What's the Point of Being an Eagle Scout?

[WcwDrumma 10]

Right now I feel like religious person who questions his faith when something terrible happens.

 

I've been involved in scouting for the past 12 years, and I earned my Eagle Scout just last November. I have always been taught that being an Eagle Scout will bring me high recognition in life. I've been told that if a college had to choose between two people and both people had the same qualifications except one person had an eagle scout, then about 98% of the time, the eagle scout is going to be chosen.

I've followed this belief and always thought that I would be have better chances of being hired for a job if I had an Eagle Scout.

 

But now I find that I am questioning this belief and the importance of my Eagle Scout, since I cannot be hired for a job, and I have applied to multiple places where they have hired other people after I have applied to their places of work.

 

I have many qualifications to be hired, so why can't I find a job? I've had a 3.5 gpa throughout high school. I've earned both my Eagle Scout and the John Philip Sousa Band Award, and I've told the employees on my applications that I can work almost all hours of the day.

 

Can someone please help me and tell me what's wrong?

[Fat Old Guy 11]

Without know you it is nearly impossible to say what the problem is. I will make some general comments and pose some questions based on my observations of teens applying for jobs.

 

Did you show up on time for your interview? Was your hair combed? Was your face clean? Were your clothes neat, shoelaces tied and shirt tucked in?

 

Employers, especially those whose businesses involve dealing with the general public tend to be conservative in many of their attitudes so they tend to shy away from tatoos, facial piercings, and bizarre hairstyles.

 

Did you speak clearly and distinctly or did you mumble? Did you answer questions in standard English or did you pepper your answers with slang and phrases like "he was like . . ." or "you know"?

 

Finding a job is a sales effort. You are trying to convince the employer to buy your time from you.

[scoutmom 10]

Please don't take offense at what I am about to say, i truly mean none...

 

I may not be the best person to explain the "point of being and Eagle" but what I can tell you is that the point of being an Eagle is NOT to help you obtain employment, get into a better college, or anything else like that. Those are good things that happen to Eagle Scouts - simply because they obtained the Rank of Eagle? Maybe, maybe not. If you became an Eagel Scout just so you could get a better job, I think you missed the point entirely.

[mich632 10]

Don't lose faith. There are many reasons to become an Eagle. You should be proud of your accomplishments. Just don't expect the "eagle" on your application to be a magic pill.

 

I hire people all the time. Last year I had 40 people apply for one job.

 

I could not interview 40 people. So first, I needed to reduce the list. Things like "Eagle Scout" will help keep the application in the pile BUT it does not guarentee a job, let alone an interview.

 

Getting an interview, let alone a job is hard work, some salesmanship and some luck. Don't give up.

[fella 10]

I agree that personal appearance is important when meeting the public, particularly. I don't object to uniforms, either for scouting or in some jobs.

[EagleInKY 14]

Scoutmom - You hit the nail right on the head. There are many positives about being an Eagle Scout. Helping you land a job is one potential benefit. But it is certainly not a guarantee. Personally, I know that my first two jobs after college were partially swayed due to my being an Eagle Scout. My third job (and current one) was also benefited by a scouting relationship, in that one of the parents of a scout recommended me.

 

FOG - Your point is also valid. There are many factors besides being an Eagle Scout. Without knowing this young man, we can't possibly determine the issue. Case in point - Last year a scouter asked if I would interview his son (even though I had no openings at the time). He was graduating from a prestigious mid-western university with a degree in my field (computer science). He asked if I would just take a look at him and give him some feedback. The young man is an Eagle Scout, so I happily agreed. This fellow came in with long, greasy-looking hair, mumbled when he spoke, couldn't look me in the eye, had a wimpy handshake and dressed like a throwback to the sixties. Eagle Scout or not, there was no way I could recommend him for a position at my company. I gave him some feedback, and some to his dad. I haven't heard if he has found anything.

 

Bottom line - be proud of being an Eagle, it is a great accomplishment. But don't assume that it entitles you to a free pass. There are many ways it has and will benefit you in life. Not all of them will translate to employment or dollars. In fact, most of the benefits you have gained are so subtle, that you don't recognize where they came from until many years after the fact.

