Results day can be a day of mixed emotions. While some will have received the grades they wanted, others may be feeling disappointed. Whatever your results, your journey through Girlguiding has already equipped you with a wealth of skills that can shape your future. At our recent Own Your Path events inspiring speakers shared their Girlguiding and professional journeys. Our speakers represented a range of different sectors and professional backgrounds. While some had been working for decades, others had only just begun to pursue their chosen career. Their advice and stories encouraged everyone who attended to consider their own path for the future. Here’s their top tips:

Use Girlguiding to stand out

A recurring theme from our speakers was how volunteering through Girlguiding can help you stand out. Despite their different careers, all our speakers shared how they’d used their experiences in guiding to demonstrate key skills to employers. Skills like organisation when planning unit meetings, communication when talking to parents and leadership skills from being a commissioner. These skills don’t just help in the workplace, they’re also incredibly valuable in further education. Whether you’re applying for college, university or other training opportunities, your application will be strengthened by your experiences from Girlguiding. Well-rounded applicants who can show initiative and commitment beyond academics are often sought after, and guiding gives you plenty of examples to draw from.

Here are our speakers from our live talking about how volunteering can set you apart when applying for jobs:

Craft the perfect CV

It can be daunting trying to work out how to translate your Girlguiding experience into a standout CV. Whether you’ve been a young leader, peer educator or are working on your Queen’s Guide award, these experiences are packed with transferable skills that employers and further education courses value. To support you, we’ve pulled together a range of practical resources to help you reflect on your guiding journey and present it confidently in applications. You can explore them here: Girlguiding and employability – Girlguiding Scotland.

Emma spoke about this on our live, sharing her advice on what to focus on when writing a CV:

Embrace uncertainty in your career journey

Our speakers were keen to stress the importance of keeping a flexible approach when it comes to planning your career. Many had used their Girlguiding experiences to shift or change careers. Kathryn from our live event shared the following advice based on her own experience moving into a new career:

Whether you’re celebrating your results or figuring out the next steps of your path, Girlguiding has already given you a head start. The skills, experiences and connections you’ve built are powerful tools for shaping your future.

About Own Your Path

Our  3 Own Your Path events were designed to showcase just how far the skills you develop through guiding can take you.

2 events were held in-person in Aberdeen and Glasgow, bringing together 49 girls aged 13 to 18. At these workshops, participants got hands-on with activities, like creating vision boards, to help them map out personal goals and visualise their future paths.

Our third event was run as a live video discussion, streamed across Instagram and Facebook to allow more people to join in the conversation.

We had 11 fantastic speakers across the 3 events who shared how they’ve used their experience within Girlguiding to build confidence, develop leadership skills and identify their passions.

Own Your Path was developed as part of the Transformational Leadership Project. Find out more about the project here and get in touch by emailing hello@girlguiding-scot.org.uk if you’d like further information on this project.