Sital Ruparelia

According to yesterday’s latest UK unemployment figures, one million 16-24 year olds are now out of work - the highest figure for 25 years.

Youth unemployment here in the UK now stands at 22%. A shocking and worrying statistic.

Having graduated during the recession of the early 1990s and struggled to find my first job  – I can empathise with young people who are struggling in today’s job market.

The one major development since that last recession is the Internet. Many young people today rely on the internet for just about everything – especially job searching.

But in a tight job market – the Internet can, in fact, get in the way of job searching.

So if you’re aged between 16-25 year olds looking for work (or know someone that is) – here are 5 “Old School” job search tactics which are much more effective just relying in the web:

Click here to read the rest…

I’m fed up with the media talking down the prospects for graduates. Yes it’s tough out there for today’s graduates looking for work. Having graduated during the the recession of the early 1990s, I understand first hand what it’s like looking for jobs during a recession.

But in many ways, today’s graduates are also the luckiest generation of graduates there has ever been (really).

They have the tools, technology and knowledge to turn ideas into opportunities and income with virtually zero expenditure. What’s more, they potentially have a global market place to leverage their product or idea. All that’s required is the seed of an idea, passion, hard work and the willingness to just have a go.

So over the coming months I’m going to feature graduates who have ignored all the noise about the economy. Individuals who have got off their butt and just had a go at a business idea or made slightly different career choices. Hopefully it will inspire others to follow suit.

The first interview is with Poonam Kataria. She has no website, uses a Gmail email account and uses Facebook to promote her cake-making business whilst using her mum’s kitchen to do all her baking.

Who says you need lots of cash to get started..?

An Interview with Poonam Kataria of “Spoony Cakes”

Click here to read the rest…

Having graduated during the recession of the early 1990s, I can empathise with many of today’s grads who are struggling to find work.

And I seem to be getting lots of emails these days from out of work graduates seeking advice.  So I thought I’d share an email I sent to a graduate earlier today.  Much of the advice applies to anyone currently looking for work – not just graduates.

“Hi xxxx,

Given that it’s now 4 months since you graduated and the market for graduate jobs is still tough, here are 6 quick suggestions:

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FREE VIDEO CAST

Saturday 18th Sept

3pm UK Time (4pm CET, 10am EST)

Over the last 3 years I’ve been a mentor and trainer for a non-profit organisation called the East London Business Alliance (ELBA) . ELBA’s innovative programmes help graduates from the high unemployment areas of London’s Tower Hamlets region to enter the job market.

It usually involves running workshops 2-3 times a year, but we’ve recently started running video casts using the Ustream.TV platform.

In view of the many graduates struggling to find work, I’m running another video cast tomorrow. We’ve agreed to open this broadcast to my readers too. So if you know any graduates or undergrads who would find it useful, send them a link to this page.

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• Are you a recent graduate who is struggling to find a job?

• Are you a final year student looking concerned about finding a job after graduating?

• Would you like some fresh ideas and approaches to find work in the current market?

Having graduated during the recession of the early 1990s I understand how frustrating and challenging it can be look for work in the current market.

Whilst there may be signs of steady recovery in the economy, the employment market remains fragile and prospects for graduates remain tough for some time yet.

But having spent the last 17 years working in various organizations as a leader, recruiter, HR professional and now career consultant, I know exactly what works and doesn’t work when it comes to finding work in a tough market.

The clients I work with are finding jobs despite the “market conditions” because they’re taking a different approach to everyone else and are therefore able to stand out from the crowd.

So given the numbers of graduates struggling to find work, I’ve agreed to run the following free video cast for graduates struggling to find work in the current market:

GRADUATES: 5 Reasons Why You Can’t Find A Job

(..and What To Do About It)

FREE Video Cast

Saturday 18th September 2010 3.00 – 4.00pm (uk time)

*Includes Live Questions & Answers*

Click here to read the rest…