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’m not sure how it requires money or time? I never spent a penny getting my gold DoE, and by that age I went to stuff myself anyway so my parents schedule was irrelevant (they both worked shifts and full time)

Former Russell Group admissions tutor here. For university applications only a Gold Award is even noted by admissions tutors in my School, and I think this is fairly typical.

A well run DoE programme can instil confidence and useful skills in its participants. If this programme is sound and your DD would enjoy it I would encourage her. Otherwise I would let it go.

It is useful because it pushes young people to organise themselves, be self-sufficient and to work as teams, plus the benefits of the activities/ skills learned. Plus working to a long term goal. It's content that can be talked about in interviews at an age where life experience is limited and fairly uniform. A lot of young people don't do much out of school.

Bronze can be fudged along, but by Gold, the people that acheive it are the ones who want to do it and were willing to work at it for 18m across all the areas.

I got to Silver and gave up I wished I 'd gone for Gold sadly. Too late now !

i remember being told at school that my not doing DoE past bronze and not going to Girl Guides would look bad on my CV. i was really anxious cos there were no places available in the local Guide groups. turns out that was utter crap. employers don't care what hobbies you had aged 12.
do it for fun ;)

I think it can be useful at gold level on a CV/uni application etc, but will depend on the job/course applied for. Most of all, though, it's a fun thing for kids to do, to focus their energy and activities. My DD is just finishing gold, and it's done wonders for her confidence, as well as encouraging her to stick at activities.

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 don't agree. My DD has a weekend job, and had no problem fitting in DofE as well. Apart from gold, most of it can be done before they're old enough to get a job anyway. And it needn't be expensive - it can be very pricey if done through school or an outside agency, but is cheap if done through something like scouts. This also has the advantage of being easy to arrange volunteering with younger sections, and leaders will also help come up with low-cost ideas for the other categories.

All DofE stages have a fee through Scouts etc and this is considerably lower than doing it through the school.

Equipment and food, apart from tents and stove, is needed so that needs to be purchased too.

I'm impressed that it was all provided and was free before though!

And they need the time to spend on the award doing their physical, skill and volunteering which is usually 3 months for 2 and 6 months for the remaining one

It's a great scheme and employers/colleges etc will value it however I'd suggest if they're not that bothered to not push it. It does require hard work and commitment, exactly characteristicsc employers are looking for but that needs to come from the child not the parent.
BTW schools are well aware of exam/study commitment and avoid clashes.

I think it would be a great thing to be able to talk about in interviews for a first job. Shows commitment, organisational skills, discipline etc.

Also it may make a CV stand out when they have limited work experience

You mention OP that your DC is not academic so maybe would be going straight into the workplace and not higher education. This will give good examples that they wouldn’t get from just school.

Saying that they could get similar experience from other hobbies but less of the leadership type opportunities that DoE brings (as far as I am led to believe)

Bronze is piss easy and ten a penny from schools. If she were to go all the way and do gold through an organisation like scouting, then that would be worth something yes, but that's a minimum two/three? year solid commitment. If bronze is all she's likely to do then I wouldn't bother unless she's particularly keen for the experience anyway - it certainly won't distinguish her from the tens of thousands of others in her cohort.

I think Gold looks good on a CV when applying to university.
Post-university I think they are more interested in what work experience you have gained. I feel like no one ever took any notice of my interests and hobbies on a CV and were only interested in the actual skills I had relating to the job.
Getting gold DofE does show perseverance and ability to work in a team, and perhaps some very useful skills, such as the sign language mentioned above. But I don't think it's some magic pass to a great uni or a great job.
If your daughter wants to do it and would enjoy it, then encourage her but it shouldn't be done just with a view to looking good on a CV because it might turn out to make no difference whatsoever. No point putting herself through several years of effort doing things she's not interested in just to get a certificate in the hope of getting a better job.

I think it's a bit of an overstatement to say how it looks on a cv. If she isn't doing much else, it would give her examples to talk about re teamwork etc.
My 3rd DD is doing it, bronze at the moment. Apart from the hike, everything else is covered by her activities so it's more a question of documenting it. Eg, she is a young leader for Rainbows. She volunteers at a Musical Theatre group etc etc. I'm not convinced she sees the benefit, or will do, silver or gold.

DS is currently starting his bronze. Not sure if it's how our school have delivered it, but they have been told it's 'their' responsibility to think of what they will do for each section, when they will upload their evidence, who will sign it off.

Credit where it's due, DS has stepped up and is really enjoying it, and I hope in time he continues with it.

Not sure if it will add anything to his CV but it's certainly bringing out his organisational skills and maturity.

Assume it’s bronze which won’t get out on a CV, but if you investigate it more with your DD, see if she likes the idea of volunteering and learning new skills. If it will push her slightly outside her comfort zone, it might be a good thing. Then she might have the opportunities to go silver or hold and actively want to do that.

In my job role, I see lots of entry level (young peoples) CV’s.
at 16/18, there really isn’t any difference between Little Johns CV and Little Dave’s.
I tend to go with the cover letter (hoping that they’ve put why they want to start in that career- do that job) but if they haven’t, I will tend to go with one that shows DofE as it shows a level of commitment
I know it’s normally just parents pushing them to do it but when at interview, we ask them how they work in a team they have something to say - sometimes they do DofE with people who are not in their friendship group so they can talk about the issues they faced with meeting new people (think the volunteering element and the walk) - this shows me their resilience.

from a personal perspective- I made my DS do it - he hated every moment of it but when he went for his degree apprenticeship- he was able to use examples from this and it helped him get the job! He even said “thanks for making me do it!” I nearly fell over in shock 😂

You need to be 14 to do Bronze for Duke of Edinburgh.

The thing I loved most is that my two, after having done all the levels, now have a love of walking and exploring the countryside and can navigate. They will have that for life and it’s such a good thing. Of course you don’t need to do DoE for that.

It might not help later on but it can definitely be useful on a CV until you've built up work experience. I've often see it used by teens as an example they can work as part of a team and can show commitment etc.

I had one DD do Bronze and the other got to silver, neither bothered with gold, they quite enjoyed it but obviously not enough to continue. I don't think it does much for your CV these days tbh.

I think it was worth it for my ds as he was going to army cadets and did it through them. It gave him things to talk about at the first part time job interviews lol.

I think it’s a great scheme and would encourage her if she wants to do it, but wouldn’t push it if she doesn’t or does other things.

I did bronze, silver and gold. It's effing pointless. Let her me a kid. If she wants to do it then great otherwise do some other extra curriculars instead.