<p>My D earned a Gold Award, but would not dream of putting it on her resume or LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a professional network site, do not put anything on there you wouldn’t put on your resume. Unless you were employed by the Girl Scouts, it doesn’t belong in either place.</p>
<p>The point was that just being one of those doesn’t guarantee being otherwise successful. They may be exceptions but prove HS accomplishments don’t always translate to later abilities to figure out what to do in life. I was surprised. Likewise I don’t consider having a college degree equals success. </p>
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<p>Have you asked if there’s a reason why? What was the response? I can’t think of a reason why but I suppose there could be a good reason. </p>
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<p>Because they found it still provides another positive academic tip alongside their elite undergrad and terminal grad/professional degrees during the course of their 3+ decade long career. </p>
<p>Moreover, it was not limited to just the NYC/NE area either. </p>
<p>Thanks for your answers! Sounds like I should put it on since I currently lead a troop. So far I’ve left it out of linkedin and put it on resumes for positions that require some sort of leadership experience or working with children.
It’s interesting, presented with the choice, I feel like I would be even more hesitant to list Boy Scouts because it seems more controversial and probably attracts a less heterogeneous pool of kids, and one never knows who they are talking to/being interviewed by. So you would say hardly anyone would have negative feelings towards Girl Scouts?</p>
<p>I think you are correct in saying that I have never heard of women returning their Gold award to the national organization because they disagree with their stance, whereas I have read about several Eagle Scouts ( into the hundreds +) doing just that.</p>
<p>People who are saying to leave it off are clearly not in HR or hiring people. I am with those who say to leave it on until your resume needs to be pruned because of later accomplishments. A few employers/hiring managers may think it is odd, but those who actually understand what is involved will see it as someone who stuck through something.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for boys, the Eagle award has been significantly watered-down over the years. Too many boys ‘achieve’ Eagle at age 12 or 13 when it was designed to be something that would take until age 16+ to attain. I have personally witnessed a great many ‘paper’ Eagles whose parents dragged them through the process so they would have it on a college app or other bragging rights. </p>
<p>For those who truly earn the designation, it is awesome. If I were counselling a young person, I would not only include the award, but put a blurb about your project in your cover letter. Again, once your more direct experience takes up that space, you may need to drop it. </p>
<p>As for Linked In? I cannot see many excluding someone for one of these awards, but you may find that others who earned it or are really familiar will give you a little more notice because of the award. Don’t listen to those who say to leave it off. They simply do not really know what they are saying.</p>
<p>I think leading a troop is worth noting on your resume in many instances.
Re;Eagle
Most Eagles actually don’t attain the award until they are 17 or 18.
A popular project in Washington is to climb Mt Rainier, although only half of those who attempt all climbs reach the summit.
Most 12 yr olds aren’t going to have the strength or stamina needed for the attempt.
<a href=“At the Peak of Success”>http://scoutingmagazine.org/issues/0605/a-peak.html</a></p>
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Absolutely. I’d leave it on as long as you are an adult volunteer with the organization.</p>
<p>Note of clarification: Climbing Mt. Ranier is something Boy Scouts do, but it isn’t an Eagle Project.</p>
<p>I think this may also be a situation in which you should use discretion in crafting your resume. You may want to list Gold or Eagle on some resumes, and not on others. I think you will find that these achievements are more valued in smaller towns, and in some parts of the country more than others. But like a lot of other things, if involvement in Scouting is important to you, maybe you don’t want to work somewhere where that would be considered a negative.</p>
<p>Thanks for the correction.
I read this & assumed it was part of a project.</p>
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But it sounds like the group actually achieved their Eagle * first* and then climbed Rainier to celebrate.</p>
<p>That sounds right. The Eagle project is supposed to be a leadership project in which the Scout leads others in something that helps the community–often it will be a building or landscaping project for a local charity, church, etc. Usually it turns out to be a lot more work than anybody imagined at first. I think the Gold Award has a similar requirement, although I don’t know much about it.</p>
<p>Put it on your resume for now, until you have a bit more experience. It shows a history of stick-to-it-iveness. Staying dedicated to completing what is basically a multi-year management project is a huge undertaking, one which usually reflects very positively on the achiever’s abilities and potential, despite what some on this thread say. </p>
<p>I was reading the lists of projects local girls completed for their Gold award and was heartened by so many environmental, education and animal welfare projects.
