NEET Comment

Here is a few of my thoughts about the Benetton Unemployee of The Year video I posted in my previous post.

 link

Benetton is being rather criticized for it. Out of the main reasons I managed to find online was:

1. Because the company is famous of being controversial in their advertising campaigns and this is JUST supposed to draw attention to their brand.
2. That even if they genuinely wanted to make their campaign socially relevant, they are NOT SOLVING the problem.
3. Or actually that unemployed person cannot afford a Benetton cardigan.

You could agree with all of those, but what I think is that this advertisement or any other advertisements like this just exploit the fact that there is a problem.

 We are living in the times our parents had never encountered. Being painfully unemployed just after leaving school. The number of unemployed people reaching 25% in some European countries, this is like one in 5 people. If you have 4 friends you see regularly, this is one of your bunch. And this is just the ones registered. I am not registered. Nobody actually counts me in.

This Benetton campaign makes a mainstream comment on the unforgettable moment when your dreams smash on the concrete after you realize all these years in education, all these years of being diligent, all these years of investing in yourself are just not going to pay off. The problem is that we are not talking about people who had highest marks but not real skills and no idea about reality. We are talking about thousands of people who are reality-aware, who have actual skills, who were actively shaping their steel character to rock the job market. Just like those guys in this advert.

 The only consolation is that it MUST pay off one day. That this makes us stronger and more flexible. That when jobs come we will be the first to get them because we will be the ones with extra skills gained as receptionists, drivers and cashiers.

 The bitter question is who will want a biotechnologist who hasn’t been in a lab for 3 years and who did not have access to the news from the field? Or a newly qualified lawyer with no knowledge of what has happened to legislation in the last 3 years?

 May the NEET force be with us!

Not in Education Employment Training

Just something I came across today. Give me your thoughts!

Doggy business and dodgy business.

Where shall I start? Maybe the dodgy one first. Well, it’s not really dodgy but I will call it that as it looks good next to doggy.

When I was still doing my PhD on top of and in spite of my research I completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Public Relations. There were two reasons why I decided to do it;  partly to gain more skills as a backup for my PhD – by principle to make sure I am capable of doing something that isn’t research. And partly to have a twist in my CV to make it easier to get out of the lab and do something FUN with my science degree.

A few years down the line – it was a brilliant decision. My PR degree got me into far more interviews than my PhD in the past 6 months.

But there is a BUT. Having graduated a couple of years ago and doing full time research means I did not have experience. So these interviews went very well but jobs were given to people who had more experience (du’uh). And as it was a vicious circle of not being able to gain more experience without having experience, I gave myself a chance to gain more experience and opened a PR agency.

The business was also aimed at keeping me busy and optimistic against all the difficulties with finding jobs.

So here I am, totally new to Bristol and the UK and running a business that is based mostly on contacts.

I am gaining experience, but it is far slower than it would have been if someone was wishing to introduce me to it. I am making contacts. I am getting media interested in my clients. As with everything, this has been an up-and-down experience. Some topics are being picked up by the media without much effort, and some need to be forced upon the media with a lot of effort.

Bottom line is that I am self-employed unemployed. How does it look on my CV? That is the question. My business is what I have been doing since my PhD. It proves I have been trying to make use of my time, it means I have been gaining experience in PR, it means I have initiative and  that I am not afraid of taking charge of the situation. It means I understand how to run a business, not just a lab. I had to learn how to make a website, how to run a Facebook fanpage, I learned how to use Twitter and Pinterest. I even had to understand far more than I ever wanted about  Search Engline Optimisation.  I would like to put it on my CV. BUT… But then why would I be applying for a job if my business was going well? Won’t a potential employer think I must be failing if I am still interested in jobs? Or that I must be indecisive if I apply for jobs a few months after deciding to start a business. One of my friends recommended naming it freelancing. One of those PR words that do the brilliant jobs while being gibberish really…

What about doggy business? As I am unemployed and home a lot I signed up as a host to take care of dogs while their owners go on holiday. The doggy arrives for a few days with all the necessary equipment, food, leads, grooming kits and toys and I give it walks, open food tins and play with it. Genius! Loads of fun and early mornings! Everything an unemployed person needs!