about university? Apprenticeships? Jobs in a particular sector? I guarantee there\u2019ll be someone you\u2019ll meet in Scouts who can share their experiences with you. It\u2019ll help make navigating the world of work a little less overwhelming.\u003Cspan\u003E\u2019\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Ch4\u003EAaron\u003C/h4\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"gtmId","gtmClass":"gtmClass","image":"/media/21344/aaron-world-youth-skills-day.jpg","width":2133,"height":1200,"altText":"Aaron is standing with his hands behind his back and is wearing his Scouts uniform. He\u0027s wearing a beige shirt with badges on and a black necker. He\u0027s stood outside at night and there\u0027s a streetlight on in the distance. Behind him blurred in the background are flowers and a metal railing.","caption":"","link":null},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECurrent job: \u003C/strong\u003EOutside Broadcast Engineer at Cloudbass Limited\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EScouts role: \u003C/strong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022/volunteers/running-things-locally/recruiting-and-managing-volunteers/role-descriptions/uk-rep-pool/\u0022 title=\u0022UK Rep Pool\u0022\u003EUK Rep Pool\u003C/a\u003E Lead\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETop three employability skills from Scouts:\u003C/strong\u003E Professional communication, leadership, and adaptability\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAaron says, \u003Cspan\u003E\u2018\u003C/span\u003EI work in broadcast, and the communication skills I learned at Scouts have given me the confidence I need to engage people at work to get things done. It\u003Cspan\u003E\u2019\u003C/span\u003Es also helped me make the client feel at ease when any issues happen.\u003Cspan\u003E\u2019\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The leadership skills I\u0027ve learned through Scouts have been so beneficial. Not only have I been able to lead a team in my department as a relatively young engineer, but I can also effectively organise and prioritise during emergencies to make sure television screens don\u0027t go black!\u003Cspan\u003E\u2019\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Just like on camp, things at work often don\u003Cspan\u003E\u2019\u003C/span\u003Et go to plan. Being taught how to respond to these sorts of events at Scouts prepared me for the ever-changing world of work. Employers love it when an employee can turn their hand to many disciplines and have a wide range of skills.\u003Cspan\u003E\u2019\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat would you tell a younger person about how Scouts can help with employability?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The world of work is always calling for soft skills, such as communication, teamwork, networking, leadership, confidence, and more. They\u2019re the skills we naturally gain at Scouts, but there are some we get without even realising. Employers can teach technical and specific skills relevant to the job, but what takes longer to learn are the soft skills, the skills for life.\u003Cspan\u003E\u2019\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Ch4\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ELuke\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/h4\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"gtmId","gtmClass":"gtmClass","image":"/media/21347/luke-world-youth-skills-day.jpg","width":2133,"height":1200,"altText":"Luke\u0027s holding his thumbs up to the camera and smiling. He\u0027s got a purple hi-vis vest on with the Scouts logo in white, along with a purple and white necker. He\u0027s wearing a rain jacket with his hood up, and he\u0027s outside near some trees. There are people behind him holding umbrellas up and wearing rain jackets too.","caption":"","link":null},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECurrent job: \u003C/strong\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ETr\u003C/span\u003Eansport Modeller for Mott MacDonald\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ES\u003C/strong\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Ecouts role:\u00A0\u003C/strong\u003EVolunteer at \u003Ca href=\u0022/cubs/\u0022 title=\u0022Cubs\u0022\u003ECubs\u003C/a\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETop three employability skills from Scouts: \u003C/strong\u003EPublic speaking, seeing different perspectives and willingness to get involved.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ELuke says, \u003Cspan\u003E\u2018\u003C/span\u003EI didn\u2019t realise at the time, but running my first ever Cub night as an 18-year-old volunteer greatly helped with my employability. I had to plan, risk assess, deliver, and reflect on the session.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EEach of these have been crucial\u00A0in my job to help me deliver value for money to clients and manage a team in the corporate world. Reflecting made me think about what went well, what could be better, and consider the things I wish I\u2019d known and researched before\u00A0the night.\u2019\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat would you tell a younger person about how Scouts can help with employability?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Thanks to Scouts, I\u2019ve been able to gain and show that I\u2019ve the skillset that employers were after. This helped me get my very first part-time job when I was 17 or 18. As I didn\u2019t have any prior work experience, I was able to talk about teamwork and communication I\u2019d learned through Scouts.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EScouts also made it into my university application for similar reasons. Especially for my course, as I could say that I wouldn\u0027t mind the weather during field work (I studied BSc Physical Geography at the University of Greenwich). \u00A0\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen the time\u00A0came for me to get a professional job, I was able to link the Scout Law and Promise to the company\u2019s values, which made my application\u00A0stand out and got me to the interview stage.