Childhood studies : Your skills

Although childhood studies is not a vocational course, it is an excellent foundation for a range of careers working with children and young people. Whilst many childhood studies students will look for a career related to their degree it is by no means necessary to do so. There are opportunities to enter a wide range of careers that are not related to your degree subject.

Choosing a career involves more than just finding out what is open to you. It is also important to understand your own values, interests, abilities and skills in order to relate career options to yourself.

All employers will be interested in your personal skills and abilities as well as in the specific subject and technical skills developed through your degree subject. A childhood studies course helps you to develop a wide range of transferable skills valued by employers. These skills include:

• written communication developed through writing essays;
• oral communication skills gained through reasoned debates during seminars and presentations;
• ability to work as part of a team, through collaborative group work;
• research and analytical skills with the ability to judge and evaluate information;
• organisational and time management skills by prioritising tasks to ensure academic, social and work commitments are completed on time;
• negotiation, informally with peers and formally with staff;
• problem solving;
• IT skills.

Consider the skills developed on your course as well as through your other activities, such as paid work, volunteering, family responsibilities, sport, membership of societies, leadership roles, etc. Think about how these can be used as evidence of your skills and personal attributes. Then you can start to market and sell who you really are, identify what you may be lacking and consider how to improve your profile. Take a look at job application advice for some useful tips.