Duke of Edinburgh

[Dragonsandcats]

My year 9 dd, not overly academic but does quite a few extra curricular activities has the chance to do D of E at school. Her dad is really pushing for it as he says it is great for her cv. I’m not fussed as she’s quite busy already, and neither is she. Does anyone know if it does look really good on a cv? Should I be pushing her to do it?

I don't know but my eldest did it and youngest is and it's fab and I think worthwhile

dont worry about the CV, would she enjoy it?

None of mine did it. I think it's largely irrelevant apart from Gold which looks quite impressive alongside good A levels.

I think it just looks like your come from a family with the money and time to allow you you do it. DD enjoyed the experience but I'm not sure it adds much to a CV.

Mine did lots of other things outside school instead.

Its a good experience for them.
Doesn't really matter on a CV now at Bronze level.

My youngest is doing the bronze this year and my eldest the silver. Did bronze last year but they do it through Scouts/Explorers.

They both do it because they really, really enjoy it. It takes up 5 evenings a week between them but it's all their choice.

It shows commitment and ability to work on a team though I don't doubt for 1 minute others will be on here shortly to sneer at it and call it pointless.

I don't know about the effect of doing it through school but it's had a general positive effect on both of mine as they are both independent and confident and can mix really well with others.

My eldest did his bronze with people he didnt know as the rest of his Scout group either didnt want to do it or were not old enough.

Dont make them do it for a CV, it's hard work, it's a commitment and they need to want to do it

My eldest did all 3 levels and we had a great day at the palace last summer. More seriously, he says one interviewer did ask about it so it probably does help ( he got the internship). DS2 is on bronze and I’m keen that he does all 3 as well.

Adds no value to CV but she should do it if SHE wants too

It's not something that would sway me if I saw it on a CV. It's more important to consider if they'd enjoy it.

The skills learned by doing it DO enhance a CV, but there are other ways of doing that, for example, taking leadership roles in activities, managing to do extracurricular activities without letting academic studies suffer and so on.

It gives a great structure and opportunities to those who might not otherwise get them nor know where to start, but if your DC is achieving that by other means, it's not the be all and end all.

If she is busy already then you may find some of her existing activities would count towards her Duke of Edinburgh qualification. I think it is a really worthwhile thing to do in its own right as it recognises the value of group orienteering skills, pursuing a hobby and engaging in the community. It isn't onerous, but the child needs to want to do it.

I wouldn't say this was something for CV. Wouldn't get your child a job. If they enjoy doing the activities then will help them build their own skills, as long as they enjoy it!

If she wants to then it's a good thing to do, but I wouldn't do it because it might look good on a CV.

The student who do it at my school tend to already be doing things that can count eg a sport, or music or another skill and some are already volunteering, so they only have to add in one of the sections and expedition to get DofE.

Dd did it and loved it. She used existing hobby and volunteering so nothing extra to take on. The camping stuff was certainly character building and she had a blast. Achieved Gold. It is a bit marmite on here as seen as terribly middle class.

I did it as a teen (up to gold) and it has been no value in CV terms but it was a great experience and worked wonders for my confidence. I had a lot of fun and had to push myself so it was worth it for those reasons. I’d love my son to do it.

The only way it could possibly help your CV is if you're going for an extremely comptetitive graduate job and it's a cherry on top of already outstanding qualifications and extra curricular activies.

It’s useful from the perspective of being able to say “i can organise and schedule a full workload” or from having the types of experiences that you can refer to in early career competency based interviews. On the other hand, you get all of that from having a paid job, and cash on top.

For kids with lots of extra curricular activities it’s a good way to make them into a coherent story and pushes them to do some stuff they might not otherwise (eg volunteering), but in some ways it’s just middle class signalling because if you need money you get a job and don’t have time for DofE.

I would say not necessarily for CV but it did really help in competency based interview questions...so things like situations you used team building skills, perseverance and overcame hard situations etc..... however as others said if your children do lots of other activities they may get these skills elsewhere. That aside though I really loved it and it gave me things to do especially as someone who wasn't "sporty" or on any teams etc.

Just let your child decide what they want to prioritise. At this age they should decide what interests them. It’s something to write on a CV but so are other things, it’s not a slam dunk and no more impressive than other activities.

This is a good point. Might help with interviews if you DC has their heart set on something very competitive post-uni.

Agree with this. I had it drummed into me at school that you must do all this extra curricular stuff to look good but in reality I’ve worked in HR for 15 years and don’t remember anyone I’ve worked with ever paying attention to anything like that (unless it’s very relevant for example working on the school newspaper and applying for a journalist role). Getting a part time job when she is old enough even in a supermarket a few hours a week is more important in my opinion.

Unless it’s gold, I don’t think it means much for a CV, but my son really loved camping with his friends and seeing a different side to his teachers. He’s kept up his volunteer work and his physical years later so I think it’s been a good thing overall. My daughter would hate most of it. If she’s not fussed, I wouldn’t worry about it, lots won’t do it.

Does she want to do it? If not I wouldn’t push it. They do need something to go on a CV though- whether that be DofE, job, volunteering, part of sports team etc

It's no help per se for a CV, and probably not helpful if she is already doing lots.

However it was valuable for my DD who was not already doing lots. Not because of the badge, but because it pushed her to do new things out of her comfort zone, and the skills she learned from those were valuable.