Self-employment
Filling the learning gapEntrepreneur Jeffrey Giles was worried his children weren't being properly prepared to enter the workforce. "I saw a huge gap between what schools taught and what the workplace demanded," he says. "So I wrote a book to help young people better launch their careers." ROGER PIERCE -- www.bizlaunch.ca |
|
 [ 2008-02-13 ] |
To find out, take this test by eCareerFit, the career assessment experts.
Anything but Ordinary is a career development book for young adults who are struggling to find a career that excites them and engages their passion. Details about the book may be found at www.anythingbutordinary.ca.
UNIQUE BOOK
What's unique about Anything but Ordinary is the writing style. It's not a preachy textbook but rather an engaging tale that follows the trials and tribulations of three young friends with unique and very different career issues.
A former corporate restructuring and turnaround specialist with more than 20 years of experience, Giles says he realized much of what twenty-somethings need to succeed in the workplace wasn't being taught in school.
He says technical skills learned in school account for only 15% of a person's career success, while soft skills such as how to multi-task -- a skill not taught in school -- make up the other 85%.
"I have two kids in their 20s who are just starting their careers, so this learning gap became personal for me," Giles says.
Giles wrote his first book back in 1994. "Writing about career development is a natural extension of what I do, as I've always believed my work was more about turning people around than it was about turning businesses around," he says.
Giles says the best part of being an author is the satisfaction and accomplishment he gets from starting something from scratch and seeing it grow. He also enjoys knowing his work is making a difference in people's lives.
"As a restructuring professional, I've seen many people who have ended up in dead- end jobs with no idea how they got there," he says.
"I've always enjoyed helping people get their careers back on track, and this book will help young people to get it right the first time."
Would you ever work for a social or charitable enterprise in the third sector?