Simplify to clarify

In the past three months international, national, regional and municipal authorities have regularly communicated with the Public; updating us on the immediate health situation, advising us on new regulations and our responsibilities concerning freedom of movement as well as informing us of financial support the state is offering to affected workers. 

In this period of great uncertainty there is considerable anxiety among people. With this in mind, I want to explore how effectively the Italian state communicates with its public. 

The combination of content and style in written or spoken language can do many things. It can inform, confuse, encourage, alert, inspire, anger and entertain. It can trigger doubt, fear, frustration, joy, passion, faith, empathy, curiosity and anything else in the vast range of human emotions. 

Design Thinking

Such is its importance in the modern workplace, problem-solving is a phrase that now exists in the Italian lexicon. Moreover, job applicants like to mention problem-solving as a key competency in their CVs and job interviews. In order to deepen your understanding of problem-solving, Design Thinking is something you need to read more about, as well as put into practice.

Design thinking is a human-centred problem solving process which results in better products, improved services to customers and smarter internal processes within an organisation. Central to the idea of design thinking is a focus on the user - the user experience and user's needs.

Empowerment

Most companies, depending on their size, have a formal management structure with a vertical hierarchy: ie. CEO; Managing Director; Director; Head of Department; Manager; and Supervisor. While you may officially have a boss, these days companies (certainly the more progressive ones) are empowering their employees to take more control of how they work as individuals.

What is Empowerment?
To empower someone is to give one more power; more autonomy, more control over decisions that affect the job they are doing. For example, what time you start and finish work, whether you can work from home or remain in the office, how you prioritise your duties, resolving problems, how you reach your targets and most importantly, how you fulfill your objectives.

Be proactive; read the book

With the ever increasing demands of work and personal commitments, coupled with the explosion of online entertainment, that tries to fill every second of our free time, the idea of switching off all devices and reading a book for many is no longer such an attractive activity, even when it can have a profoundly positive influence on our work and personal relationships, and thus make us happier.

30 years on from its publication, with over 30 million copies sold in more than forty different languages, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is now more relevant than ever and the sound advice it contains will never go out of fashion.

What can you do?

When building your job application kit, it's useful to put yourself in the shoes of employers or agencies who will read your job application. As they peruse your covering letter, personal statement and CV, some of the following questions will be running through their mind:

• How can you make my business grow?
• How can you save me money?
• How can you save me time?
• How will you fit into the team?
• Will you bring something new to our department?
• What can you do? 
• Why should I give you a job?

What are competencies?

The vast majority of US and UK companies, as well as many other multinational organisations, now use competency based interviews when assessing candidates for a job.

In the past job applicants would often be asked very open questions like How would you describe yourself? or Why are you interested in this position? Competency based questions are different. Instead, interviewers like to see how you have behaved in a situation and link it to a key competency. For example, Describe a situation where you solved a problem or Tell us about a time when your communication skills made a difference.

Building an effective job application kit

The vast majority of US and UK companies, as well as many other multinational organisations, now use competency based interviews when looking to recruit.

Questions asked during competency based interviews (also known as structured, behavioural or situational interviews) aim to test a variety of skills and you'll need to answer in the context of actual events that you have experienced. This type of interview works on the principle that past behaviour is the best indicator of future performance.

Clearly understanding the type of interview you will do, which is the final step in securing a job, means you can plan effectively from the beginning the strategy, content and style of your job application kit.