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A guide for Explorers and Network members
GET AHEAD
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Even though you might not realise it yet, your experience in Scouting
has helped you to develop a whole range of important skills that higher
education establishments and employers are looking for.
Whether you are applying for jobs, college, university or apprenticeships,
competition is higher than ever. The skills you will have developed through
Scouting, including teamwork, interpersonal skills and decision-making,
will help to set you apart from the crowd.
This guide is designed to help you express the experiences and activities
you do through Scouting in a way that employers and admissions tutors
will understand. To do this, you need to identify which important life skills
you have developed.
Even though people in Scouting will understand that being a Young Leader
requires a range of skills from teamwork to time management, employers
and admissions tutors may not. This guide will help you to make the
connections for them.
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SCOUTING
EXPERIENCES
DESCRIPTION
SKILLS AND
PERSONAL QUALITIES
Being a member of
The Scout Association
Committing to attending regular meetings.
Following a set of values (the Promise and Law).
• Integrity.
• Commitment.
Being part of a Patrol,
or a Patrol Leader
Working as part of a small group of peers
to complete activities on a weekly basis.
As a Patrol Leader, leading and motivating a small
group of peers and helping new members to settle
in and learn new skills.
Representing the views of your Patrol to the rest
of the Troop/Unit.
• Teamwork.
• Leadership.
• Interpersonal skills.
• Ability to motivate and
enthuse others.
• Working with peers.
Gaining badges
and awards
Developing specific skills in a number of areas,
including sports, creative activities, faith and
the environment.
Each badge has a different level of skill and
commitment required.
Many badges entail work outside regular
scout meetings.
• Organisational skills.
• Personal development.
• Commitment.
• Self-motivation.
Hikes and expeditions
Working as part of a team, and making
collective decisions.
Planning and preparation, including training,
route planning and putting a plan in place
for emergencies.
Developing skills such as map reading
and navigation.
• Teamwork.
• Communication skills.
• Using your initiative.
• Planning and organisational skills.
• Adapting to changing situations.
The first stage is to work out which important life skills your Scouting
activities have helped you to develop. This table includes many of the
activities and experiences you will have taken part in through Scouting.
The second column includes a short description, which you could adapt for
an application form or interview to make sure people understand exactly
what you mean.
The third column highlights the skills you have developed through taking
part in the relevant Scouting activity. Employers and higher education
institutions are looking for these skills in their applicants
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Participating in
a camp (either indoors
or outdoors)
Planning the camp.
Being responsible for your own kit and belongings.
Taking part in a variety of challenging and
demanding activities.
Living alongside your peers and being considerate
of other people’s needs.
• Teamwork.
• Independence.
• Personal development.
• Adapting to changing situations.
Community service
Taking part in Scout Community Week, which
involves both community service and fundraising.
working with other sections, either as a Young
Leader or adult leader.
working at an activity centre or as part of
a campsite service team.
• Teamwork.
• Communication skills.
• Commitment.
• Sense of social responsibility.
Programme planning
Taking into consideration the age range and
abilities of the section, resources available, and
what the young people in the section want to do.
Ensuring that the programme follows the rules
and policies of The Scout Association.
• Organisational skills.
• Using your initiative.
• Decision making.
• Planning and time management.
Being a Young Leader
Completing the Young Leaders’ Scheme.
Attending the weekly meetings of
a younger section.
Helping to plan and run the programme and
activities while taking into account the age range
and abilities of the young people you are working
with, and also working to The Scout Association’s
rules and guidance.
Working alongside the adult leadership team.
• Leadership.
• Communicating with people
of different ages.
• Interpersonal skills.
• Independence.
• Flexibility and adaptability.
• Commitment.
• Able to cope with responsibility.
• Decision making.
• Trustworthy.
Being an adult leader
Completing the relevant modules of the Adult
Training Scheme.
Attending weekly meetings for the section.
Helping to plan the programme and events, taking
into account the age range and abilities of the
young people you are working with, and working
to The Scout Association’s rules and guidance.
Being directly responsible for the safety, wellbeing
and personal development of the young people
you are working with.
