When Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin invaded Ukraine he was certainly not trying to reinforce values opposite to his, but this is precisely what war-mongerers tend to do. Whenever war commences, we witness both the collapse of the society of the country invaded, but also the eerie continuation of our own lives.
The juxtaposition between a warzone and our seemingly robust lives in the West is very unfair. It is not uncommon to experience guilt at the chasm between what’s on the news and the comparatively quiet nature of our own lives.
Of course, we must always be careful that awareness of that disparity doesn’t shade into a sort of accidental smugness, even a sense of superiority over those less fortunate. George Orwell deliberately set 1984 in England as a warning that Stalinism too could happen here. But if the spectacle of war doesn’t give us some form of knowledge about the fortunate nature of our own lives then we will probably lack the courage to defend them.
But in the midst of a job search it is all too easy to be overwhelmed by the stress of the process. It can help to remind oneself that it is a privilege to make your way in a peaceable economy. As Jonathan Cathey observer in our Letter from Bucharest in this issue, the tragedy of war is that it disrupts the economic activity which had defined a country beforehand: one of the casualties of an invaded people, he writes, is “all the things they were doing and all the progress they were making before they were invaded.”
Geopolitical conflict also makes us think about the real purpose behind so many industries – especially those which crop up in discussions over sanctions and strategy. The green industry, as important as it undoubtedly is, has been exploited by Putin. Our inability to frack or create nuclear power stations makes those industries look far more urgent today than they did at the start of the year.
Similarly the banking sector now seems to contain too much Russian money, and one might now think twice before becoming, say, a relationship manager at a top bank if the relationship one might end up managing is an oligarch whose money comes from questionable sources. Likewise, the numerous buying and selling agents in London’s Mayfair may now be wondering if the excellent hand-holding client service which they offered Russian clients was really a decent use of their talents. A young person starting out in life has the opportunity to ask themselves these questions and also perhaps avoid a lifetime of their talents being placed in service to the wrong people.
War is a terrible thing but it has the tendency to make us ask who we are and what we really want to do. It was the former chief of staff to President Barack Obama Rahm Emanuel who coined the phrase which is likely to be his most lasting legacy: ‘Never let a crisis go to waste’. His words seem truer with every passing year.
Finito mentor, Amanda Brown, who has expertise in social media aspects of employability, and takes questions from our international readership
I am just out of university and I probably should have done more work experience to date than I have done. I’m concerned that LinkedIn will showcase a thin CV and hurt me in interview. Would you advise I compile more experience before acquiring a significant web presence? Katie, 21, Tunbridge Wells
Katie, your question is one which concerns many graduates who have focused on their education and may have had little time to undertake work experience. However, I would strongly recommend that you do not delay completing your LinkedIn profile and your CV under the guidance of a mentor who will be able to assist you in presenting your skills and experiences in the best possible light.
For example, if you have taken extra-curricular activities in the past, these should be added into the About section of your LinkedIn profile. There is also the opportunity to include any volunteering you may have done.
Work experience comes in different guises from internships through to offering part-time help with a charity. Not-for-profit organisations are frequently looking for an extra pair of hands in many different roles.
Scan the job listings on LinkedIn in fields which interest you, and look for the skills and competencies employers are looking for. If necessary, take online courses and skills tests which you can add to your LinkedIn profile. This demonstrates that you are able to show initiative and determination.
Finally, one of the main benefits of having a LinkedIn profile is the value of building a large network with your contemporaries at school and university, family members and friends, who may be useful connections throughout your career.
There is a company which I really want to work for in the legal industry. I have so far been unsuccessful with getting my foot through the door. Would you advise connecting with relevant people at the company on LinkedIn? What are the benefits and dangers of private messaging? Ian, 34, Florence
In the first instance, Ian, I would do as much research as possible into the people and the company you are interested in. Follow their LinkedIn company page so that you are up-to-date on their news. Where relevant, like and comment on posts where you can add value to the content. Avoid generic comments such as “interesting post” by contributing your own inciteful observation on the topic.
Check to see if they are hiring currently. If there are no job opportunities listed on LinkedIn, create a job alert and then check the careers page on their website. If there are career openings this may be a welcome indication that the company is growing.
When it comes to connecting with relevant people, I would firstly look at their LinkedIn profile and also whether they are active on the platform. What is the style of their posting? Is it formal or informal? Are their posts strictly industry related or do they share more personal insights? Find something in their profile which you can use to start a conversation. Look at where they have worked previously, their education or even volunteering. If you share connections with the people you want to connect with then ask for an introduction or mention someone you know well when you send your invitation to connect.