[SR540Beaver 116]

I mean no offense either. I'm guessing you are 18 at the very oldest since you obtained Eagle last November. That means you are either in high school or just out of high school. You are at a place in life where the jobs you are seeking are entry level positions and/or short term. At that age, I worked in a grocery store sacking groceries and as a cashier. Jobs like that eat thru employees like a weedeater thru grass. They have 20 kids a day coming in looking for a job and you can literally be replaced today if you mess up. I'd dare to say that what they are looking for is a warm body to fill a position with little regard to your personal accomplishments. Getting a job like that are more about how you present yourself and are kept by working hard and showing up on time more than anything else. If your Eagle helps you in the job market, it will be later in life after you have completed college and looking to begin a career with a company with a long term vision that has more interest in the quality of the person they are hiring over the quantity of people they need to simply operate. Having an Eagle will count more when you are applying at NASA than it will at Wal-Mart. Keep at it, the job market today is tough on all levels.

[scoutingagain 20]

WcdD..,

 

Congradulations on being an Eagle. As a fellow Eagle I can tell you from experience that being an Eagle gets you a nice patch and a medal. All the other things, college acceptance, job prospects, interviews etc. come from the qualities that you have that enabled you to earn your Eagle rank, not the rank itself.

 

Some of those qualities include persistance and determination. All I can tell you is to keep trying. You will get a job and an opportunity. Learn from every rejection. If possible, go back to a prospective employer and ask why you were not considered. Ask them to be honest so you can learn and improve.

 

Also, another observation I have had with some younger folks looking for employment is many seem to feel they don't need to start at the bottom. They seem to think they should be given a chance at a mid or upper level job even if they lack experience. Lower level jobs were for other people not them.

 

Well, you didn't start out on the trail to Eagle at Star did you? Take a job, any job, to get started. You get work experience, learn to work with others, demonstrate a history of job responsibility and when ready move on to a better job.

 

It is difficult providing suggestions to someone we know so little about. You may want to discuss the issue with an adult that you know welll and trust.

 

Good luck, and keep at it. Something will turn up.

 

SA

[OneHour 11]

Getting a job is the ability to show that you can sell yourself. About 60% of job interview is about confident but not bragadocious, being knowledgeable but not pretentious, being inspired but not forceful, being friendly but not obnoxious, willing to learn, and being able to show that you have what they are looking for! The other 40% is your actual qualification. Most jobs are ojt (on the job training). Your qualifications will be viewed as the foundation that they can build on. Job interview as everything else requires practice. In my years of interviewing people, I am only impressed when I meet a candidate who is well prepared for the interview. As an example, I recently turned away 2 PhD candidates and several Masters degrees on the last position that we had opened. The candidate who was chosen did not even have a degree and he works out great! His practical experience outweighs any theoretical knowledge that the others brought.

 

Being an Eagle Scout is an added bonus just as winning the American Legion Award, being valedictorian or salutatorian, winning the band award or orchestra, being a winner of the state swim meet or all conference athlete, etc. It depends on what the job you are applying for as well. If I were to look for a manager or a project lead, knowing what I know about Eagle Scouts, I would prefer the candidate who has the qualification and who is an Eagle Scout, because I know that I can give a project to the candidate and it will get done.

 

It is a cliche' to say that look at the vast experience that you have attained and cherish it, but it is so true. There are a lot of scouters whom I know wish that they had gone through to completion of the Eagle Scout (present company included) ... not for the pay, not for the possibility of richness (in experience ... yes), not for the fact that one day it will make us famous, but for the satisfaction that yes I have done it and it was worth it.

 

If you got your Eagle just to get a job or a free pass, then I would have to agree that you have wasted your time. But if you got your Eagle because you want to learn to be a leader and feel proud that you have accomplished something that a very few could do, then that Eagle award has found the right place in front of your heart!