\u2019\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Ch4\u003EAlisdair\u003C/h4\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"gtmId","gtmClass":"gtmClass","image":"/media/21346/alisdair-world-youth-skills-day.jpg","width":2133,"height":1200,"altText":"Alisdair is stood close to the camera, wearing a blue, red and white necker and a black t-shirt. He\u0027s wearing rectangle, navy glasses and is looking directly at the camera while stood outside in front of bushes.","caption":"","link":null},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECurrent job: \u003C/strong\u003EDegree Engineering Apprentice at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), Leading ADAS Sensor Cleaning\u0026nbsp;\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EScouts role: \u003C/strong\u003ECounty Youth Commissioner, Northamptonshire\u0026nbsp;\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETop three employability skills from Scouts: \u003C/strong\u003ECommunication, logical thinking,\u0026nbsp;and teamwork\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAlisdair says, \u2018Writing risk assessments for my Scout sessions helped me build my experience and understanding of problem-solving. This gave me a great start in my engineering career because it proved I could identify problems, consider lots of different factors, and come up with solutions.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAs \u003Ca href=\u0022/volunteers/running-your-section/youth-shaped/youth-commissioners/\u0022 title=\u0022Youth Commissioners\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ECounty Youth Commissioner\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/a\u003E, I became more experienced in presenting and communicating with a range of volunteers. I presented to our County\u2019s line managers at our County Conference about our digital transformation, which was brilliant public speaking experience. It\u2019s helped me feel prepared for the presentations I do at work.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI did the same team building exercises at work as I did at \u003Ca href=\u0022/explorers/\u0022 title=\u0022Explorers\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EExplorers\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/a\u003E, including \u003Ca href=\u0022/activities/tower-building/\u0022 title=\u0022Tower building\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003ETower building\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/a\u003E. I talked to my peers about my experience and helped coordinate our approach, using their ideas and my knowledge. It was a great teamwork exercise and helped me work collaboratively with new people \u2013 a skill I\u2019d learned from Scouts.\u2019\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat would you tell a younger person about how Scouts can help with employability?\u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Scouts is a safe and constructive environment to get things wrong and learn. You learn far more by making mistakes.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAt Scouts, you can build soft skills in so many different, fun ways. You can interact and work with lots of different people \u2013 which is essential for work. With many leadership opportunities, you can develop your way of working and help manage a team, which is great experience to take the next step in your career.\u2019\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"type":"Promo","cta":"https://www.scouts.org.uk/scouts-and-employability/applying-for-a-job/","body":"\u003Cp class=\u0022Body\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EEven when things go wrong, think about how you dealt with it. Did you feel worried at the start, but eventually overcame it and found a solution? That shows resilience, persistence, and dedication.\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp class=\u0022Body\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan\u003EIf you\u2019re applying for a job, \u003Ca href=\u0022/scouts-and-employability/applying-for-a-job/\u0022 title=\u0022Applying for a job\u0022\u003Eread our guidance on how you can best showcase your Scouts skills to impress your potential employers. \u003C/a\u003E\u003C/span\u003E\u003C/p\u003E","link":null,"colour":"#f1f1f1","title":"Get tips on applying for jobs","image":null,"imageFocus":"","imageId":0,"imageKey":"00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000","imageCrop":"","gridType":"card","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""}]}],"config":null}]},"searchDescription":null,"pageType":null,"location":null,"versionDate":"14 July 2023","reviewDate":null,"furtherReading":[{"caption":"","title":"Applying for a job","url":"/scouts-and-employability/applying-for-a-job/","newWindow":false},{"caption":"","title":"The Employability Badge report","url":"/scouts-and-employability/the-employability-badge-report/","newWindow":false},{"caption":"","title":"New research on youth employability by Demos","url":"/news/2023/may/new-research-on-youth-employability-by-demos/","newWindow":false}],"relatedLinks":[],"id":50439,"nodeName":"How Scouts gave me the skills to stand out at work","title":"How Scouts gave me the skills to stand out at work","type":"blogEntry","image":{"url":"/media/21315/scouts-and-the-employability-badge-report.jpg?width=800\u0026height=450\u0026v=1d9cabe45bbc1b0","caption":"Scouts And The Employability Badge Report","type":"jpg","size":5804012,"width":5164,"height":3443,"altText":""},"assets":null,"headerOptions":{"headerTitle":"How Scouts gave me the skills to stand out at work","headerSubTitle":null,"headerCta":null,"headerCtaText":null,"headerCtaLink":null,"headerBackgroundColour":null,"showSEOImage":false,"headerBackgroundImage":null,"quickLinks":null},"subHeader":"July 15 is World Youth Skills Day. A few Scouts tell us how our movement gave them skills and experience for their careers.","browserTitle":null,"silktide":"eyJjbXMiOiJVbWJyYWNvIiwiZWRpdG9yVXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9wcm9kLWNtcy5zY291dHMub3JnLnVrLy91bWJyYWNvIy9jb250ZW50L2NvbnRlbnQvZWRpdC81MDQzOSJ9","canonicalUrl":"https://www.scouts.org.uk/news/2023/july/how-scouts-gave-me-the-skills-to-stand-out-at-work/"}