1. Plan B
Your road to success when the marching orders come...
Mariachiara Novati
MACSE Italia
www.macseitalia.it
www.executivesecretary.com

2. The 60’s generation
When we, the 60s generation, began working we were absolutely sure that the job
we were going to choose would last all our lives. Even if we might have decided to
change companies, (though in Italy this is not common), we were able to do what
we studied for and had a real possibility of finding the best job opportunity.
In the last 20 years the job environment has changed, slowly but relentlessly. In the
last two years this change has been accelerated by the economic situation with
companies firing people left, right and centre.
I was one of them and after six months I am still
unemployed and with me, I have noticed, many
women of my age, whom I refer to as the
“differently young”.
In a culture where experience seems not to be
considered an important skill and employers
are looking only to save money, many women of
my age have suffered.
And the solution? Here is my Plan B.
Mariachiara Novati – Presidente di MACSE Italia Slide 2
www.macseitalia.it

3. Plan B
I took into consideration my 20 years of experience as executive assistant, the last
three years as President of MACSE Italia and I thought about all the people I have
met in these 20 years and the network I have.
I thought about my skills and expertise and I
decided to become an entrepreneur.
My initial investment was only my free time.
To become an entrepreneur without spending
a lot of money there are 3 steps.
Mariachiara Novati – Presidente di MACSE Italia Slide 3
www.macseitalia.it

4. Step 1
I had a lot of free time and I used it to go to all the free conferences and seminars there were in
town and I became a great networker by attending associations and business meetings.
Then I used LinkedIn to increase my professional visibility and credibility.
I wrote my opinions in many professional groups I was
interested in and in blogs relevant to the profession I
intended to work in. I built up new contacts both with
colleagues and with HR managers and companies.
Last but not least I found other colleagues with whom to
share the project and cooperate, each following their vocation,
Roberta who wants to be a Virtual Assistant and Michela who is
specialized in interviewing and resume editing.
Mariachiara Novati – Presidente di MACSE Italia 4
www.macseitalia.it

5. Step 2
The most important thing: I selected the area of interest in which I was going to operate.
I am an executive assistant and during my work experience I managed and organized people and
things, I interviewed candidates, helped to develop careers and suggested and organized
training. I found my niche by considering my past in order to invent my future.
My areas of competence are recruiting and training but to differentiate myself (in Italy there are
more or less 14,000 training companies) I decided to focus only on executive assistants.
I intend to be the best recruiter of executive assistants because I have been one
myself for 20 years and I know the role perfectly and which skills are important
and necessary.
I want to be a good recruiter respecting candidates, giving correct and positive answers and
timely feed-back, making them feel like people, and not just numbers. In addition I have worked
in many companies and I know the internal logic that moves them.
I am the perfect training organizer because I know what executive assistants
need to improve their professional performance. In the past three years through
MACSE Italia activity I have had a lot of contact with trainers and discussed with them the
content of many courses and seminars in order to develop an interesting and useful program.
This focuses on what is important to learn to be a successful executive assistant and to have a
great career.
Mariachiara Novati – Presidente di MACSE Italia 5
www.macseitalia.it

6. Step 3
When you have reached this step you are sure of what you
want to do (and that it will be almost impossible to change
your mind or to go back) therefore you can invest some
money.
First of all choose the name and the logo of your new
company.
Second, if you still don’t have business cards it is time to print
them.
Third, it’s a good idea to have visibility on the Internet, a
website is perfect but you can begin advertising your
company through LinkedIn creating a new company profile.
If you don’t want to spend a lot of money on a website there
are cheaper ways of creating a basic but really nice website,
Squarespace is one that springs to mind, a drag and drop
platform that anyone can build starting from $8 a month
including a domain and full support.
Mariachiara Novati – Presidente di MACSE Italia 6
www.macseitalia.it

7. Final suggestions
My final suggestions are:
•Think about what you did in your life and about
what you really like and want.
•Identify an area where your competencies are
strong and study the market in which you want
to operate.
•Don’t imagine impossible things, but stay
grounded and don’t overreach yourself.
I wish good luck to all the “differently young”!
Mariachiara Novati – Presidente di MACSE Italia 7
www.macseitalia.it