So it's been a while since we last blogged (actually, it's longer than we thought!). We've been working on some stuff... and we've worked it out. WorkTouch has direction and we're out to make IF happen for everyone.
To kick off our re-entry into communication and contact, one of our Founders has blogged on something that inspires us. We call it 'The Middle Problem' and it drives us forward every day...
Creating Opportunity: The Middle Problem
This morning I listened to a piece on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme speaking to a young lady who, despite registering with multiple recruitment agencies and applying for 500+ jobs in 8 months, remains unemployed. While the headline discussion focussed on the need for jobs and skills, there’s an equally pertinent issue that sits alongside, but gains far less (if any) focus – an important problem I’ve been working to try and solve.
Without wishing to sound disparaging, to apply for 500 jobs in such a short time suggests a lack of clarity, of focus, of interest, understanding and of actually taking the time to demonstrate you really want the position you’re applying for and knowing which companies you really want to work for.
A quick chat with a recruiter would tell you that for all the accusations of non-response and falsely advertised jobs, they can quickly sift through the applications that are ‘going through the motions’. If you don’t have the interest to put together a carefully crafted application for a position you really want, why should you assume that anyone would take the time to respond?
The advice?
Go for jobs you want, that you’re qualified to do and capable of, at companies you’d love to work for and do all you can to get them. Visit the company, engage them on social media, make them know you before thy see your application. Be selective and confident, not desperate.
Think about your ambitions – where does the job you’re applying for fit into the context of where you want to get to in 1, 5 or even 10 years. And how does it fit into the context of what will make you happy now. Being miserable or passive at work is equally as attractive as having no work at all. You can do something you love, you just need to take control and make it happen.
Remember you need to start somewhere. If you’re considering your ambitions, you’ll know the path you need to create. Starting somewhere and working up is a great thing, just start in the right place.
There is an apathy when it comes to job seeking that stops people leaving their houses. Yes, you can engage your dream employers on social media (and it’s this apathy that stops you from doing so), but you can also contact them directly. Call, visit, ask for a tour, show an interest – get on their radar. Somehow we’ve ended up in a post-millennium malaise that had led us to an assumed right to our dream job. That’s not the case. If you want it – you need to go out and get it, don’t wait for something to fall in your lap.
Expecting opportunity to come to you is so wrong it hurts. By completing a degree, qualification, course or internship, you’re not automatically entitling yourself to employment!
From what I heard, the Radio 4 case study embodied all of these issues and was typical of many of the young unemployed. The misdirection and apathy is an affliction that we inherit through our education and many take through their entire careers, getting stuck in ruts, moving away from their ambitions by virtue of not keeping in touch with themselves.
With WorkTouch, my Co-Founders Rich, Dan and I are addressing this issue. LinkedIn has >277m users and has become the key global online professional network. That leaves a huge space untapped – especially as it doesn’t address the issues I’ve highlighted here.
The majority of the workforce aren’t necessarily professionals and therefore don’t have the need for networks and connections in the same way professionals do. They have aspirations and careers to manage, but no need for a glorified address book. They need tools that empower them to take control and go out there and make their futures happen.
When LinkedIn first launched in 2003, it was the professionals who were more likely to be connected, but in 2014 connectivity is near universal and from childhood to retirement, workers of all sectors use social networks and smartphones. These people have a career management need beyond a professional network and a vacancy listing – a need which is also shared by the ‘professional’ section of the workforce.
So why is no one tapping into this?
Influencers tend to be professionals and what we’re discussing here is not an obvious problem until it’s raised. How many people do we all know who drift into work every day, never considering where they are in relation to their ambitions, how happy/ content/ rewarded they are, how good their employer is, whether they’re paid what they’re worth… and so on?
If the information was in front of us, we’d all engage with it… and enjoy doing it. If someone asks you how your day was – you’ll always respond.
In fact, at WorkTouch we’re trying to do exactly that - gamifying and socialising career management to empower everyone to take control of their own future. I suppose to give it a definition, we’re creating Four Square for the LinkedIn space and beyond.
In doing this, we’ll create an exciting new chapter in productive social media that in turn will be a powerful personal and corporate analytics tool, as well as driving amazing organisational cultures and employee engagement. But first, someone needs to realise that this is a problem that needs fixing. Preferably someone with the power to vocalise the issue and/ or invest in the solution!
The lady on the Today programme was proof of the problem and it’s a problem that can’t be solved by providing skills and creating jobs alone. These aims are opposite ends of a chain, where our ideas sit in the middle and connect them. In fact, by increasing empowerment and creating informed individuals who are entrepreneurial about their job searches, we can as a society increase skills uptake and get the right people into the right places – into opportunities that people like the Million Jobs Campaign are working hard to create.
I’ve sat in meetings explaining what WorkTouch is doing and been faced with comments like:
I see what you’re doing, but I just can’t understand why people need a CV to get a job
You have something, I just don’t quite understand what
And that’s the issue.
What we’re looking at here is the ‘middle problem’ in the employment space. It’s massive and felt by many – but equally society is too sanitised and apathetic to realise we need to solve it. Imagine if everyone loved their job, or at least were nudged to do something about it if they didn’t…
If it’s not recognised as a problem, it’s going to be hard to have the solution accepted as a valuable one, but there is something we can all do, individually and collectively.
I know I’m about to deliver a shameless plug, but that’s because this is something I believe passionately in. I want to see everyone not only have the opportunity to achieve what they want or ought to, but understand how and where to do it, be empowered, inspired and (if necessary) pushed to go out and get it, while enjoying themselves.
So here goes:
Recognise this is something we all need. Recognise that mapping your career, reviewing your aspirations, rating your workplace, recognising great work and being recognised ourselves are all valuable and that our time spent with social media could be a fun and productive way to make this happen.
Just go to WorkTouch.com, enter your email address to join our list and then get everyone you know to do the same.
We’ll do the rest.
@AndySwann
