Adrie's Blog

Lost Generation? We say NO!!!

The period we are living in now, brings with it many challenges and an equal (if not greater) number of opportunities. As I discussed in my last blog on E.Factor  "The Tipping Point" http://www.efactor.com/p/blogs/id=243 we live in a time where tried and tested values are no longer a guarantee for our collective future.
This is true in particular for those people that want to start their own business - with all the technology and new media now available - there are great possibilities and opportunities to choose that path for their future.

There is one area however, that concerns me - within a few months from now, we will have a new group of alumni from colleges and Universities finishing their formal education. This group of young, well educated individuals will have to try and set foot in a market in which traditional jobs are scarce. Those companies they would often be employed by, are facing heavy weather and have battened down the hatches to ride out this storm. As has become apparent in other such times throughout history - the organisations may lower their hiring for a few years, thus creating the risk is that this new group of students becomes a "lost generation" as in two years time, those same organisations will hire the freshest group of students instead.

Our platform, the E.Factor, is prepared to face this challenge and set a clear example of how we should prevent this issue from happening yet again. As our goal is to support Entrepreneurs globally - we will offer 15 alumni, leaving college or university this summer, a chance to gain the skills needed to start their own companies. E.Factor, together with its dedicated team of partners, will provide them with experienced coaches with EQmentor, test their skills with the Entrepreneurial Mind Challenge® specifically designed for E.Factor, we will give them a chance to learn a new language through Myngle, we will teach them how to build a business based on the use of Social Media and help them with their personal branding together with QAlias.

We challenge other companies to help with this project of supporting people leaving education this year, and help them gain work experience so that when the economy gets back into full swing - we, together with this new generation, are ready to build on our success instead of the failure of another lost generation.