Skills for the Industry

There’s so much more to this than simply your ability to communicate. You also need to prove how well you listen to others, put your ideas across, build a rapport and negotiate with people. Even if you choose to work with horses you must be able to communicate with others and work well in a team.

In a survey conducted by The UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES), oral communication skills ranked as the second highest skill lacking in applicants. During an interview you’ll be asked lots of questions that require a verbal response – you’ll need to show that you can chat confidently and maintain eye contact too.

Our qualifications on your CV will showcase this particular skill. Our assessments are discussion based and will prove your ability to listen, question and discuss your answers with an assessor.

The addition of a qualification on your CV (from Stage 2 or above) will demonstrate your ability to build rapport, communicate to a group of people, and be able to adapt your communication style depending on the age, learning styles and ability of different riders.

This will demonstrate your ability to recover from setbacks. An employer will want to hire someone who can bounce back and can be flexible in their approach. Being able to take on board feedback and your attitude to improve is important to employers.

As you know, horses are unpredictable animals, so you’ll have many examples of when things didn’t quite go to plan during your training or assessment. An employer won’t necessarily be interested in what exactly went wrong but they will want to know how you dealt with it; your attitude, what you learnt from the event and how you improved for next time.

A number of skills can be grouped under this topic but generally these include punctuality, your ability to manage your workload and prioritise, work well under pressure and time management skills. These skills are essential to employers as they demonstrate that you can take responsibility for your own work, be trusted and left unsupervised to complete tasks.

As our qualifications are vocational there’s an element of time management with all tasks asked of you on the day. You’ll be able to demonstrate that you can work through a series of tasks from a briefing given by an assessor. Gaining a qualification, particularly a timed practical assessment where you’re observed by an assessor, will demonstrate your ability to work under pressure.

An employer will want to know that you’re passionate about the job you’re applying for, that you’ll work hard for their money, are self-motivated and proactive.

Any qualifications you can achieve outside of the usual academic route are a huge bonus to add to your CV. Gain BHS qualifications and you’ll show that you’re aware of current industry requirements, and that you’ve been proactive in sourcing and achieving these. Vocational qualifications highlight your motivation and determination.

All of the skills listed, plus many others such as commitment, reliability, teamwork and problem-solving skills can all be demonstrated through the BHS Equine Excellence Pathway qualifications.