In my opinion it is unwise to open up immediately that you are seeking an opportunity. Accompany your connection request with a short opening message which expresses your interest in building your network with people in the legal profession. Always thank people who connect in a timely manner and follow up with an open-ended question. Communicating on LinkedIn is similar to meeting people face-to-face; adopt the same rules you would if you met in person.
I am a good writer and had thought about starting a blog on LinkedIn. What are the opportunities and what are the dangers? Yasmin, 28, Paris
Yasmin, there are currently two ways you can publish long-form content, akin to a blog, on LinkedIn; namely, LinkedIn articles and LinkedIn newsletters. All members have the article-publishing function which can be found on your home page under the ‘Start a post’ box.
If you have set your profile to “Creator” mode then you may have the facility to publish a newsletter. This functionality is currently in beta and is being rolled out slowly to members. The advantage of publishing a newsletter is that you gain subscribers and when you publish new content, they receive a notification and, more importantly, LinkedIn sends out an email to every subscriber. This increases the potential consumption of your blog.
Care should be taken when it comes to the selection of your topic. I would advise avoiding content which might damage your career, as once published, shared and read, it is difficult to rescind. On the other hand, content which is too generic or already frequently reported will fail to ignite comments.
Be prepared to commit to regular writing so that you do not disappoint your readers. Ask an expert for help in coming up with a content calendar so that you are preparing in advance which helps to maintain the quality of your articles.
There seems to be a lot of hate online and I am worried about my online presence being somehow a distraction and spoiling my productivity and my mental health. How can I make sure my online presence doesn’t negatively effect the rest of my life? Robert, New York
Robert, I sympathise with your experience and you are not alone. If you are finding yourself drawn to spending hours on social media every day then I would highly recommend that you have a digital detox for a period of time, say a week, or at the very least one day a week – maybe a screen-free Sunday to start with. If you really feel taking time away from social media for a long period of time would be too difficult then try placing your phone in another room while you are working so you are able to hear it ring but are not distracted by any notifications.
I would also recommend reducing the number of different social media platforms you participate in.
Studies show that every time you check email, a social feed, or respond to a notification, your mind requires 23 minutes of re-focus time to get back on task.
Another solution is to delete the social media apps from your smartphone and tablets and to only use the browser version. Alternatively, use productivity software which allows you to block websites which you find distracting for certain periods of the day.
Once you have reduced the number of platforms you use, the time you spend on social media each week, removed apps from your phone and taken control of your internet browsing on your computer you will feel more positive and productive.
We have 167,000 charities in the United Kingdom – that’s a phenomenal number. But we have only one or two parenting charities. That’s a pity because the days of learning parenting from your own parents have gone: the family network isn’t there as it once was. You can’t leave the welfare of children only up to the schools. When they’ve had initiatives in the past such as SureStart it got commandeered by middle class parents even though it wasn’t particularly aimed at them. These initiatives have failed to bring in the parents who really need the support.
Our schools could be used more as a hub to provide for the people who need assistance. Too many people are stuck in the idea of what a school is for. A school is actually to serve our community – it’s not just about educating people. If you think of it that way, you can utilise schools as a way of teaching in a wider sense. We don’t need to be so narrowly focussed.
Education, a bit like the NHS, has been used as a political football and political parties tend to guard their territory jealously. This is why I propose a fourth summer term. The weather can create a sense of summer school, and volunteering could enter the picture. One charity I know works with ex-service people and they go in and teach sports. They understand that kids can get into mischief. They do phenomenal work – even the most difficult teenager will pull their socks up.
We also have a retiring population who have so much knowledge and experience and who are actually physically fitter than they were in the past. We need to think more broadly about what happens to them and use the wisdom they’ve accumulated in their lives to better our own children.
That also means we need to broaden and rethink the curriculum. At the moment, the conversation is all around history and how we teach it, but this approach is nowhere near bold enough.
When I speak to the educators and they’re very frustrated. As a result, we’re losing good people in our education system because of the politicisation of our schools. It’s so interesting to me that whenever I speak to a politician about education it always starts from a position of defensiveness. I always say: “What are you defensive about?” I don’t mind which political party they come from. The facts are clear: we can’t deny that we are failing in our educational standards, that we have a low take-up when it comes to further education, or that we made a mistake when we got rid of training colleges. When we got rid of training colleges, and qualifications in plumbing, hospitality, or food and drink, we devalued those professions. Before, when you had the qualifications, you gave those careers standing.
My daughter is 14 and her school is offering coding for GCSE. Only two girls out of 90 took up the task. We have to think about what we’re teaching for. That will go in hand-in-hand with the need to put more resources into life learning as people will change professions at least twice during their lives now.
