Childhood Studies, Youth and Community Careers
Your degree in childhood studies / childhood, youth and society provides a foundation for entry into careers related to your subject as well as access to occupations open to graduates of any discipline (about 50% of ‘graduate vacancies’ - see Any Degree – Any Career?)
PowerPoint slides from presentation to students from Childhood Studies in October 2007 (pdf)
Skills and Knowledge
Undergraduates from childhood studies / childhood, youth and society courses learn and develop many skills during their course. The ability to articulate these skills to employers or colleagues is in itself hugely important in securing future opportunities. Some examples of skills are listed below. Your personal skill set may include some or all of these as well as others. Tools and tips for personal reflection are available from the PDP pages and the Decision Making page.
Subject specific skills may include
- Awareness of the cultural context of the discipline, including appreciation of interdisciplinary and multi-agency working as well as the complex nature of society and social issues
- Understanding the roles of an early years / youth / community practitioner and appreciation of professional protocols – especially through observations and practical experience gained through placements
- Appreciating and understanding the theoretical basis of the subject
General skills may include:
- Personal management – self motivation, time management, problem solving skills, self reflection, ability to study independently, set goals, manage workload and deadlines.
- Communication – to various groups including, children, young people and colleagues.
- Team working, interpersonal and social skills – ability to negotiate and pursue goals in a team, respond to leadership and take the lead where appropriate
- Financial and business skills and awareness
- Confidence – in expressing ideas and engaging with others.
- Information – research, analysis, reasoning, logic, critical thinking. Ability to use and assess a variety of sources.
Don’t know what you want to do?
It’s common! We’ve put together some suggestions addressing exactly this on Don’t Know What You Want to Do? A key aspect is looking at decision making. Other useful pages are PDP for self reflection and Work Experience for actually getting out and finding out about a job or sector. The Which Career? page also has linked resources.
The important thing is that deciding what to do needs working on – inspiration is unlikely just to hit. If it feels overwhelming try the approach that deciding what to do is often about matching your qualities, skills, experience, likes and ambitions with a realistic view of the opportunities that are out there and deciding on the practical steps to get started in that area
Work Experience
Whether your ambitions involve working in a role directly related to your subject or in a more general ‘graduate job’, or even if you haven’t decided yet, work experience is of key importance. It can
- Provide evidence to future employers of your motivation and commitment to a career (giving you credibility when targeting an area)
- Confirm your interest in a sector or job
- Lead you to reassess your career ideas – finding out a job or sector is not what you thought it would be or not something you enjoy is easier when you’ve committed for a few days or week rather than when you’ve signed a longer term contract.
For more information about finding and making the most of work experience see the Work Experience and Creative Job Hunting (for finding contacts) pages. The subject specific information below may also be useful for finding contacts.
Related Roles and Sectors
Listed below are some of the roles that are related to your subject. The list is not exhaustive and professional occupations are looked at in the following section. In addition remember that your degree also is a starting point for those graduate vacancies open to graduates from any subject - see Which Career and How do I get a Job?
Click on the job titles for a profile courtesy of Prospects.ac.uk:
- Learning Mentor
- Charity Fundraiser
- Charity Officer – particularly for child / youth related charities
- Community Development Worker
- Teaching Assistant
- Social Work Assistant
LG Careers provides information on opportunities that are specific to local government - the Caring for Your Community section has job descriptions: www.lgcareers.com Occupations covered include Portage Worker, Outreach Development Worker and Family Support Worker. The homepage for career descriptions is: www.lgcareers.com
Not all job roles can be listed in a directory - some are just not that specific and others may be relevant to particular employers or organisations. Understanding the sector you are aiming to work in is consequently useful:
The Creative Job Hunting page provides tips and resources for innovative job searching.
Professional Roles
Almost all of the professional roles included below will require further study or training. For some roles it may be possible to do this ‘on the job’. Have a look at the Postgraduate and Further Study page for general tips about applying, funding and other considerations. Also bear in mind that admissions tutors / employers will look for relevant experience.
Click on the job titles below for a profile from Prospects.ac.uk. Information about professional associations is included where relevant and they usually have a careers page. In particular look out for information about professional accreditation and the courses that carry this as well as any shorter training routes for graduates:
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British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, includes an education / training section: www.bacp.co.uk |
Librarian (children’s books) Children’s and Youth Librarian job outline from Cilip (Chartered Institute of
Library and Information
Professionals): |
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NHS careers: www.nhscareers.nhs.uk |
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British Association of Occupational Therapists: www.cot.org.uk |
Play Therapist - no job profile, see: British Association of Play Therapists: www.bapt.info PTUK - The United Kingdom Society for Play and Creative Arts Therapies: www.playtherapy.org.uk Association for Family Therapy: www.aft.org.uk University of Roehampton's MA in Play Therapy: www.roehampton.ac.uk/postgraduate-courses/play-therapy/ |
Pre-School Teacher Teaching - have a look at our Applying for Teacher Training page |
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Careers page from The Youth Justice Board for England and Wales: www.yjb.gov.uk/en-gb/yjs/GetInvolved/Careers/ The National Probation Service - careers information is available from the ‘join us’ link on the homepage: www.probation.homeoffice.gov.uk |
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Government site about social work: www.socialworkandcare.co.uk British Association of Social Workers: www.basw.co.uk |
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Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists – for postgraduate conversion courses apply directly to the universities running the courses. The undergraduate list of courses can be useful to identify departments that may also run the Masters level qualification: www.rcslt.org |
Youth Worker (students who have not taken the professional youth work diploma would need to complete further training) National Youth Work Agency – has a training and qualifications section: www.nya.org.uk |
Useful Links
www.childrennow.co.uk a magazine for those working with children and families. Good useful links section
www.cwdcouncil.co.uk/index.asp Children's Workforce Development Council (CWDC) – coordinates and promotes Early Years Professional Status (EYPS)
www.connexions-direct.com/_library/publications/WIYoungChildren-05.pdf Connexions Working with Young Children guide (from 2005) covers lost of options
Resources to find charities are available on the Creative Job Hunting page. Some national ones that may be of interest are:
- Save The Children: www.savethechildren.org.uk
- Barnados: www.barnardos.org.uk
- Mencap: www.mencap.org.uk
- NSPCC: www.nspcc.org.uk
- The Children’s Society: www.childrenssociety.org.uk
Further Study
If you are thinking about further study there are several key areas to research. These include assessing the value of further study for your future plans, finding and applying to the most appropriate courses and funding your study. General information is available from the Postgraduate and Further Study page.
For many professional areas related to childhood studies and childhood, youth and society, further study will be necessary. For some postgraduate courses leading to a professional qualification there can be a central admissions service for that area. See the professional roles section on this page for links to start your research. (For most other postgraduates courses applications are made directly to the institution/s).
Other Options / General Careers Information
Have a look at our sections: Which Career?, How do I get a Job?, Work Experience, Postgrad and Further Study, Work and Study Abroad / Time Out and Special Interest Groups for resources aimed at all students regardless of course. Subjects covered include CVs, applications, interviews, decision making, career planning through your course, work experience, postgrad and further study, gap year / time out, diversity, international students and ethical careers.
Generally we encourage you to start thinking about what you want to do after university as early as possible in the course (don't worry - we know it doesn't always work like that!). For some tips on this see the Career Planning Through Your Course page.