Explorers Employability Challenge Award Badge

The Employability Challenge Award is all about personal growth and professional development. Utilise your Explorer and local professional networks to seek coaching and get you on track for success.

Whether it's gaining more confidence in public speaking, getting ready for your driving theory test, securing a part time job, organising a career fair, or getting more confident cooking at home, use this Challenge Award to help you get there.

How to earn your badge:

1. Choose an appropriate challenge. It should fit the theme of this Challenge Award and should be achieved within 6 months of starting.

2. Use these six ‘Experience Principles’ to plan how you will complete your challenge. You should do something within each principle.

   Create - Bring something into existence
   Mobilise - Bring others together
   Reflect - Know and care for yourself
   Solve - Fix a problem
   Discover - Learn something new
   Experience - Try something out

3. Record your progress and achievements in whatever way you want to.

4. Share your evidence with your Leaders or fellow Explorers to demonstrate how you engaged with the Challenge Award theme through the six “Experience Principles”.

   Tips

   • Safety fundamentals for Explorers to consider
   • • When taking part in any activity, remember to let someone know-
     • • Where you’re going.
       • Who you’re with.
       • What time you plan to start and finished.
       • A plan for communicating your progress.
       • Ask for help if you're visiting new places or trying new activities.
     • When volunteering with unfamiliar teams, make sure you have a key contact person to liaise with and understand what to do if you feel unsafe or uncertain.
     • When mobilising in social action locally, consider everyone's safety and delegate tasks accordingly, especially in unfamiliar areas or locations.
     • Have a clear plan and risk assessment for your activities.
   • Safety essentials for volunteers or responsible adults to manage activities safely
   • • All activities for this badge must be safely managed and have local approval.
     • All activities must have a thoroughrisk assessmentand make sure it is shared.
     • Use thesafety checklistandactivity guidanceto help you plan and risk assess the activity.
   • Example challenges
   • • Learn to drive or prep for your driving theory test
     • Improve your cooking skills and create a digital cookbook of your favourite recipes
     • Develop your application skills by learning different techniques such as the STAR method, creating a CV, taking part in a mock interview and any other application preparation activities you can think of
     • Learn to code (or improve your coding skills) and create a website for your local Scout group or a hobby you want to share
     • Write a short novella and find out more about different publishing processes
     • Volunteer at a local charity and reflect on the skills that you develop over time
     • Get a part time job and reflect on what skills you develop whilst working there
     • Gain confidence in public speaking – take part in some debates within your Explorer unit, learn tips and tricks for improving your public speaking skills, then use your improved skills at an event
     • Consider a skill you and your peers want to gain but have struggled to get access to. Design and put on a workshop or themed day supporting you to learn it.