For Wood Badge holders, there are opportunities
for external recognition of your qualification:
scouts.org.uk/supportresources.
• Leadership.
• Able to communicate with people
of all ages.
• Interpersonal skills.
• Independence.
• Flexibility and adaptability.
• Commitment.
• Able to cope with responsibility.
• Decision making.
• Trustworthy.
• Able to plan and meet goals,
for example completing your
adult training.
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Participating in forums
(in your Troop, Unit,
District or County)
Representing the views of your peers.
Contributing to the programme and decisions
taken about the way your Troop/Unit/District/
County is run.
You may have had a specific role, such as the
chairperson, secretary or treasurer.
• Able to understand and represent
the opinions of others.
• Communication skills.
• Interpersonal skills.
• Organisational skills.
• Decision making.
• Chairperson: leadership skills.
• Secretary: administration skills.
• Treasurer: financial management.
Chief Scout Platinum
and Diamond Awards/
Bronze and Silver
Duke of Edinburgh’s
(DofE) Award
These are completed over six or 12 months.
The DofE is an external and widely
recognised award.
Involves completing community service,
developing a skill, taking part in a physical activity,
and carrying out an expedition.
For the Chief Scout Awards, completing additional
Scouting activities on the themes of international,
environment and values.
Also being a member of Scouting for six or
12 months, and completing six or 12 nights away.
• Commitment and dedication.
• Time management (often
completed alongside
important exams).
• Teamwork.
• Personal development.
• Using your initiative.
• Self-motivation and the ability
to achieve personal goals.
Queen’s Scout Award
(QSA)/DofE Gold Award
The DofE Gold and QSA are the top awards that
can be gained before the age of 25.
The DofE is an external and widely
recognised award.
These awards are completed over at least
18 months.
Involves completing community service,
developing a skill, taking part in a physical
activity, completing an expedition and
attending a residential experience with people
you do not know.
For the QSA you also have to show your dedication
to Scouting. This includes being a member for
18 months, completing 18 nights away and
completing activities based on the themes
of international, environment and values.
• Commitment and dedication.
• Time management (many of
you will have been completing
important exams whilst working
towards your dofe/qsa).
• Teamwork.
• Personal development.
• Using your initiative.
• Self-motivation and the ability
to achieve personal goals.
The Explorer Belt
Plan and train for a 10-day expedition in
a foreign country with a group of peers.
Complete projects during the expedition
to develop your knowledge of the area you
have travelled to deliver a presentation to peers
and adults after the expedition.
• Teamwork.
• Cultural awareness.
• Self-motivation.
• Motivating others in
a challenging situation.
• Independence.
• Using your initiative.
• Decision making.
• Presentation skills.
• Research skills.
• The ability to cope with new
and unknown challenges.
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Participating in
international events
Either travelling overseas with Scouting, or
attending an event in the UK where Scouts
from other countries will be present.
Working alongside people from other countries
and developing awareness of other cultures
and some of the issues that communities face
in other countries.
• Teamwork.
• Cultural awareness.
• Personal development.
• The ability to cope with new
and unknown challenges.
• Communication skills.
Participating in a World
Scout Jamboree
Attending a selection event and regular
training weekends.
Completing significant fundraising.
Attending the Jamboree with Scouts from around
the world.
Giving presentations about your experience
to different sections upon your return.
• Teamwork.
• Interpersonal skills.
• Cultural awareness.
• Personal development.
• Self-motivation.
• Presentation skills.
• The ability to cope with new
and unknown challenges.
Carrying out risk
assessments
Identifying any potential risks for different
activities and who the risks might affect.
Working out ways to minimise these risks.
• Maturity and responsibility.
• Using your initiative.
• Decision making.
• Able to identify, discuss and
minimise potential hazards.
• Communication skills.
Hold an Adventurous
Activity Permit
(personal, leadership
or supervisory)
Developing a high level of skill and knowledge
about a chosen adventurous activity.
For leadership and supervisory permits,
being able to lead training sessions and instruct
others in an activity, including being responsible
for their safety and personal development.
• Able to cope with responsibility.
• Leadership.
• Communication skills.
• Using your initiative.
