It’s easy to change jobs if you know how
The cover of my first book I got the idea for my first book - which was published in 2016 - during the global financial crisis in the early 2010s. I wrote it to give hope to people looking for work, or rather “their” job, at a difficult time, sharing my own personal experience and the things I learned from supporting hundreds of people in almost 15 years as a Career Coach.
People who have read it - or will read it - will find the inspiration - yes, inspiration! - and a lot of practical information.
The text develops around four points:
- On Being
- On Looking
- On Emigrating
- On Pursuing.
On Being: work is not everything, but for most people it’s very important. I’m not suggesting a person is defined by their jobs, but when a person approaches the labour market it’s always best to start from who they are. That means starting from a CV, which is a fundamental tool for approaching the market. I then go on to examine what people need to tell the market about themselves and what exactly they need to do.
On Looking: looking does not mean responding to a job ad. There’s a world out there that few people know and some people don’t understand.
On Emigrating: it’s always an interesting option which can apply to anyone.
On Pursuing: pursuing is everything, in terms of research as well as creation. There comes a time in life when people no longer have to chase others for a job and can instead create one for themselves and for others.
How did the idea for my book come about?
During a workshop examining the subject “From management to entrepreneurship”, one of the speakers I had invited was a person I worked with during his evolution from an employee to running his own business. At the age of fifty he was made redundant by a multinational he had been with almost all his life. What did this person - Carlo – say to the audience of people who were looking for inspiration?
A year ago, I was sitting where you are now and I heard a story from someone very much like me … And I said to myself: if he can make it so can I! This simple moment was the driver of change.
– Carlo
I identified a series of people from amongst my clients, acquaintances, friends, ex-colleagues and university contacts and I looked at them from the perspective of work, change, failure and evolution. I then discussed my project with them and gathered some information using a questionnaire in order to start from a common ground. I picked up on some things from the questionnaire and selected some stories which I then examined in more detail during interviews which I included in the book which I then also adapted to highlight specific points.
The importance of learning to look for a job
The labour market is changing in a structural manner. Growing unemployment among a variety of groups of people is increasingly widespread and is not simply linked to an event (the “crisis”) that will eventually finish, but is rather the expression of a modus vivendi, a way of life that is taking hold of most of the population (from the “baby boomers” onwards) throughout the Western world, featuring periods of employment, unemployment, full-time work and part-time work. New models are emerging that involve working from home or “other” types of working environments or forms of work like co-working, multiple projects, professional work, personal projects and the likes. The problem with work in Italy is - amongst other things – the “passive” approach, the waiting for answers to applications and requests to institutions and society, as opposed to people taking personal initiative and engaging towards solving problems themselves. Moreover, people don’t seem to be aware that nowadays there are no more “jobs for life”, and they will need to continue working on their “employability”.
The average person will have a degree of initiative and imagination which they can also focus on in their search for a job, in terms of the creation of new opportunities for themselves and for others.
As an Italian citizen I felt I should/could give a contribution to the situation in Italy, by demonstrating that even a normal person (and not just a person with all the right contacts) can, and therefore must find, change and create a job by exploiting their own initiative and imagination.
I set out to experiment and demonstrate that in a difficult situation, at a time of inertia, dissatisfaction, or when people have no job or have just lost their job, they have to empower themselves, take responsibility and look for and/or create a solution.
The acknowledgement that your “employability” is foremostly your own responsibility is something that is relevant for the present and future. The new norm in the labour market is the continual evolution of one’s professional activity and not a “job for life”.
The role of GoodGoing!
Learning to change jobs is therefore a skill people need to acquire and pass on/ teach.
Moreover, coaching (Career Coaching) by a professional who supports/guides/ stimulates a person in their search for new satisfying professional opportunities can be a tool for facilitating the process of awareness and empowerment. This is precisely the role of GoodGoing! and the professionals in our network.
By the way, you can find the book in bookshops, Amazon or similar websites and on the publisher’s website: https://bookabook.it/libri/e-f...
