Inclusion Job Day: job runs on the web

Are you a legally protected worker looking for a job? Chances are you are among those who think that this isn’t the right time to find one. But no, since career days don’t stop: they’ve simply movede on the web. Today I’m going to talk to you about a particularly interesting one. On July 3rd,  the first edition of the Inclusion Job Day will take place. It will be a virtual occasion to promote inclusiveness allowing professionals belonging to the protected categories who are looking for a job  to meet (on the web) businesses based in and around Milan interested in hiring them. Organized by  INTERACTION FARM® partnering with Cesop Communication, the event will take place online, complying with the anti-Covid policy.

Inclusion Job Day

The Inclusion Job Day attendeees will have the chance to meet businesses and recruiters, send their CVs, attending career guidance talks, conduct job interviews and attending the round table that will open the day starting from 9:30, during which, moderated by Divercity Magazine’s Valentina Dolciotti, university representatives, managers of the involved businesses, Comune di Milano and no-profit organizations representatives, will talk about the state of the art, sharing business best practices and examples of inclusiveness.

how to attend the inclusion job day?

In order to attend the Inclusion Job Day, you simply have to sign up for free on the event website, creating your own profile and uploading your updated resume. Moreover, signing up, you’ll be able to apply for the job offers that the participating businesses (including: Accenture, Trenitalia, A2A, Fineco, etc.) are already uploading on the website.

Sounds interesting, isn’t it? And also comfortable, since you can attend the event without leaving your home! All you need is a computer with a webcam (even better, also a microphone), an internet access and a resume. Good luck and… don’t forget to pay attention to your clothes: even though it will take place online and not in person, it will always be a professional context!

 

Personal branding and job search: a workshop in Milan

I’m quite sure you’ve heard about “personal branding” and how important it is, mostly nowadays, in the “social media era”, also for those who are looking for a job. In fact, in a time when the demand for a job is higher than the offer,  creating and curating your own personal “brand” is crucial to stand out in the crowd: what distinguishes me from the other hundreds (or thousands) of people with the same skills and experience as mine?

personal brandingDesigned by Waewkidja / Freepik

“Personal branding” is important for people with a disability  willing to position themselves in the job market, whether they’re looking for their first  job or wish to find a new one. In order to help them succeed, Inclusive Mindset and LinkedIn (the well-known  “business social network” I suggest you to sign up to, shouldn’t you have done it already) have organized a workshop where, supported by the most important experts in this field, the attendees will get to know the basics of personal branding, plus tricks to leverage social media in their job search.

 

workshop about personal branding: where and when?

Save the date! The workshop about personal branding is scheduled on Friday, February 15th at 5:00 PM in Milan, at LinkedIn Italy offices, in one of the skyscrapers in Porta Garibaldi. After the workshop, a cocktail will give the attendees a valuable opportunity for netwoking and exchaning useful information.

LinkedIn offices in Milan

LinkedIn offices in Milan

how to attend the workshop?

In order to ensure the best experience, only a limited number of people will have the chance to attend the workshop (for free), upon registration. Are you interested in participating? Go to Inclusive Mindset’s website and fill in the registration form, also specifying if you need support (for instance, a LIS interpreter or a helper, should you have reduced mobility). What are you waiting for? Whether you’re looking for your first job or, maybe, you’re willing to find a new one, more suitable for you, don’t miss this opportunity!

“Milleproroghe” decree and right to work for people with disability

Some days ago, after the approval of the so-called “Milleproroghe” decree, a real frozen shower struck the hope of more than 70 thousand people with disability to see, finally, recognized (even though through the help of another law) a right that’s sanctioned, for everyone, by the 4th article of our Constitution: the right to work.

