Job hunters urged by EU to get online to get a job

Getting a job is no longer just about reading and writing — it’s about searching and coding. The message is get online to get employed.

Only 17% of the 5.5 million young people out of work in the EU have an online job profile with sites like LinkedIn or Xing.

And while many young people use the internet on a daily basis to keep in touch with friends, they do not have the skills needed to convert this into a job.

Even those considered well educated, doctors for example, use email and internet in their private lives, but don’t use it to interact with patients even when their patients want it.

These findings give an added impetus to the Get Online Week in the EU where events in 5,000 ICT centres should reach nearly 100,000 people.

Events in Ireland are organised by Fast Track into Information Technology (FIT), an industry-led initiative that works with government departments, education and training agencies, and community groups.

Their job is to fast-track young unemployment people to develop marketable technical skills, especially for those at risk of long-term unemployment. More than 13,000 have completed their courses and of those 9,500 found jobs.

“FIT is one of the most effective employability initiatives in Europe,” according to the European Commission.

They have information stations in a number of libraries and in a shopping centre in Dublin and anybody can check them out on www.fit.ie.

The commissioner responsible for digital, Neelie Kroes said: “Digital skills are the new literacy. When I grew up it was all about reading and writing. Today it is about searching and coding. If you have a dream or a dream job, today you need digital skills.”

The commission is running year-long digital empowerment campaign, the European d-Skills for jobs campaign, together with European Schoolnet and Digitaleurope.