Skills and behaviours (Young HPC)
Having the right skillset and attitude will get you far in life and the workplace. Discover the top skills and behaviours employers at HPC look for. And how you can demonstrate them – even if you haven’t yet taken your first step onto the career ladder.
Top skills
Top behaviours
Create a Start profile
Start is a free online careers platform for young people like you. Get ideas for what to study. Explore different careers, including those at HPC. And record your achievements to show employers that you’re serious about developing your skills.
Why are English and Maths so important?
Basic English and Maths skills are required for pretty much every job that exists! And employers use English and Maths GCSE grades as a marker of ability and willingness to learn. So don’t underestimate how important these two subjects are. With employers taking them seriously, you should too.
It might seem obvious, but you need English in order to communicate properly with people – from when you’re applying for a job online, or writing an email, talking to somebody or asking for something. Whether it’s written or spoken, you need to understand others and make yourself understood.
Complete the ‘Who uses English?’ activity on Start to explore the different jobs that use the skills you learn in English lessons. Employers will be able to see that you’ve completed the activity on Start too.
You also need to be able to work things out and problem solve. For instance, working out percentages or costs, or volumes and weights… it all comes down to Maths! A chef will need to multiply up the ingredients in a recipe in order to make a larger batch of a dish. In the commercial team, you need Maths skills to work out budgets and percentages… you’ll even need to know basic maths skills to work out if you’ve got enough cash to buy your mate a drink! So maths isn’t just about knowing your times tables, it's an essential life skill you’ll use every day without even realising it.
Complete the ‘Using maths every day’ activity on Start to discover how Maths lessons are relevant to everyday life. It’ll be added to your profile, which you can share with employers.
What can you do if you haven’t got the right GCSE grades? First, don’t panic! There are lots of organisations here in Somerset that can help you get the qualifications you need. So be proactive and take a positive step to get the qualifications you need to get ahead. If you’re over 16 and you’ve already left school, you won’t normally have to pay to take GCSE English or Maths either.
What’s more important: qualifications OR skills and behaviours?
Does being an academic high flyer or having the right attitude matter more in the workplace? And what’s the difference between qualifications, skills and behaviours anyway?
I want others to enjoy the career opportunities that I have been blessed with. Apprentice to Exec Director should be achievable and a goal for all those ready to work hard - go for it and believe!
Take the Skills health check
This 5-10 minute assessment from the National Careers Service takes you through a set of quizzes and activities to determine what types of jobs might be right for you.
What’s important to you in life?
Do you know what your personal values are? Complete this activity on Start to get a clearer idea of what’s important to you. Knowing what you value will help you understand what you want for from your career.
Have you heard of the HPC values?
Everyone working on site is expected to respect and follow the HPC project values:
The skills you learn and the people you meet will stay with you for a lifetime, giving you the professional competence you need for wherever you may end up.
Become a member
Are you aged between 16 and 21? If so, please click on the link below to register for Young HPC.
If you have any questions, please contact younghpc@edf-energy.com
Contact us
The best way to contact us about Hinkley Point C is by completing our online enquiry form. You can also call us on 0333 009 7070 (24 hour free phone number).
For EDF's 24/7 media enquiry line call 01452 652233.