We used to laugh at Nordic countries, and the fact that children go to school at six and not four. But look at the statistics: they are much more confident at six. Sending children to school at four is to rip them from their mothers and fathers. If you’re really retiring at 70, what’s the rush? You’re teaching them to: “Don’t cry, be tough.”
Resilience for me isn’t about being tough, it’s about being empathetic and being able to turn yourself to anything and not being rigid.
In a similar spirit, I would also get rid of the 11+ as that’s far too early to be pigeon-holing people. I’d also get rid of the 7+. The narrowness of choice at GCSE level also needs to be looked at. If you don’t do sciences it narrows you, and if you don’t do languages it narrows you – and again we’re locking people into the consequences of premature decisions. I would also argue that projects are much better than exams: the inventiveness required for a history project is a world away from what you get when students just regurgitate facts from memory for an examination. If we could look at all of the above, then we might begin to address the problems of education in our society.
Gina Miller is the founder of the True and Fair Party
The conservative thinker Peter Hitchens begins his book The Cameron Delusion with these words: “Conventional wisdom is almost always wrong. By the time it has become conventional, it has ceased to be wisdom and become cant.’
Hitchens’ brand of conservativism is unfashionable to say the least and he probably wouldn’t have it any other way. The things he’d have to say to be fashionable would be anathema to him.
But what marks Hitchens out from numerous commentators today is the habit of independent thinking: on any subject from the railways to grammar schools and to the Russia-Ukraine war it is always difficult to predict what he will have to say.
That was true also of the last generation of polemicists which included Gore Vidal or Clive James: the pleasure of reading them was in not knowing what they were going to say. The experience must be contrasted with those numerous columnists on both the right and the left where one can easily guess in advance what is to be said. This melancholy truth is also the case with many politicians, as left and right become harder to distinguish from each other, and as each party’s acceptable ideological band narrows.
At time of writing it isn’t clear how Vladimir Putin’s invasion of the Ukraine will transpire; perhaps it will take decades before we really know. What is clear is that we are witnessing repeated crises and that these seem to represent a failure of independent thinking. It is enough to make one wonder whether we have lost that art altogether.
Why is this? It is partly due to the busyness of our lives. Who nowadays has the time to acquire the skills to really look at a problem – to assess the available information, to delve into it, to decide which information is worth trusting and which isn’t? They are few. And once those skills have been acquired, who then has the time to be up to speed on the controversies of the day – at time of writing, climate change, Russia and Ukraine, inflation and a myriad others.
The answer is that only a select number of intellectuals and semi-retired entrepreneurs have the bandwidth. One might add that students also have time, and it’s this which makes education such an unmissable opportunity. Many people reach middle or old age and wish they’d worked harder at university – enough to call it a cliché. But there are also those who wish, all too belatedly, that they’d acquired a different mode of thinking in their youth.
Of course, this has always been the basic idea behind a university education – that the young are shaped, as it were, while the clay is still moist. But in this era of partisan media, and of received wisdom, it becomes more and more necessary to always ask oneself whether a writer of an article has sufficient information for what they proclaim, and whether they have an agenda. It is also helpful to know – as students of history are taught – what primary sources really say about a topic.
That means that it’s increasingly important to seek out those who hold an opposite opinion to oneself on a topic – and to be suspicious if one can find no dissenters regarding a particular point of view. Above all, one should always be willing to pivot if a powerful argument presents itself to the contrary of something which had seemed certain: there is nothing more retrospectively pleasant than to realise you had the flexibility to let a previous false position upended.
The great economist John Maynard Keynes, presented with an apparent inconsistency in his stated positions on an economic question famously said: “When the facts change, I change my mind.”
If such skills can be learned – and they may have to be forged in opposition to the intellectual climate of today’s universities – then the rewards are enormous. The independent thinker is better able to contribute in an original way in the workplace, and to adapt to shifting markets. Since this is now a scarce skill in society, such candidates tend to be rare, and so they also end up as leaders. The best thing you can do at the outset of your job search is to build that capacity within yourself. It will stand you in excellent stead.
The Founder of S4 Capital surveys the geopolitical landscape in 2022 and finds both dangers and opportunities
While it’s true that the metaverse has been thoroughly hyped, I’ve been listening lately to Bill Gates and others, and it’s clear it will have a major impact. One obvious example is the question of work-from-home patterns and hybrid-working. But my sense is the impact will be much broader than that. For instance, I’ve seen some significant activity recently around training – for instance, the training of pilots and the training of factory processes.