Budgeting
Investigate the costs of food, transport,
accommodation, equipment and activities
for example for camps and activity days.
Working out the cost for the whole event and
deciding how much to charge each person.
• Financial awareness.
• Organisational skills.
• Time management.
Fundraising
(for example, to fund
an activity or raise
money for another
charity)
This could be as a participant or you could
be organising the fundraising.
This will include deciding what you are
fundraising for, how you are going to do it,
and organising and running the event.
• Financial awareness.
• Organisational skills.
• Time management.
Taking part
in a Scout show
Either performing or working as back
stage support.
Committing time for rehearsals
and performances.
• Confidence in public speaking.
• Commitment and dedication.
• Teamwork.
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When you have identified your Scouting experiences and
the skills you have developed through Scouting, you
should include these in your CV, application forms and
interview answers.
When writing your CV and filling in application forms, you
need to focus on being brief and concise. Hundreds of other
people will be applying for the same jobs and courses as you,
so you need to make sure your key selling points stand out
straightaway, rather than hiding them in long descriptions.
Interviews provide the opportunity for you to elaborate and
go into more detail about your skills and achievements, so
don’t worry about trying to include every last detail in your
application form.
When answering a question, whether it is on an application
form or in an interview, your answer needs to have
three parts.
For example:
‘I have been a Young Leader for the
Cub Pack for three years. This involves
attending weekly meetings, and working
alongside the adult leadership team to
plan and run activities and events. This
has helped me to become more confident
and independent, develop my teamwork
and leadership skills, and improve my
communication and interpersonal skills.’
If you were in an interview, you could go into a bit
more detail.
‘I have been a Young Leader for my local
Cub Pack for three years. This involves
attending weekly meetings, and working
alongside the adult leadership team to
plan and run activities, weekend events
and camps. I also hold an Adventurous
Activity Leadership Permit for climbing.
This recognises my high level of skill in
climbing, and allows me to lead climbing
sessions for the Cubs, during which I am
responsible for their safety and personal
development. This has helped me to
become more confident and independent,
develop my teamwork and leadership
skills, and improve my communication
and interpersonal skills.’
These three parts to the answer correspond to the three
columns of the table.
For example:
Have you ever held a leadership position?
a) Young Leader for a Cub Pack
b) Attending weekly meetings, and working alongside
the adult leadership team to plan and run activities
and events.
c) Became more confident and independent, developed
teamwork and leadership skills, and improved my
communication and interpersonal skills.
This can then easily be translated into a few sentences
to include in an application form or interview.
a) Say what you have done.
b) Explain, briefly, what this means.
c) Highlight which skills this demonstrates.
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Have you ever worked as part of a team?
a) Went on an Explorer Belt expedition to Austria.
b) Planned, trained for and carried out a 10-day expedition
in Austria with a team of six, carrying out various
projects along the way to learn about the country.
c) Teamwork, collective decision-making, motivating
others in a challenging situation.
‘Through the Scout Network I completed
my Explorer Belt, which involved
planning, training for and completing
a 10-day expedition abroad. I worked
as part of a team of six to plan our
expedition in Austria, which involved
making collective decisions on the
route and budget of our expedition and
projects to be completed along the way.
The experience helped me to develop my
teamwork and decision-making skills,
and also my ability to motivate others
in a challenging situation.
Longer interview answer:
‘Through the Scout Network I completed
my Explorer Belt, which involved
planning, training for and completing
a 10-day expedition abroad. I worked
as part of a team of six to plan our
expedition in Austria, which involved
making collective decisions on the
location, budget, expedition route and
projects to be completed along the way.
Once on the expedition, we had to work
together to ensure that we kept to the
planned route and kept team morale
high. We also worked together to research
various aspects of community life in the
area we visited, delegating various tasks
to different team members and then
collecting our findings together to write
a presentation to deliver on our return.
It helped me to develop my teamwork
skills and ability to make collective
decisions, and also my ability to motivate
others in a challenging situation.’
Have you ever worked independently?
a) Hold an Adventurous Activity Leadership Permit for
canoeing, and run monthly sessions for Scouts.
b) Organise, plan and run monthly canoeing skills
training sessions for local Scouts.
c) Independence, leadership skills, self-motivation, use
of initiative, ability to cope with responsibility.
