#6 Tips for young people, students and startuppers (but not only) to be more competitive in the job market

#1 look far away. Have one vision, one mission and gods goals

“It is in front of you an incredible opportunity, and an obligation: to do something that can help someone noble purpose. Any noble purpose, you can achieve through it your work: whether it is the climate challenge or equal opportunities. I hope so that you students manage to maintain your idealism not only because students, but above all as CEO. Push, go further, take further the borders. You can do business taking into account your values, and so change the world. The whole world plays a role in the way you do business”.

Also in the words of Tim Cook, in his recent speech at the Bocconi (http://ischool.startupitalia.eu/39110/eventi/tim-cook-bocconi-5-punti-chiave-discorso/), there is the idea of having a vision, a dream and values to be successful. In other terms, have a direction that guides all your choices and that can and must be, without fear, ambitious enough to want to push the limits of knowledge, of known techniques or arts.

But, once the horizon has been defined (the vision), which answers the question “what do we want to become”, “where we want to get there" or "what is the challenge we have ahead of us", which has more characteristics of the idea, of the dream, of the inspiration made of sensations and of values, it is appropriate to identify a “mission”, that is, outline a concrete purpose of one's actions, making an effort to clarify what the organisation's methods, decisions and actions may be to reach that horizon. While the vision is positioned in the future, the mission is focused on the present, and must be expressed in clear, possible, identifiable objectives, measurable, achievable and controllable.

In other words, the mission represents the guide to achieve the vision, clearly describing what to do and which tools to use to achieve the "objectives" through individual projects. At some point of life, making an effort to be clear about this process can be of great value help to look far ahead and not settle.

#2 have tenacity. Pursue a goal with confidence, dedication and perseverance

The mission has been identified and the objectives defined, often a lot ambitious and apparently very distant, trust, dedication and perseverance are needed to carry out individual projects. A trust that is not pure faith, as in a destiny that will happen independently of our will and effort; but one conscious hope that, with dedication and work, the project can be accomplished.  A will that doesn't gives up and that with passion, even after defeats, you find the strength to move forward: identifying errors, improving processes, persevering in work without shortcuts, but trusting in the necessary time it takes to achieve the long-awaited result. Studying and doing activities necessary for the project with the utmost attention, without superficiality, not neglecting no detail, and relying on the abilities of individuals and on strength of the team. Tenacity is a bit like this a mixture of trust, will, dedication and perseverance. Without it, even for the most gifted, it is difficult bring beyond the borders.

#3 build relationships. The importance of having contacts and references

Maybe this tip is the most obvious one, but having relationships numerous (in a statistical sense) and large (i.e. varied in terms of types of contacts) is an essential objective of every mission, as the realization of the projects requires the involvement of other skills, people, institutions or companies which are often easier to access by knowing them in person or through a reference letter or phone call.

Today this action of networking it is easier for each of us thanks to the use of social networks, but we must knowing how to use them and, in any case, may not be enough. Knowing how to use them in the sense of having, for example, an effective profile on Linkedin that concisely describes the own training, skills and professional activities, but who also knows convey your vision and personal characteristics of tenacity. Or use Facebook to broaden the visibility of your project to a public - including consumers if consistent with its objectives - broader, trying to avoid resulting in narcissism or didacticism but building a profile of oneself that is most useful to one's objectives, always remembering that, Nowadays, many companies, but also individual employers, draw from social networks valuable information on your way of being and on habits, extrapolating information from individual images, texts or comments.  

But social networks are not enough, that is the strong network physical, that of people met with a handshake but, even more, the one built on the benches of high school, university, politics, of work... In short, don't neglect this activity by living in the best possible way study and work spaces and not closing yourself in your office, studio or garage in the rigid belief that persistence alone may be enough.

From this perspective, #coworking spaces offer a precious and innovative opportunity to strengthen your network of relationships physical ones, sometimes materializing the virtual ones activated on social media.

#4 learn English. Know the language of knowledge and the global market

Whether we like the Anglo-Saxon language or not, we are good at it foreign languages or not, now if each of us wants to have more job opportunities but also knowledge, must know English. From a few years, thanks to the Internet, we potentially have access to one unlimited amount of information but most of it, especially in terms of advancement of knowledge, is available in English which now represents the international language of scientific research and innovation.

It may seem like an obvious suggestion, but unfortunately many young people Italians have a rather poor knowledge of English compared to that from other European countries and overseas.