 

Also keep in mind the current state of the job market. This is a seller's market and not a buyer's market! For every position that is opened, there are at least several hundred applicants. There is one tip that I can share with you and that is use the traditional job searching technique ... "hit the pavement and sell your skills!" Forget about online job sites and apply by emails. A couple of years ago, I did the "online" thing and did the knocking on doors. I applied hundreds of places via online (and I'm paying for it right now in terms of viruses and spams) and netted 0 interview. On the other hand, I, personally, dropped off my resume and applications to 20 local firms and placing calls to the hiring managers to personally introduce myself. I got 8 face-to-face interviews with 2 job offers and 18 rejections. As you can see, it doesn't take one shot nor 10 shots ... it takes getting back up and go after it.

 

Good luck and be proud of what you have attained!

 

1Hour

[LovetoCamp 9]

Its the seamanship yer learin, not the badges that yer earnin, that will comfort ye an save ye, when ol Neptune starts achurnin!

 

[mk9750 11]

WcwDrumma,

 

Welcome to our group! I hope you find the answers you seek.

 

I have an observation based on the presentation you made. It could be off base, but here it is:

 

If you view the rank of Eagle as something you GOT more than something you ARE, I think that is very enlightening. If you pursued Eagle Scout as a prize, one to be used to show off to friends, relatives, and potential employers, that's all you really have. Once in a while, you'll find an employer who will see Eagle Scout on your application and be impressed enough to consider you further, or maybe even hire you.

 

If rather, your have BECOME and Eagle Scout; if you ARE Trustworthy, and Loyal, and Helpful, and every other thing that an Eagle Scout IS, then you may not even need to point out you have earned the award. It will be obvious by the things you have done, by the impressions you have made on previous employers or other references. It will show through as you interview. And, if your effort with a specific employer turns out to be unsucessful, then as an Eagle Scout it will be easy to accept that the world is tough and in order to be sucessful, one just has to keep on trying.

 

Sucess in most any endevour is far more attitude than it is anything else. If you ARE an Eagle Scout, rather than someone who HAS the Eagle award, you'll most often find yourself in better situations and enjoy better outcomes than those who are not.

 

My sincere wishes of good luck as you pursue your dreams.

 

Mark

[EagleInKY 14]

Bravo Mark. Excellent post. I'm saving this one in my archives. I feel an SM Minute coming.

[Fuzzy Bear 12]

Wc,

I deal with young people and work every day. There is another twist to this story but I won't bother you with that now. I want to share some insights.

 

You are going to get turned down not once or twice but many times. To prevent the blues from getting so black that it looks light midnight, build a campfire. How do you do that? Remember your friends, family, neighbors, merit badge counselors, Scoutmaster(s), etc. You have 12 years of people to remember. Make a support network (campfire). This network can give you the type of warmth and fellowship that is necessary at this time.

 

How do you make Support network work? It means that you go to those people that will listen to you and will give you help. Don't turn anything or anyone down. Take every lead and follow it. Figure leads from the leads. When speaking to people about a job that no longer exists, ask them if they know of anything else and follow that lead.

 

For the people that will listen to you, talk to them and share your woes. You will also find some laughs. Tell your story. Keep a notebook with every lead and then Thank every person. Keep addresses and send Thank you notes.

 

Think of it as being a castaway at sea. You are floating on a small raft and to stay alive means to find, figure, and make every resource count and you are grateful for every little fish. God is there and He is listening. His voice is small and can only be heard by very careful listening. He is telling you the answer to not one problem but many and for a longer period of time than just the next day or year, so listen.

 

Part 2 (it should be Part 1): You are presently looking for anything. Don't look for anything. You are telling people that you don't have an interest. People can smell that one from a distance.

 

Who are you? What do you like to do? Profile yourself. Do you like inside work or outside work? Do you like stand up or sit down work? Do you like to be busy or do you like to think about your work. Are you good with information or do you like to work with things? Maybe youre a people person.