‘I hold an Adventurous Activity Leadership
Permit for canoeing through Scouting.
Using this, I organise, plan and run
monthly canoeing skills training sessions
for Scouts aged 10 to 14 in my local area.
This has improved my confidence in
working independently to reach goals,
as well as my self-motivation and ability
to cope with responsibility and use
my initiative.’
Longer interview answer:
‘I hold an Adventurous Activity Leadership
Permit for canoeing through Scouting.
Using this, I organise, plan and run
monthly canoeing skills training sessions
for up to eight Scouts aged 10 to 14 in my
local area. This includes securing use of
the location and equipment, advertising
the sessions and being responsible for the
safety and personal development of the
young people attending. I have run four
of the sessions so far, and received really
good feedback. This has improved my
confidence in working independently
to reach goals, as well as my self-
motivation and ability to cope with
responsibility and use my initiative.’
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Have you ever held a leadership position?
Have you ever worked as part of a team?
These are some of the types of questions that are likely to come up in
application forms and interviews. Using your own Scouting experiences,
try and put together some answers for the following questions using the
three part method. It might be helpful to write a short application form
answer and a longer interview answer for each question.
a) What you have done:
a) What you have done:
b) Explanation:
b) Explanation:
c) Relevant skills:
c) Relevant skills:
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Have you ever worked
independently to reach a goal?
Give an example of when you have
motivated others in a challenging situation.
Tell me about your greatest
achievement so far.
Give an example of when you have
managed a budget.
a) What you have done:
a) What you have done:
b) Explanation:
b) Explanation:
c) Relevant skills:
c) Relevant skills:
a) What you have done:
a) What you have done:
b) Explanation:
b) Explanation:
c) Relevant skills:
c) Relevant skills:
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Give an example of a situation
where you have used your initiative.
Have you ever organised or
planned an event?
a) What you have done:
a) What you have done:
b) Explanation:
b) Explanation:
c) Relevant skills:
c) Relevant skills:
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CVS
If you have been a Young Leader or an adult leader, you can
list this under ‘positions of responsibility’. You should include
a brief outline of your main duties.
For example:
‘2011–present: Section Leader, Cub Scouts.
This includes attending weekly meetings,
planning the programme and events,
and being responsible for the safety and
wellbeing of up to 25 young people aged
between 8 and 10 during potentially
hazardous activities.’
Being a member of Scouting, as well as activities you take
part in through Scouting could come under ‘Interests.’
For example:
‘I am a keen canoeist, and hold an Open
Boating Adventurous Activity Permit
through Scouts.’
Badges and awards you have achieved through Scouting
could also be included under ‘Achievements.’
For example:
‘I have completed my Gold DofE and my
Queen’s Scout Award, the highest awards
available to young people in Scouting.’
Schools and universities will have provided you with plenty of
information on how to write CVs, fill in application forms and UCAS
forms, and prepare for interviews. This section shows you where
to include your Scouting experiences.
APPLICATION FORMS
Often, instead of asking you to send a CV, companies, colleges
and universities will ask you to fill in an application form.
Because every application form is different, there is no set
place to include your Scouting experiences. Instead you
will have to look closely at what skill you are being asked
to demonstrate. If you have a Scouting experience that
demonstrates the skill, include it in your answer.
Remember that you still need to be concise on an application
form, so don’t try and include every example you have. If you
are invited to an interview, you will have the opportunity to
give more examples and information about your experiences.
INTERVIEWS
Again, there is no specific place where Scouting will fit
into your interview answers. Every interview will be
different. If you do use a Scouting experience in an answer,
always remember to explain what you mean and what the
experience involved in detail. Make sure that you tell the
interviewer which important skills these experiences have
given you. Don’t leave it to them to make the connection.
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1st Edition, March 2013
Contributors: Charlie French, Carol Fitzsimons, David Morris, Phil Probst, Graham Phillips
© 2015 The Scout Association Registered Charity No. 306101/SC038437
scouts.org.uk
Use this space to write down any comments on your Scouting skills and experiences.