Youth ministry is an important field that requires a unique set of skills and abilities. Youth ministers work with young people to help them grow spiritually, emotionally, and socially, and to guide them through the challenges of adolescence. To be successful in this role, it is important to have a combination of personal and professional skills, including communication, leadership, empathy, and adaptability.

Here are some of the key skills you need to be a successful youth minister:

Communication Skills

Communication skills are essential for youth ministers. You must be able to listen actively, express yourself clearly and effectively, and build strong relationships with young people. You must also be able to communicate effectively with parents, volunteers, and other staff members, and to navigate the complexities of ministry.

To develop your communication skills, it is important to practise active listening, speaking clearly and concisely, and building rapport with others. You can also take a youth ministry degree or attend workshops on communication, public speaking, and interpersonal skills.

Leadership Skills

Youth ministers are also leaders, responsible for developing and leading programmes, events, and activities that meet the spiritual, emotional, and social needs of young people. To be a successful leader, you must be able to inspire and motivate others, delegate tasks effectively, and make sound decisions in complex situations.

To develop your leadership skills, it is important to practise delegation, decision-making, and problem-solving. You can also take courses or attend workshops on leadership, team building, and organisational management.

Empathy and Compassion

Empathy and compassion are essential qualities for youth ministers. You must be able to understand and connect with young people on a deep level, and to show compassion and understanding when they are struggling. You must also be able to build trust and rapport with young people, and to create a safe and welcoming environment where they feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and feelings.

To develop your empathy and compassion, it is important to practise active listening, empathy, and understanding. You can also take courses or attend workshops on empathy, compassion, and counselling.

Flexibility and Adaptability

Youth ministry is a dynamic and ever-changing field, and youth ministers must be able to adapt to changing circumstances and needs. You must be able to think creatively and adapt your programmes and activities to meet the needs of young people, and to respond quickly and effectively to unexpected situations.

To develop your flexibility and adaptability, it is important to practise creativity, problem-solving, and flexibility. You can also take courses or attend workshops on creativity, innovation, and change management.

Organisational and Planning Skills

Youth ministers must also be skilled at organising and planning. You must be able to plan and coordinate events and activities, manage budgets, and work effectively with volunteers and other staff members. You must also be able to prioritise tasks and manage your time effectively, to ensure that your programmes and activities are successful and meet the needs of young people.

To develop your organisational and planning skills, it is important to practise time management, organisation, and budgeting. You can also take courses or attend workshops on project management, event planning, and financial management.

A Deep Understanding of Theology

Finally, youth ministers must have a deep understanding of theology and be able to articulate and defend their faith. You must be able to integrate theology into your ministry and to help young people develop a strong and meaningful relationship with God.

To develop your theological knowledge and understanding, it is important to read widely, study the Bible and Christian doctrine, and participate in theological discussions and debates. You can also take courses or attend workshops on theology, Christian apologetics, and evangelism.

It’s a pipedream for millions of lads around the world – honing your football skills and getting to play professionally for some of the most iconic teams like Manchester United and Real Madrid CF. But is the dream actually possible? According to one report, 180 of 1.5 million youth footballers in the UK are likely to make it all the way to the Premier League, but who’s to say you’re not one of those 180? Below, we’ve put together some tips to help you out… 

Be realistic

Perhaps the most important piece of advice we can give you is to be realistic. Although it can be fun to fantasize about being a professional football player and making millions a month, the truth is that it’s a truly competitive industry and there’s no guarantee that you’ll make it. It’s important to accept that the odds are stacked against you, but also have some hope and passion that it’s something you could work towards whilst also bettering yourself in other ways. Playing football makes you fitter, helps you make friends, and hones skills like teamwork, communication, and dedication, which are useful in other career avenues as well. 

Have a backup plan

Although you should keep your eye on the prize and stay focused on becoming a pro football player, it’s sensible to have a backup plan. For example, it would be unwise to drop out of school just because you’re offered opportunities to play on a local level – you should aim to complete your GCSEs and A-Levels so that, if your dream career doesn’t pan out, you have other options. For example, you could become a football journalist, a coach, or even a physiotherapist. There are lots of possibilities and opportunities; keep an open mind.

Give it your all

Having said all of that, if you’re confident that you’re a cut above the rest and you’re tired of waiting for good things to happen to you, make it happen on your own. Develop a fitness and training regime that mimics that of a pro footballer like Marcus Rashford and consider joining the Alicante football academy where you’ll get to learn how to play alongside some of the world’s most respected names. Academies are great for putting on your CV, can build your confidence and techniques, and even allow you to play on a semi-professional team.

Networking is vital

Finally, it’s important to stay committed to the game and network, network, network. Attend as many football trials as possible, take videos of your games to post on a YouTube channel, and make it your effort to be known locally and regionally. Say yes to every opportunity that comes your way and if you play your cards right, you might just get scouted for a regional team. Don’t go quiet – you need to be relentless, and good things should eventually happen. 

Whatever you decide to do, we wish you the best of luck in becoming a pro football player. 

