She sums up her blog post by saying “The world of 2012 will force you as a job seeker or employer to be more creative, more sales and marketing-focused, more curious about the world, and more of a business person than ever before.”
How very true.
By acknowledging that the government is no longer in a position to help (there’s no money left in the pot) and that the world of work has changed out of all recognition, she quite rightly points out that job seekers must make the effort to sell themselves into a job. Effective communication has never been so easy and connecting with like-minded people and organisations can be instant. She goes on to say: “Many of those who are unemployed will end up working for themselves. We used to call this freelancing, but it’s become rather fashionable, and many find that the flexibility and freedom outweigh the unpredictability of personal income.”
Her three steps to creating more employment are:
1. Be patriotic
2. Leverage the digital native skills of the UK’s young people
3. Seek out your natural allies
Of course, it was Number 2 that really struck a chord. StudentGems has been doing that since 2007!
We’ve noticed a shift though. We now have more graduates registered with us than ever before. Many are following the freelancing path and it’s great that we can help them build their portfolios of freelance projects. It’s also great to get comments like this on twitter from @Slozbabble: "@studentgems Just want to say, you're responsible for most of the money I've made in the past few months! Thank you so much :)”
So whether you’re an employer, a graduate, a student or just someone concerned about the level of youth unemployment, please read Julie’s blog. Following her three steps is also highly recommended!
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