Angela Morelli writes on the pages of CheFuturo (http://www.chefuturo.it/2012/04/tre-cose-che-ho-imparato-al-summit-mondiale-dei-giovani-leader/), telling his experience to Summit of the Young Global Leaders 2012, That: “without English, at that Summit, I would not have been who I am, because I would not have had no tool to interact. I know, it's something we repeat with so much boredom that it no longer seems to have the right importance. And yet no must have” and quoting Alex Pentland, director of the Human Dynamics Lab at MIT, continues writing: “what makes a winning team: it is the energy that, in As human beings, we are able to exchange in face-to-face communication. This part of interaction is fundamental and language is a powerful tool for communicate what we want, in the right tone, with the right strength, precision, effectiveness".  How to learn good in English? Apart from studying it well at school, taking in-depth courses and travel and experiences abroad, watching films and TV series in the language foreign language can represent an additional expedient for adequate learning.

#5 clarify. The control of what is communicated

Of course you need to have excellent knowledge and control also their native language to express themselves effectively. Communicate it's a gift, of course, and some have a capacity for synthesis and storytelling greater than others; but I I'm referring to the control of what you want to communicate, not the fascination with how we communicate (that's another thing). It is not certain that each of us has it same attitude in communicating, but it is above all important to have the awareness that our interlocutor understood what we wanted say or write. 

Why is clarity important? Because, beyond the general vocation of man as a social animal that pushes him to communicate and to live in more or less numerous and complex communities, each of us will find ourselves in life and work having to transfer the own knowledge or activities in interviews, presentations, meetings, projects, reports, articles, reports – even posts, if you want – and in each of these opportunities will be evaluated. And failing to communicate that well that we wanted (and not even being aware of it) can represent the main element of bad evaluation.

How to improve our clarity? Experimenting with it. Communicating with others. Reading every day. Writing, even on a blog, if we can. By participating in "real" socialization activities (not only that on social networks) in groups, associations, teams. Asking for feedback on the our communication to a friend, a teacher, a relative if you prefer. Rereading what we have written several times. Also listening to how people communicate more gifted (for example the #TED speakers (https://www.ted.com)), or struggling to prepare a 3-5 minute presentation or pitch. But, above all, not avoiding opportunities to improve control of what is communicated.

#6 connect the dots. Being curious and lively beyond study and work

We remember Steve Jobs' speech at Stanford University predominantly its strong expression “stay hungry stay foolish”; but I would like to add that the other suggestion, “connecting the dots”, it is perhaps less exciting but even more useful for building the toolbox of young person approaching the maturity of life and the world of work. Yet if the action of “connecting” sometimes happens wonderfully on its own, it is It is very important to first build the "points". That is it is appropriate to be curious about things other than those offered to us during the hours of study or work, be lively in observing, learning, seize opportunities, always keeping up with the times and transformations that take place. I am referring to the fact of cultivating different interests; for example, dedicating time beyond studying to activities carried out with passion even in the fields of art, literature, photography or music for those who study technical-scientific subjects; and open up to computer science, physics and engineering for those studying subjects humanities. But also to cultivate a hobby or a sport with dedication – activities that also represent an excellent training ground for developing tenacity.  Still hanging out, even just for a few hours, the lessons of courses outside the curriculum, follow a philosophy seminar, go to the cinema, visit an exhibition, read one innovation magazine such as #CheFuturo or #Wired, or listen to a speech by #TED; in short, they are just examples to increase the points of possible connections. Because, a bit like in Italo Calvino's Castle (The castle of destinies crossed, Einaudi, 1973), le stories are built by juxtaposition of images, by sequences of events, for chance encounters, also as the complex result of a network of points that connect.

And, also, to facilitate connections between points, it can It may also be useful to follow the ancient Latin suggestion - taken up and theorized in followed by Bertrand Russell (Praise of idleness, Longanesi, 2005) – on the importance of useless knowledge compared to practical knowledge, causing ideas to settle and recharge your energies with periods of "otium" as opposed to "negotium".  Perhaps the most effective image to describe this spiritual condition is that of Isaac Newton sitting at the window contemplative state that, observing the apple fall from a tree, unites in a few moments a magnificent network of points that will become the law of gravitation universal.

Brilliant scholars, lucky startuppers or young leaders of the future, I'm sure you will be we have become by looking far ahead, with tenacity, using strong relationships, speaking the global language with clarity, and having connected many dots built into one path of education, curiosity, study and effective training. Well done and in good luck!

(from "CheFuturo", Lunario dell'Innovazione)

Aversa, January 2016                                                                              

Armando Di Nardo

Assistant professor in Hydroinformatics

Co-founder HUB spa (www.hubspa.it)

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