 

How can you find this stuff out? Try writing your history from year one and go forward. As you put together a picture of yourself, you will find some interesting things about You (the inside you). Getting the Eagle award counts because it lead you down a path of many interests, some good, some bad. You know what they were, so note them. The Eagle badge means many things but most of all it means something to you. Make it count not so much on your Resume but what it taught you to do in bad situations. (*This is one of them! You didn't quit then, so what's the difference? You are an Eagle!)

 

This profile will be a lead all by itself. It will point you in the direction of jobs that may not even be open. It will point you in the direction of friendship. Work is generally more about friendship than it is about the work or the money. Although, work is what you have in common with your new possible friends and money is important but money is secondary because you have to spend so much time with your co-workers.

 

I could write a book but I won't. There are a bunch of other things that are important to know about this job hunting quest but this is not the place or the time. By the way, it is OK to question your faith, your God and your Eagle badge. Even if you do, they are still part of you. You can't get away from who you are.

 

One last item because I don't want you to think this is magic and you can't fail. You can fail. We all have failed. But, there is an answer. Give yourself time and work at this just like you would a job (i.e., at least 40 hours per week) or how you worked on your Eagle badge. That is part of the answer. So, yes the Eagle badge has importance to all of us who have earned it and it continues to pay off.

 

FB

 

[NeilLup 13]

When my wife joined the advertising business, she was taught this little poem which could also can be very useful for job seekers.

 

Tell me fast and tell me true

Or else, my friend, away with you

Don't lecture on how it came to be

But say what the darned thing does for me

 

 

When someone interviews you for a job, there is only one thing in the person's mind -- what can you do for them. How can they make a lot more money than you cost as a result of you're being on their team? (Or the non profit equivalent; provide a lot more service, etc.) Being an Eagle Scout is certainly relevant but only if they perceive it as enhancing your value.

 

And YOU need to convince them of that value. You can't assume that they know what being an Eagle Scout means and what it means to YOU which is, after all, the only thing that is relevant.

 

It takes some hard work and research to figure out what you can do for a company. But if you first apply for a job with that idea in mind in your letter or resume or whatever, then keep it in mind if you are granted an interview, you will really stand out.

 

You might practice what I have heard called an "elevator speech". The idea is that you get into an elevator with the person you have been trying to meet for a month. He or she is on their way up to their office on the 40th floor. They ask you "Ok, what is it that you want?" You have until the elevator opens on the 40th floor (about 30 seconds) to answer and convince them that they should continue the conversation.

 

Don't automatically assume that the words "Eagle Scout" are understood by everybody or that, in some parts of the country, they necessarily are viewed positively by everybody. But, if you have internalized the Scout Oath and Scout Law and have developed life skills on the Eagle trail and can show that, regardless of the person's feeling about Scouting, you will be desired.

 

A final thought. I have read that this is the worst summer for summer jobs in almost 2 decades. And an anecdote. In our council, we have a superb young man who just graduated from Harvard cum laude with a batchelors degree and master's degree in 4 years. He also did sufficient Scouting stuff during his time at Harvard that he was awarded the District Award of Merit and the Silver Beaver. He is an Eagle Scout with 4 palms. And he can't find a job! Most recently, he told me he was a candidate for a math teaching job (he is a great teacher). The job went to a Harvard classmate. It turns out that they really wanted a crew coach and being a math teacher was the excuse to pay their crew coach. In another one, he was the second choice. Their first choice was admitted to be less qualified. However, the first choice's wife was a teacher in a very important field of great scarcity. The wife made it clear that she couldn't take the job unless there was a job for her husband too.

 

I have never heard this young man question the value of being an Eagle Scout.

 

Job hunting is one of the most demanding, most frustrating, most painful things you will ever do. If you show the same dedication and gumption you showed in earning the Eagle Scout award, you will make out great.

[Laurie 10]

Job hunting is one of the most demanding, most frustrating, most painful things you will ever do. If you show the same dedication and gumption you showed in earning the Eagle Scout award, you will make out great.

 

Well said. My husband has been unemployed for almost 3 years now (outside the home anyway). He has 2 degrees, has had numerous of