There’s also some fascinating movement on medical processes, and the carrying out of operations. It might even be that metaverse or haptic touch technology will be used to conduct operations. Incredible things are being done and my sense is that from what we’ve been through in the past years that these things will experience dramatic acceleration. We’re on the cusp of massive transformation – and I suspect that what we don’t realise is that inflation will also encourage that.
However, I continue to be worried that the pandemic papered over the cracks of Brexit. I hesitate to say that we forgot about Brexit during the pandemic, but its impact was definitely backgrounded, and understandably so. My view is that as a result of Brexit, the UK growth rate has been badly hit and that it will take many years to get that back – and build businesses more like my own S4 Capital which we’ve built to be genuinely able to look beyond these shores.
To do that you need to realise where the opportunity is. Talking to the forecaster gurus recently has confirmed me in the opinion that the economic opportunities are in Asia – but then nobody will be surprised to hear me say that there are opportunities in China and India. But I also see great possibilities in East Africa, North and South America and in the Middle East.
By contrast the prognostication of Western Europe hasn’t been great. This is why we’re looking to increase our activity in Asia from around ten per cent of our work where it currently is, towards 40 per cent.
The biggest problem our clients currently face is the question of what you do in China – even before the Russia-Ukraine conflict, you could have said that the US and China are at loggerheads, even in a kind of Cold War.
It’s true that there are glimmers of hope – we’re beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel in respect of the climate change question, in which instance China has come on board to some extent. But beyond that, progress hasn’t been good and we have to accept that the Chinese are moving in different directions, and increasing their soft power in Africa and Latin America enormously.
All this should come as no surprise. Anyone who has witnessed the Belt Road Initiative – not to mention President Xi’s ‘dual circulation’ economics policy – will know that China is taking a more independent route. COP 26 seems a long time ago now, but in retrospect it’s still significant now to consider that neither Putin nor Xi were in attendance. We’ll have to see what happens in the Ukraine, and how it will feed into China’s calculations in respect of Taiwan, but I think the odds have always been in favour of China following suit in Taiwan.
The luxury markets are worth watching too: premium and luxury do very well in China and I see nothing in the 14th five year plan to counter that. China’s growth rate is strong, and will remain strong. I also think it’s interesting to note that China is loosening its monetary policy while everyone else seems to be tightening.
America is also difficult to predict. I can’t see the midterms going well for Joe Biden and the Democrats. If so, that will mean deadlock after 2022, with the effect that no significant legislation will be passed beyond that point. There have been significant successes: the infrastructure spending was needed, since as a portion of GDP infrastructure had been historically low in the US.
But the bills Biden has passed are by their nature inflationary: going forwards, I expect that if clients think they can raise their prices they will.
All of this makes the world a very interesting place in 2022. There are huge risks out there but I think 2022 will be strong – especially for those who seize the opportunity.
Reputations do not just apply to businesses. We all carry a reputation with us at all times – good or bad. Thinking about building our personal reputations, especially in a work setting, is a critical aspect of building a career.
Reputations are, in their simplest form, what people think about you. In the workplace this is important when thinking about building a career, in the development of relationships with colleagues, or helping to build a practice and attract new work. So, your personal reputation is critical and needs to be invested in.
There is no one way to build a reputation but they are not simply awarded for long or dedicated service. Instead, it helps us to think about both what we want from work but also what we contribute as well.
In their excellent book, ‘The Squiggly Career’, Helen Tupper and Sarah Ellis encourage us all to think about our careers and recognise that “no one cares about your career as much as you do.” The concept of a career ladder is redundant and instead they are squiggly which means we all have more individual power.
It is impossible to capture, in a simple way, the wealth of ideas in their book but taking their core skills – super strengths, values, confidence, networks, and future possibilities – shows that we need to think about our own career design and what is needed to achieve that.
Taking the concept of a personal reputation seriously means considering both what you want to be known for and reflecting on how you are going to achieve that.
Skills are, of course, important but you may also want to reflect on the type of work you do and who you do it for. But also think about how you communicate your brand. How will others know?
One way is to gather evidence throughout. That could be through a social media presence with a clear work element but is also about accurate record keeping so you can provide examples of the good work in which you have been involved. Others may choose thought leadership to build their brand. The odd award or shortlisting here or there is another way in which you can show who and what you are.
Just as a business will put steps in place to build and protect a reputation, which includes thinking about the risks and where it could go wrong, then the same thinking should go into career building. But what are the benefits?
It develops expectations – a reputation provides a shortcut to the knowledge that you deliver good work in your field, can be trusted to advise clients, work well in a group etc.
Stand out from others – it enables you to paint a picture of yourself. The competition for work and jobs is fierce so take every opportunity going to show how you are different and maybe even unique.