The Republic acknowledges the right for every citizen to work and promotes the conditions enabling this right. Every citizen must do, according to his possibilities and choice, a work or a job that contributes to the material or spiritual progress of the society

Should it be approved also by the Chamber of Deputies, the “Milleproroghe” decree would delay to January 1st 2018 the entering into force, for businesses with more than 15 employees, of the obligation to hire (whether they want or not to hire new employees) workers with disability, in order to avoid the fines established through the Jobs Act. Of course (and luckily!), the obligation to hire them in the percentage fixed for new hires would remain. But it’s clear that, a new delay of a stricter obligation would determine another obstacle to the real inclusion of disabled people in the world of work, with obvious effects on their acknowledgement as full members of the community.

There are businesses that, needing to hire new workers, aren’t influenced by their possible disability, but choose people according to their skills or background, taking advantage of them and enabling those people to fully contribute to the growth of the business itself. But these represent still rare, although very praiseworthy, exceptions, compared to many other businesses that, rather than hiring the (supposed) “dead loss” (the prejudice that the “protected categories” work less than others and are “always off work” is a die-hard), pay the fine or hire “protected categories” (no way: I really don’t like this expression…), even qualified, to make them work on low-level tasks or, as a matter of fact, impede their professional growth and career advancement.

Milleproroghe decree and work for disabled people

In these years, I’ve often been contacted by businesses or staffing companies offering a work to me as a “protected category”, without taking into account my educational and professional background (that, luckily, includes qualifications and qualified experiences). When I ask whether they have read my resume or not, their reply is always the same: “Ehm… They look for a protected category… and you are!”. That sounds, more or less, like: “I’m offering you a job and you still complain?”. The sad side of the story is that this attitude is often common also among associations and institutions that should defend the right to work (and to equal opportunities in that field too) of people with disability: “They offered to you/ You’ve a job, what else do you want? You’d better look at who isn’t as lucky as you!”

Well, such an attitude cannot be removed only through laws, for sure. As Daniele Regolo, founder of Jobmetoo has pointed out, we need to work a lot on the disability culture, spreading everywhere the message that disability is just a condition and isn’t, itself, conflicting with the ability to work, even in responsibility positions (who says a disabled worker cannot move forward in his career?). But, waiting for positive outcomes from the work carried out also in this (enormous) field, laws must guarantee this right (not a “gracious permission”). But the “Milleproroghe” decree doesn’t go in this direction.

Job interview and disability: how to deal with it

Job interviews, we know, is a very stressful experience for everyone, since it’s full of expectations, hope… and a good dose of anxiety! But, when the candidate is a disabled person, another embarrassment sums up to the interview anxiety: “How are they dealing with my disability? Will I have to talk about it? If so, how and to what extent? Do I have to bring some documents about it?” and so on. So, let’s try to clarify.

DisabilitY: to talk or not to talk about it?

If you have applied and are being interviewed for is addressed to “protected categories” (I don’t know what you think, but I hate this expression: I’m not an endangered animal!), the interviewer obviously expects to meet a disabled person, so it’s normal that he asks something about your condition, to understand if it’s compatible with the tasks required by the specific position. There’s nothing strange or detrimental in that. On the contrary, it’s the right time for you to express particular needs, if any (for instance, if you’ll regularly need some days off for medical examinations or therapies, and, if so, you’ll have to request the permits as per the 104/92 law) or ask something more specific about the daily tasks you’ll be supposed to carry out. Don’t panic: you won’t have to give up your privacy, sharing too many details about your disease or medical history! You’ll only have to briefly explain if you won’t be able to carry out some tasks or, for instance, you’ll need specific tools or adjustments to your workstation.

which documents do you have to bring to the interview?

As I wrote earlier, you don’t need to bring with you all the documents detailing our medical history (thank God!). On the contrary, it can be useful to bring with you (in addition to your resume and other professional documents, if needed, of course!):

Anything else is redundant. Because, as it happens to whoever faces a job interview, at that time, the focus won’t be on your disability or medical history, but on your skills, background and ambitions.

Are you going to face a job interview in these days? Good luck and, while preparing for it, have a look at these tips from the recruiters from Jobmetoo!