My youngest was in jr Girl scouts, but had no interest in going on, although they had a great troop.
My sister in law, still leads a troop, now alongside her adult daughter.
( although I still am amused by the memory of when they all got acrylic nails for an activity. It was so different from the kinds of things my daughters troop did)
I have a hard time not being judgey.
:"> </p>
<p>Gold Project is just as @Hunt and @shellz said. It usually turns out to be a multi-year project and always more than the scout anticipated.</p>
<p>In addition to coming up with a project that helps the community, then getting it approved (sometimes the difficult part), the GS must invest a minimum of 80 hours of her time and manage a team of volunteers (the volunteers’ hours do not count towards the 80 hrs). The project must be something physical that is lasting in the community, i.e. building or refurbishing something.</p>
<p>@emeraldkity4…my DD quit GS for the reason you noted. She wanted to do the things her brothers were doing in scouts, like hiking through the Sierras, rock climbing, surfing and building projects of every size and magnitude. Alas, her troop was more into 4 star camping (with room service 
) and shopping trips to outlet malls. She quit in 6th grade, and was happy to be a tag along with brothers’ troop. </p>
<p>Sorry, I DO hire people, and I firmly believe a resume is NOT a place to put your volunteer activities or high school activities once you are graduating from college (which I think the OP is). It is great on a college application, but not for work resumes. One would hope you have some other experiences by the time you get out of college to use instead (internships, research positions, work experience). I don’t give a rat’s patoot about someone’s volunteer work UNLESS it is relevant to the work I am hiring them to do. Did you build a database for a local non-profit, and I am hiring you for an IT job? Then it might make sense. But I don’t see this as relevant, unless maybe you are applying for a job as a teacher. By the way, I was a GS troop leader for 12 years, so have an idea of what is involved. </p>
<p>When I review resumes, of course I am most interested in the person’s work experience, and also educational experience (particularly for a younger person). But if we’re hiring a person to work in our office, a fuller picture of the applicant can be helpful. Would I like to have this person around? Information about volunteer activities would be a positive in my book. I can’t see it being worse than neutral, unless it is something controversial, or polarizing.</p>
Sorry, @intparent, but you must not know much about the Gold Award (even as a former troop leader). Every career advisor and Girl Scout leader/council member I’ve had have told me to include both Gold and Silver awards on every application that I apply for. It shows that you are willing to commit to scouting (something that not many girls do) and that you are able to commit to a long-term service project that has a lasting impact. Look up the requirements for achieving the Gold Award if you don’t believe me. It’s actually harder to achieve than the Eagle Scout project. It is universally seen as a prestigious award, and it could mean the difference between someone looking at your application or not, regardless of whether the project is relevant to the thing you’re applying for. Why? Because it sets you apart from the rest of the pack. To even suggest to not include it is ridiculous, and it shows how little some people know about the award.
@Hunt It is. In fact, it’s actually more work than the Eagle Scout project. There are a ton of prerequisites that you have to complete and you have to write a proposal, get it approved, and commit to a minimum of 80 hours on this project. Not to mention, it must be long-lasting, otherwise, your proposal will go right in the trash. There’s a reason why only 5.4% of eligible Girl Scouts get this award. Considering how few Girl Scouts stick around until the very end, that 5.4% speaks volumes.
When I was a stay at home mom looking for employment again I put all my volunteer activities on my resume - stuff like PTA (I would have include girl scout leader). My latest resume (have been back in the working world for a several years now) includes my volunteer work where I served as President of a volunteer group.
The rule of thumb is once you have graduated college you should drop anything that happened in High School (unless it is very significant like winning the nobel peace prize).
linkedin is different - stuff on that doesn’t go away - so your HS stuff will stay on it (and that is fine)