Perhaps you might be familiar with using phrases like ‘do you speak English?’ to clear a language deadlock with someone whose native language is different from yours. With an estimated 1.5 billion total speakers around the world, the number of non-native English speakers surpasses its native speakers by almost a double. Its popularity index can be judged from the fact that the thought of using English to overcome a language barrier comes naturally to mind among the non-native English speakers. This is one of the top reasons why not only more and more people get enrolled in English learning courses, but also the demand for its professional teachers never shrinks as well.

TEFL and TESOL

If you are planning to become an English teacher, getting certifications like TEFL and TESOL can boost your career success. Confusing to most people, TEFL and TESOL are two of the most interchangeably used acronyms describing the two main categories of courses to become a certified English tutor. Although both TEFL and TESOL deal with teaching English to non-native English speakers, each caters its audience needs for a completely different practical setting.

TEFL

TEFL stands for ‘Teaching English as a Foreign Language’. TEFL courses are designed to help tutors with teaching English in countries where English itself is not the primary language but is taught in educational institutions as an academic subject just like any other subject such as mathematics and history.

Many non-native English countries around the world especially in Asia have English language Sbeing taught as a subject to their students. Starting from equipping their students with basic understanding of English like grammar, reading & writing to preparing them to get through immigration and admission processes in top universities in English speaking countries for higher education, demand for TEFL certified tutors in these countries is always high.

Getting a TEFL certification will greatly help you in relocating to any such country with a promising English teaching career. Even if moving abroad is not your plan because you yourself happen to be in a country with high demand for English teachers, you can still build a successful career by becoming TEFL certified and getting a much better job in some more reputable English teaching institute.

With a TEFL certification, you can get jobs like ESL, assistant teachers or experienced full-time teachers and administrative roles.

TESOL

TESOL stands for ‘Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages’. Getting a TESOL certification brings in two benefits. First, it can be used as an alternative to TEFL to build an English teaching career in non-native English speaking countries with high demand for English learning students. Second benefit which is also the primary objective of a TESOL certification is to unlock English teaching career potential in native English speaking countries.

It is no wonder that many people in underdeveloped countries see native English countries like the United States and England as land of opportunities both in terms of the quality of education and career success. This is the main reason why so many people with average level skills in English language travel to these destinations each year. This creates demand for English learners in native English speaking countries as well.

By having a TESOL certification, you can practice teaching English to students and professionals in native English speaking countries like these to help them overcome their shortcomings in English. TESOL certified instructors help their students to develop capabilities to practically use English for speaking, writing, reading and any other challenges in using English for day-to-day communication with native speakers.

Putting the finishing touch

As discussed in the beginning, the number of people interested in learning English as well as the number of people interested in becoming English teachers both remains in high demand. With more people getting into this profession, it is becoming highly competitive. Chances are that your prospective students will be skeptical of what special edge you can give to them.

To ease this out, wrapping your TEFL/TESOL certification with an accreditation from some reputable body like ACCRIN, ACCREDITAD or ACTDEC will act as a gem to your resume. Accreditation will assure your students that they can trust your level of competence in your field since you are being regulated by some external authority.

While you will find many accrediting bodies on the internet some of which will be nothing more than false claims, what makes us mention about ACCRIN, ACCREDITAD and ACTDEC here is that these three are completely independent, offer face-to-face, online and in-class courses, have a decade over industry experience, take timely feedbacks and also keep their affiliates up-to-date with the latest new developments in their subjects.

Conclusion

Whether you should go for TEFL or TESOL or both depends on what career choices you make and what options are available to you. Factors like the credibility of the organization offering you the course, its accreditation, whether the course is online or class-room oriented, what is the extent of the course and what benefits does it offer, what kind of student audience you will be more comfortable in dealing with and whether you are okay with moving abroad or not need to be thoroughly reviewed before making a decision.

As a student you will be tasked with writing numerous essays over the course of your degree. The first few that you write can be very daunting. There is so much to bear in mind. You must have the right academic tone and style, also grammar, spelling and punctuation must be spot on – after all, marks can be deducted for poor grammar.

Many students don’t realise this. How many marks? Well according to most universities up to 10 % of your essay mark can be influenced by poor grammar, spelling and punctuation. You don’t want to throw marks away needlessly. Of course, you will improve your academic writing over time, but you can accelerate the process by using the help of essay proofreading experts who will make sure your grammar and sentence structure are polished.

These are highly experienced academic editors who give you useful and helpful feedback on your essay. They highlight the errors you make so you can quickly improve your writing and start getting better marks sooner than learning by your own trial-and-error efforts.

Of course, you will have to pay for an essay or dissertation editing service. But it is worth the cost because of the years of experience and academic background of the editors.

Another way to improve your academic writing is by avoiding common mistakes such as using ‘researches’ as a plural of ‘research’. You should rather write ‘several research studies’ for example or ‘several pieces of research’. Another common mistake is to pad out your work to reach a word count. You add lots of filler words such as ‘in order to’ when ‘to’ will suffice or ‘to take in to account’ when ‘consider’ will do.

Or you can simply read your essay aloud and that will help you discern errors that you have made. This is simply because your brain processes the words differently when you read aloud compared to when you read and this helps unearth mistakes.