‘’Redesigning the job seeking experience for young people’’, quite relevant with our current situation, given that youth unemployment is officially almost 54% right now. The participants of the workshop were a mixture of young students, start-up-ers, experienced professionals and mature entrepreneurs, giving the needed variety to hear many different perspectives. First of Loft2work's Secret Workshops. http://blog.loft2work.gr/2012/11/employment-experience-youth/?lang=en

1. Secret
Workshop
#1
Redesigning the employment
experience for young people
Special guest: Richard Hylersted

2. Participants
An interdisciplinary
and intergenerational
mix of active people

3. What?
Redesigning the employment experience for students
and young professionals aged between 18 and 30.

4. How?
Through insights on both the needs of young people,
and the social and economical circumstances of our
external environment

5. Insights

6. The employment experience can be an emotional roller-
coaster and it has been perceived as a mainly
unpleasant process. Young people are not confident
about themselves, as they lack experience. They do not
know what it is they want to do, being too preoccupied
to find just any job. Not having people by their side to
advise and guide them is not helping either. Career days
do not have any results these days and internships do
not seem to meet students' expectations.

7. All our teams had some common pillars, those of
experience(s), networking and discovering your
calling, showing us how important it is to know where
you want to get, make the right steps towards that
way and have the right people next to you in this
journey

8. Gaining
experience
Every ''painful'' problem provides
opportunities and potential solutions
Mobility - travel
Participate in social actions
Improve your knowledge - Master
degree?
Create your business
Be active in a working environment
Internships and volunteering experience
in Greece or abroad
Pitch your ideas and give them a try

9. Networking
Meet founders of enterprises
Networking events
Online activities
Meet like minded people
Network - no matter the crisis, we can
create the job we want to do
Inspire others at events
Find a team
Build on others' ideas
Create your job - search your network
Mentors
Identify people of similar interests
(social media, networking events, forums)

10. Define what
you want to do
Reflect on your experiences
Identify what you like, what you care about
What is your work motivation?
Specify on problems that need solutions, what
problem would you LOVE to solve?
Generate ideas for a start-up
Finding a job VS Creating a job
How can you find a cause you believe in?-
Volunteering, research, talking about it with
friends and strangers
Research on organizations of your interests
Prove how badly you want your job
Passion

11. Word Cloud
entrepreneurship career research team
organisations
friends people inspiration motivation mentors
internships volunteering networking social media coaching
experience skills idea solve problems roller-coaster
versatility selling recommendations unique university knowledge
passion reflect travel community serve

12. What did our
groups propose?

13. #1
Finding the job that suits YOU
the best
Internship fairs at universities
Student entrepreneurship networks at universities
Exposure to job market from early stages

14. Internship fairs Student entrepreneurship
at universities networks
Career days are of no Get the unpleasantness away from your
help any more. employment experience. Discover the world
Internships will help you of start ups, entrepreneurship, new ideas
gain experience and find and making your own job, while creating
out what fits. Summer some more jobs as well! Expose yourself to
internships, rotation at this ecosystem even if it is just for a while,
many different you have to see if it works for you!
companies and types of
internships in terms of
JD, even volunteering, Exposure to the market
will help you, apart from from early stages
everything else, start
building a network and Even in high-school students should be
get formal and informal exposed to the job market, see different
recommendations occupations, meet professionals, visit
companies through mini-internships and
get the chance to have mentors, to share
their experience and advice

15. #2
Meet the right people
to make it happen
Make
new
friends

16. Make New Friends
Meet people who share your dreams and passion through
social networks, such as facebook, LinkedIn, twitter and even
a personal blog. Go to events that inspire you, participate to
activities of your interest, volunteer. Do original stuff. Make
new friends and create with them!

17. #3
Networking
Develop experience
Sell your skills

18. Networking
Social media, groups, forums, events
Develop experience
Volunteering, travelling abroad, supporting start-ups,
getting involved in relevant to you activities
Sell your skills
Package your experience ideas and network. It's time
to do what you really love!

19. #4
Prioritize your values
Get involved in enterprises
What are you really good at?

20. What do you care about?
What is it that you love?
Reflect on your experiences / Hobbies / Work
motivation/ Last thought before you go to sleep
Getting involved
Research / Networking (Linkedin groups) / Volunteer
work / Meet like-minded people
Get people helping you
Find a mentor / Get a coach / Gain experience and
find a problem you would LOVE to solve!

21. Summarizing

22. Summarizing #1
Insights about the experience of finding a job were that career
days organized are not helpful, internships are not always
available and most of the times do not correspond to our needs
and dreams but to random selection. Moreover, young people
are not experienced enough and are not sure about what it is
they really want to do in life.
Having some education is important to get hired, but experience
is favored as well.
Ads do not find jobs, people do! It is therefore important to
communicate to your network that you are looking for a job,
describing also what it is you are looking for. Expand your
network at any opportunity with a direction according to your
interests. Apart from having even more people looking out for
an employment opportunity suitable to you, you gain formal and
informal recommendations and may even meet your potential
employee!

23. Summarizing #2
Nowadays, the idea of working for a company is not the only
option.
Entrepreneurship is another way, for many much more
rewarding. It gives you the opportunity to work with people
you choose, solve problems and fulfill needs that you value as
important, design your job and create more jobs!
Again experience is important and people around you to work
as a team are needed. If you do not have enough experience,
it's the best time to gain some. If you do not know who to
work with, network! Go and meet people. Use the internet.
Expose yourself. Create a team.

24. Summarizing #3
So, in order to redesign your
employment experience
define your needs and your persona
understand the situation by getting insights from others and
collecting your observations
reflect on what it is you want from a job
scan your environment and meet the right people to guide
you, advise you, work with you or even hire you
keep getting involved and gaining experience
promote yourself
keep learning more
target your dream job and work your way there!

25. Credits
Insights based on loft2works' first secret workshop titled
''Redesigning the employment experience for young people'',
hosted on 15/10/2012 at loft2work
Workshop Curation: Richard Hylerstedt, Konstantina Zoehrer
Workshop Facilitation: Richard Hylerstedt
Hosting: AndreasTzouanopoulos, Irini Papagiannouli
Booklet Design: Dora Giannopoulou, Irini Papagiannouli

26. Secret
Workshops