Are a representative – organisations like to know that their team can be trusted to represent them. Employees are, after all, the embodiment of any organisation. So a reputation, whilst important within an organisation, is also about your wider, external presence. That can be really valuable to employers.
So, as Tupper and Ellis believe, “reflection, self-awareness and continual learning are now a career ‘must do’ rather than ‘nice to do’.” That means taking the time to reflect on your reputation and where you want to take it. Invest in yourself not just because it builds your career but because it helps others to know who you are.
Finito mentor Andy Inman explains the birth of new arm of the Finito Bursary scheme
Those who believe in mentoring tend to have a personal story about how they came to understand its importance. That’s certainly the case for me. Born to a loving middle-class family on the island of Jersey, I suspected even then that I was lucky. I just didn’t know how much.
But even these fortunate circumstances weren’t enough to make success certain. When I was young, I dreamed of becoming a helicopter pilot in the army. But there was a problem – and it lay in me. At first, I didn’t find the resolve within myself to work as hard as I should have done at school to make that a reality. I left school at 16, and had to face a harsh truth: my dream was unlikely to be realised.
It was at this point that a family friend took it upon himself to open my eyes to what is possible with direction and application. His mentoring made all the difference to the outcome of my future working career – better than that, his example stuck in my mind.
Looking back over the 37 years that have passed since then, I am incredibly fortunate to have achieved my career dreams and accomplished more professionally than I would have ever thought possible. I couldn’t have done it without mentoring. It’s this experience that has brought me to mentoring in general – and to Finito in particular.
The mentoring and networking we deliver within Finito is tailored to each mentee. What we aim to do is unlock the talent and potential of each person. That means that there are as many different outcomes as there are Finito candidates. Everyone’s different, and as a business, we love celebrating that uniqueness which lies in each of us.
However, there is one common thread for every introduction: all our mentees come from families who care enough to buy into the Finito service. That fact alone got me thinking. Over the course of my first year or two with Finito, I began to see that our work could produce a life-changing difference to talented young people who come from families who can’t afford our fees. I pitched the idea to Ronel Lehmann, the company’s founder and CEO: thankfully, he saw the idea as a credible realistic project. He invited me to make it happen.
Sometimes you have to be careful of what you wish for. As an ex-military pilot now running an international defence training company I found myself in a totally new environment. On the one hand, I had the task of finding talented young people from underprivileged backgrounds, who would be interested in joining a fledgling Bursary program. On the other, I had to drum up interest from fellow mentors who would be willing to volunteer some of their time pro bono to a scheme which had no financial backing – yet.
As it turned out, I needn’t have worried. During my research, the Landau Forte Academy in Derby came onto my radar. The school immediately caught my attention on account of its holistic approach to education, and its academic success in one of the most deprived areas of the country. Significant sums of money donated by Martin Landau and Sir Rocco Forte had produced an educational environment across a number of campuses where young people were being enabled to reach their potential.
I sensed it would be a fit. Finito could take some of the most deserving individuals at the Landau Forte Academy, and work with them as they left their school environment and moved to the next stage of their lives. Whether students might wish to attend university, or secure an apprenticeship or immediate employment, we’d be able to help.
Portraits of Andy Inman, Finito. 15.09.2021 Photographer Sam Pearce
Fortunately, the senior management team at Landau Forte saw the benefits and worked with me to identify our first students. These were then matched with Finito mentors who had offered their time for free to help me start the program.
Six months on and how’s it going? Well, it’s been incredibly exciting. Our students so far have come from a broad spectrum of backgrounds. We’ve also had some notable early successes which motivate me – and everyone at Finito – to expand the program.
When I speak to Sarah Findlay-Cobb, the CEO of the Landau Forte Charitable Trust, I am keen to get her feedback as to how much it’s helped the school. I am touched by how effusive she is: “I can’t get over what an amazing opportunity this is for our students,” she says. “We’ve had some huge successes from people who needed that extra push. It’s made a significant difference to their life chances.”
The successes Sarah mentions are a promise of what’s to come. For instance, one of our mentees has been given significant time and support to move to university and happily settle there. That outcome might sound reasonably normal to most of us but for a number of reasons it was thought unlikely to happen before that young person joined the program.
Another early success involved support through advice and coaching for a young person who had been offered a fantastic apprenticeship, but in a location that the school thought the mentee would decide not to relocate to – again, for several complicated reasons. In that instance, our mentor worked hard to support the individual, giving them contacts and advice as well as talking to agencies on their behalf in the new city.
