Why you are still jobless

There are quite a number of writers on unemployment, but they mostly write from a narrow perspective. They assume they are writing for an audience of people seeking employment and not those who wish to start a business on their own or in partnership with others. They tell you that you are jobless because you do not know how to demonstrate what you know and can do, that your resume is disorganized and strewn with errors and you do not take networking seriously.

The result of drumming the wrong message without end is obscuring the option of using whatever skill young people have to enter the goods and services market.  There's another view.

Increasing competitiveness and technological advances have brought greater uncertainty in the way we work and the kind of work we do. That is something you can benefit from if you decide to change to an entrepreneurial mindset. It is a new way of thinking that one can benefit from the uncertainty.

The internet as a new medium of business has unbelievable potential to transform all aspects of life including prospects for those joining the workforce. So how will you get started? Here are a few things to take note of.

1.  Begin with a dream. We all have dreams and can have new dreams. The trouble is, when we encounter the slightest difficulty, there is a chance of a dream getting shelved and never revisited.
2. Seek out opportunities daily. Be alert and observant for changes in what is advertised in the papers, what people are talking about, trouble you may be having with appliances at home, etc. Read biographies of outstanding entrepreneurs, they are treasure houses.
3. Keep a record of your business ideas. Write a short description of the business idea (concept), find data that can help you establish whether the idea is feasible. This may include things like estimates of likely customers.
4. You need to examine who is already in the market with a similar service or product and how you can differentiate your offering from theirs.
5. Look out for particular skills or resources that you will need to thrive in the market. Establish ways of acquiring them. There are plenty of Teach Yourself resources online. 

The business opportunity should be something you love to do. That way you will go to work that is tough, but something you are committed to and find enjoyable.

There will be difficulties and rejection as you start out. Remember the way of beginning on your own is one of restlessness, persistence and perseverance. In the 1950s Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald’s approached relatives and friends for backing to start a new kind of hamburger restaurant. They discouraged him and told him to stick to selling milkshake blenders.

The 3M Corporation did not see potential in post-its (sticky notes) when Art Fry first brought the idea to management. He did not give up. Sticky notes are now a several hundred million business for 3M.

They did not give up. You too can succeed as an entrepreneur, initiator and developer and not just an employee.

*Listen to Thomas Friedman speak about changes in times of rapid technological advance

A generation without work!

A few days ago Pope Francis, enroute to the Catholic World Youth Day in Brazil, warned of a global crisis of unemployed young people.  He said we run the risk of losing an entire generation of young people to unemployment. The pope has probably had a look at the OECD 2013 youth employment projections where Spain and Greece are expected to reach about 28 percent (in both countries) in 2014.

(Courtesy of Freedigitialphotos.net)



The Economist also addressed this issue a couple months ago. It was reported that about 300 million 15-24 year olds around the world are without work. How did all this begin? What can we do about this crisis? Is it failure of individuals or system failure?

I think that a close look at the ways our schools and other institutions of learning operate and the ways employers (especially industry) seek out, recruit and retain workers may provide some clues. In this post, I will address the school system.

A fair portion of young people without work are those who may have left school early or had to leave prematurely. Others have in fact attended university or a college and still find themselves jobless.

A key problem may be the expectation that spending a few years at university or college equips one for the world of work. It turns out that a whole new mindset is now required to avoid the unemployment trap. Young people should be encouraged to reach an engagement level where they aim to do something with what they know other than simply passing knowledge tests and qualification certificates.

Tony Wagner, a Harvard professor has outlined the skills our schools and homes should seek to impart if young people are to innovate in an increasingly competitive world. They are: critical thinking and problem-solving, collaboration across networks, agility and adaptability, entrepreneurism, effective oral and written communication, how to access and analyze information and curiosity and imagination.

School experiences of young people should engage them in real work and prepare them to work, not to seek work. The management consultant Charles Handy has observed that the work of the future is portfolio work. A portfolio worker will not depend on an employer in the long term. They will only look for individuals who require their services and once they get a job done (probably short contract), they move on to the next task. We can already see the rise of freelance work with such sites as oDesk and Elance.

Finally it is time to reform our schools to reflect the new circumstances in which we live. We must prepare young people to perform in the real world and not simply remember facts here and there.

This, in my view, is one way to deal with the crisis of youth unemployment.