The book my own parents needed. I was the kid.
I grew up in the UK during the mass unemployment of the Thatcher years, and I was NEET myself as a teenager. Decades later, I wrote the book I wish my parents had bought me, or I'd bought it. It's free, it's honest, and it's not academic.
If you're the one who's stuck right now
If you've been out of work, out of education and out of training for a while, chances are plenty of people have already told you what to do about it. This isn't that.
Start with something that takes five minutes and asks nothing of you except honesty — no CV, no qualifications, no sign-up.
Start the Ikigai Test →It gives you a real, personalised starting point — what you're actually suited to, not just what's advertised.
If you want to go deeper afterwards, Ikigai+ in the Age of AI is free to read. It's written straight to you, not about you — by someone who's been exactly where you are. Jump to the free book ↓
Once you've started, go deeper
If your son or daughter is NEET right now
If your son or daughter has been out of work, out of education and out of training for a while now, you've probably already tried the obvious things — the pep talks, the job listings left on the kitchen table, the “have you tried…”. And you've probably noticed none of it is landing the way you hoped.
That's not a parenting failure. The job market your child is trying to enter is genuinely different from the one you or I started in — and most of the advice floating around either talks down to them or assumes a level of confidence they don't currently have.
Ikigai+ in the Age of AI was written to sit between you and them — something you can hand over without it feeling like another lecture, because it isn't one.
What's actually in it
- A short, four-part framework (Ikigai) for figuring out what a young person is actually suited to — not just what's advertised — which tends to work better than generic “just apply to more jobs” advice when someone is stuck and demoralised.
- Plain-English guidance on the AI-driven hiring tools (resume scanners, screening bots) that didn't exist when most parents last job-hunted, and that quietly filter out good candidates for reasons that have nothing to do with ability.
- Real case studies of young people who were stuck in exactly this position and found a way through — not inspirational-poster stuff, actual steps.
- Written in second person, directly to the young person — so it reads like someone talking to them, not a parent talking at them through a book.
Read it free, right here on this website
Enter your email and we'll send you the download link — completely free, no cost, no catch. If you'd rather buy it, the Kindle edition is also available cheaply on Amazon further down (with a paperback on the way).
We'll email you the download link, plus occasional (genuinely useful, easy to unsubscribe from) career resources from Skillset Centre. No spam.
Prefer not to wait for the email? Read it online right now →
Prefer something they can hold?
The Kindle edition is available right now on Amazon for just a few dollars — cheap enough to send someone a copy without a second thought. A paperback copy is in final approval and will join the same listing shortly, for when a physical copy on the kitchen table says what you can't quite find the words for.
View on Amazon → Get it on Google Play →Not sure where to start? Take the test first
Whichever of you is reading this, the quickest way in is still the free Ikigai Test — five minutes, no sign-up, and it works whether you're the parent trying to understand what might help, or the one who's stuck.
Start the Ikigai Test →