Again this may sound like no big deal, but the young mentee would have had no help or guidance in making the apprenticeship a reality without the help of the Bursary. In the event of it, the school was both delighted and amazed that the young person in question had decided to take up the position. Findlay-Cobb says: “It was one of those students where we thought it could have gone either way. He’s been utterly changed – and hugely for the better.”
Another Landau Forte Academy mentee, Yassen Ahmad, talks to me about his own quest to be a software engineer, and how Finito has helped with that. He explains what the experience has meant to him: “For me, Finito mentoring has meant a lot more to me than just becoming employable. It is also about both growing and developing myself beyond the confines of my limited perception of the world.”
Had Yassen had prior experience of mentoring? “Previously, before I was being mentored, I had regimented myself to believe that university was the only viable pathway for my chosen career. As a naive young adult there’s only so much experience and knowledge that I have about careers and the world of work.”
So what did Yassen learn from his mentoring? “Flexibility is one of the major lessons I have gained from my sessions. My mentor shone a light from a different perspective and guided me to discover a plethora of alternative routes that I had previously isolated, such as apprenticeships, degree apprenticeships or even entering directly into the workforce with the right company.”
And does Yassen feel ready for the world of work? “The Finito mentors have also allowed me to understand how I can become more of an asset and of value to an employer, knowing what skills they look for within their company. I think these prospects have drastically helped me hone my current skills so I can become a more appealing applicant as well. I firmly believe I would not have so easily understood all these things on my own.”
Yassen’s is a moving story, not least because there are too many young people like him who don’t have access to the sort of opportunities we’re providing – and which the company now aims to expand. Yassen explains: “Coming from a background where finance has been difficult, I am very thankful for the monetary grant provided to me. It has aided in breaking down unnecessary financial barriers that I came across in my journey and exploration of my career. Allowing me to access online courses, books and other resources that were previously restricted to me, these opportunities have been able to maximise my current potential and performance like no other.”
Findlay-Cobb adds: “When you break that cycle of poverty you don’t just help that one person: it affects other family members, and it can last generations.” Yassen seconds that: “This is merely the start of my career journey, the benefits of the long-term investment with my mentor will only grow as time passes. That for me is why I love the mentoring with Finito.”
The notion that mentoring is a gift which grows in time is both an exciting thought intellectually, but also a profound motivation to those of us at Finito who now want to use the coming years to help break that poverty cycle for as many young people as possible.
Our support of Yassen and others shall continue well beyond the present moment. As these young people develop in the marketplace post-education, the Finito network will come into action. We shall introduce all our mentees to key figures in the industry and work arenas in which they seek employment. We shall not rest until they are fulfilled. We are expert at securing work placements, internships and helping prepare for interviews. All candidates who come to Finito have an advantage – that is why the business is successful. But imagine a world where that privilege were extended to those who can’t afford it.
The Bursary is good for the mentees. It also happens to be the case that it’s good for the mentors as well. In fact, one unexpected side effect of the Bursary is to have stretched the Finito mentors, in each instance developing a stronger and more effective mentor for the organisation in general. Most of the Finito mentors are senior individuals in their own profession, from senior bankers and lawyers to high-flying media execs. While experienced in their professional worlds, all our Bursary mentors have reported that some of the social and welfare challenges that they have faced in working with our young Bursary mentees have taken them into new areas and broadened their perspective.
So as with so many good ideas, there turn out to be many hidden benefits to this. That’s why Finito has been seeking Bursary donations – and excitingly, some household names have already come forward to help.
One of those is John Griffin, the founder of Addison Lee, and Chairman of Finito Education who says: “In my long career mentoring young people, it fills me with enormous pride that I created employment for thousands of people at Addison Lee. Finito continues this important work and I am delighted to be a part of their team.”
Meanwhile, the businessman and philanthropist Mohamed Amersi tell us: “After completing their education, many students still flounder trying to secure a meaningful career. As an entrepreneur, philanthropist and thought leader, I have always felt a burden of responsibility to help champion and inspire the next generation. We have long supported young people to increase their employment chances across the world and at this time, we are proud to support Finito for the outstanding work it does in facilitating opportunities for young people.”
Other donors include Dr Selva Pankaj, the CEO of the Regent Group, who hails the scheme as being particularly relevant in the “current volatile landscape of the pandemic”. The famed surgeon Professor Nadey Hakim tells us: “Finito really makes things happen and it is incumbent on me to support you and to encourage others to follow my lead.” Simon Blagden CBE, the Chair of Larkspur International Ltd., adds: “I served the Government’s advisory panel reviewing the future of technical education. During the two year process we met with hundreds of young people all over the country. I am delighted to support the work of Finito. The valuable work which you do strongly resonates with both students and their parents.”
