Skills and connections

01/07/2025

3 min.

In the heart of Naples, an event to help young people find quality employment

Yesterday at lunchtime, the event, part of the LinkedIn. Skills to restart project in Naples, came to an end at a symbolic location in the heart of the historic centre. We were at the Casa della Musica dell'Altra Napoli, in Via Cesare Sersale 9, among the instruments of the “Sanitansamble” orchestra of young Neapolitan musicians about to leave for their summer tour. We were hosted by Altranapoli, which has launched around 30 projects in Naples to support its most vulnerable communities [see news item Restarting from Naples. With LinkedIn].

The average age of those who braved the city's heatwave to attend the orientation and training meeting, organised by Miriam Pintore and led by Francesca Lisi and Lara Forgione, trainers from the Fondazione Mondo Digitale, was also young. Both had participated in a “Train the trainers” session to share practical and up-to-date skills in the local area.

We met young men and women who were waiting to move on from their studies to work, or looking for a new job. Valerio, a 21-year-old pianist, has already completed a training course in audio-visual languages and would like to work with new technologies, while bringing his love of music with him. We also met Roberta, who has just finished an internship at a company and would now like to work in the field in which she trained, corporate communication.

For young people like them, Lara Forgione introduced the LinkedIn platform, talking about some important attitudes and choices for “designing” their profile with a view to finding a new position. It is essential, for example, to choose the “right” photo, not necessarily the most formal one, and a description that effectively illustrates who the person is and what their aspirations are. Let's not forget the importance of networking: it is necessary to get in touch with people who share your professional interests, not just “friends” from the physical world.

It is essential to indicate your cross-disciplinary experiences and passions, the associations you belong to, your sporting activities... information that helps to identify and characterise you. This point is clarified by Francesca Lisi, a guidance psychologist, in her answers to various questions from young people. What transferable skills are most useful to include in your profile? “It is important to highlight your ability to deal with problems in the best possible way and show adaptability and flexibility, starting, for example, with teamwork as a resource for completing projects, but also as a training ground for life”.

'Look for companies that are most in line with your profile and follow them, stating your interest in working for that organisation. It is also useful to create search alerts and receive updates on offers of interest via email or on the app," concluded Francesca.

The young people shared their experiences, doubts and questions, both with the trainers and with each other, establishing contacts for the future. Some took the opportunity to restructure their LinkedIn profiles, discovering useful features and resources for job hunting.

At the end of the workshop, participants received an exclusive voucher to activate LinkedIn Premium free of charge for 12 months.

The event in Naples

Testimonials on the YouTube channel

Some stories

Roberta, a communications graduate, attended the workshop to understand how to improve her LinkedIn profile and make it more attractive to companies, thus facilitating her job search. She would like to explore more areas of communication to have more opportunities. She would like to work in a small to medium-sized agency or, eventually, in a company to grow professionally.

Martina, 33, discovered the workshop course through social media. She participated because she is looking for work and firmly believes in the importance of networking and personal training, both for hard and soft skills. She found the workshop extremely useful for those, like her, who are building a professional profile on LinkedIn for the first time, as it provided the necessary basics

Shirley, 28, has been in Italy for 5 years. She came to improve her quality of life, following first her mother and then her sister. She is settling in and learning “how society works”. She would like to work in the workshop sector in a few years' time, but still needs to assess the job market. She also expressed a desire to help others and learn more about this area.

Roberta, 26, has a degree in chemistry and completed her master's degree two years ago. She gained work experience last year and this year enrolled in a second-level master's degree. She noticed that, despite her academic years, she had not developed much in the use of digital tools such as LinkedIn. Although she had already learned how to use it, there were some “tricks” she did not know. She attended the workshop to clarify her doubts and, thanks to the support of the trainers, identified things to change and sections to expand on her profile. Her key suggestion is to take stock of your skills and update your LinkedIn profile not only with your academic experience, but with everything you have done in your life, including voluntary work, and to identify the skills you have developed through these experiences.

Skills and connections