These are marvellous endorsements, and I am confident that there will be many more in the years ahead. It’s almost enough to make me pleased that I needed mentoring at the age of 16. At any rate, our goal now is to move forwards and have as many young people like Yassen benefiting from our services as possible.
For a roll call of honour on those who have donated to the scheme, go to: https://www.finito.org.uk/contact/finito-bursary/
Whether you are entering the world of work for the first time, looking for a new position in the same field or considering a complete career change, refreshing your LinkedIn profile is one of the most important tasks you’ll need to complete to ensure your professional experience is seen in the best possible light by prospective employers.
After all there is a limit to how much can be included on your CV or an online application form. An optimised LinkedIn profile which showcases your expertise is important for applying directly for vacancies listed by companies as well as for appearing in search results carried out by recruitment firms who are seeking the ideal candidate to fill their clients’ roles.
Here are a few tips which you can put into practice right away.
Take your time
Your LinkedIn profile represents your personal brand. It is one of the elements which makes up your online reputation that you will manage throughout your career.
Consider this quote from Warren Buffett, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway:
“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”
If it only takes a few minutes to ruin a reputation then a few hours invested in your LinkedIn profile is time well spent. You will want to communicate to the reader not only your experiences, skills and qualifications, but also compelling reasons for them to shortlist you over your peers.
Add an up-to-date profile picture
Having a current profile picture is particularly important when it comes to the interview stage of a job application. There is something disarming when you see a photo online which doesn’t match how they look in person. Does your photo show you off accurately?
LinkedIn also allows you to add a banner image. My advice is to research a few of your contemporaries to see which banner images resonate and then to select one from the wide range of free, royalty-free websites, such as www.pixabay.com.
Enhance your profile picture
The #OpenToWork photo frame should be used with caution if you are currently employed as there is a risk that your employer will see your intention to change jobs. LinkedIn states that this ring will only be seen by recruiters, if you select that option, but they do not guarantee it will not be seen by other members.
Personalise your headline
Your LinkedIn headline is more than just a job title. It is important to add phrases which show your specific expertise or the field in which you wish to become known. For example, “Financial adviser specialising in pensions and investments with a particular interest in ethical funds.” For a recent graduate, “Chemistry graduate from Bristol University seeking opportunities in the manufacturing sector.”
The About section
The About section is your time to shine and is where recruiters discover what makes you tick and where you are able to communicate more about the roles which you are seeking and the reasons you should be considered. Write in the first person as if you are speaking directly to your ideal employer.
Avoid using generic language, such as “hard-working”, “driven”, “effective”, without evidence to back up these claims.
Start by introducing yourself, your current position and the value you bring to your current organisation. List your recent achievements, qualifications, skills and experiences, either in a list or in a short paragraph. There is no editing function on LinkedIn so use numbers or a dash to serve as bullet points.
Include activities out of work where they are relevant to your job search. For instance, you may be a member of a sports team which requires you to be a good team player and an excellent motivator with an ability to adapt to different situations.
I advise including your contact details at the end of this section.
The “Featured” section
This section on your profile allows you to include images, documents and links which provide readers with more in-depth insights into your achievements. It is a place to include a portfolio of work
Complete every section
In order to appear in searches the LinkedIn algorithm favours profiles which take advantage of each and every section. The Core sections are: education, positions and career breaks.
In the Recommended include licenses and certifications, courses and recommendations. Additional information adds even more personality to your profile, including:
Volunteer experience
Publications
Patents
Projects
Honours and awards
Test scores
Languages
Causes
Custom LinkedIn URL
At the top hand of your profile, there is the “Edit public profile & URL” link. Edit your LinkedIn URL so that it is easy to remember when you share it. Add it to your CV, to any personal websites you have and to your email signature.
Add keywords and phrases
Once you have completed the first draft of your LinkedIn profile, add keywords and phrases which recruiters are likely to be using to discover ideal candidates. This is particularly important if you are in a highly technical profession where certain qualifications or skills are a prerequisite for applying for a specific position.
Read through several job descriptions of roles you are interested in and very quickly you will see a theme running through the experience and skills being sought.
Ask for help
Writing a professional LinkedIn profile which is compelling, concise and communicates your professional experience and aspirations for the future is challenging. Once your draft is written, ask a friend or family member to read it through or use the services of a LinkedIn profile writer to review it for you. Perfect each section, as recruiters may only glance briefly at your profile and you’ll want to create the right first impression.
Following a diverse corporate career, Amanda has been advising individuals and businesses on the effective use of online communications, specialising in social media and, in particular, the set up and management of LinkedIn for brand positioning and marketing. She provides job seekers with LinkedIn profile writing and coaching on how best to use the platform to find the ideal position to apply for. Her long and varied experience working with clients across a wide range of sectors, means she is ideally suited to helping clients communicate their message with clarity.
The latest ONS labour market figures show a general recovery, with employment increasing slightly, and unemployment decreasing. Average total pay also increased, growing 4.8% between November 2021 and January 2022.
Joanne Frew, who is Head of Employment at the global legal business DWF, explains how the labour market is holding on.
“The latest ONS labour market figures show a continued recovery of the market. The highlights for the period between November 2021 and January 2022 show an estimated UK employment rate of 75.6%, 0.1% higher than the previous quarter. The UK unemployment rate was estimated at 3.9%, 0.2% lower than the previous quarter and significantly returning to pre-pandemic levels. The figures represent a relatively challenging period in the journey of the pandemic with the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme closed and the Omicron variant leading to tighter restrictions. The labour market has yet again demonstrated its resilience,” Frew says.
As we have seen with the pandemic, world events have a massive effect on the labour market. Thankfully, Covid-19 vaccinations have proved effective even in times of increased case numbers. Frew explains how other world events, such the war in Ukraine, could also have an effect even if the downturn caused by the pandemic is mostly over.
“Although there are some peaks in the number of people contracting Covid-19 across the UK, hospital number remain relatively low. As far as the impact of Covid is concerned, as we adapt to the next phase of living with Covid we would expect the labour market to remain stable in the short to medium term,” Frew says, “However, the war in Ukraine and subsequent potential increases in costs of material may yet have an impact on the UK labour market and there could be more challenging times ahead.”
While the labour market continues to show signs of recovery, job vacancies have still risen to record heights, reaching 1,318,000 in February of 2022. Frew explains how employers are facing this challenge.
“For now, many employers are taking the opportunity to consider the next step out of the pandemic carefully as restrictions are eased and there is a move to personal responsibility. A recent survey from the Chartered Management Institute found that 84% of firms had adopted hybrid working. With retention and recruitment difficulties continuing, employers are having to think of new and innovative ways to attract the best talent, as well as the more traditional route of increased pay.”
For now, the recovery continues, and the upward trend shows no sign of stopping. The impact of the pandemic is slowly coming to a halt, but as we have seen, new challenges can often be unpredictable.
Last year, Finito World published an opinion piece urging companies to trial the controversial four-day working week. Now, 30 companies in the UK have launched a pilot programme testing out the new way of working and evaluating its effects on productivity and employee happiness.
Research conducted by Instant Offices has shown a 110% increase in Google searches related to the four-day work week since the pilot programme launched, which suggests an interest far beyond the companies taking part in the trial. The research has also found that 51% of UK workers would prefer the shorter but more intense period of work which would allow for three-day weekends.
Mainland European countries are ahead in the race towards the widespread acceptance of the four-day week, with a number of countries trialling reduced hours. Germany now has a national average of 26 hours worked per week, with the Netherlands and Norway close behind working around 27 hours per week.
It is important to remember that a four-day work week does not mean a reduction in overall hours worked – rather the existing hours are redistributed throughout the shorter period. This has the benefits of cutting down on commute time, encouraging more focused work, and allowing for a better work-life balance. However, it also comes with fears of burn out and a more stressful environment.
In order to allow for the possible challenges that come with the new schedule, Instant Offices suggests a variety of measures. By reallocating hours gradually rather than cutting a full day immediately, companies will be able to see the effects of the change slowly without risking a shock to employees and a loss of productivity.
Automation may also be key, as when employees are free from the more menial tasks in work, they are free to spend the extra time working on problems which require human brainpower. Additionally, rotating schedules can reduce the risk of any single employee working beyond their capacity leading to burn out.
Perhaps most importantly, any change to the work schedule must come with ample opportunity for employee feedback and flexibility. As we have explored before, every employee works differently, and allowing for these differences is crucial in maintaining a happy, effective workforce.
The four-day work week is designed to give employees more free time and foster a good work-life balance, not to compress the stress of a normal work week into four unbearable days. The pandemic has fundamentally changed the way that many of us think about work, and that is generally a good thing – but it is important to avoid making changes overnight.
Many workers are looking for a change, and a four-day work week may well be a good solution. As these pilot programmes continue, we will be able to fully see the benefits and drawbacks of this new work schedule. Given flexibility, gradual change, and clear expectations, it seems that much of the UK workforce is ready to take on a new way of working. It won’t come overnight, but the four-day work week might be the next in a long line of new normals.
