Kickigai manifesto

This is Kickigai. What a strange name, right? It may sound not that odd when realizing that it comes from the fusion of two words from different languages.

The first word is "kick", which in English means literally to hit something forcefully with your foot. To be kicked by something also means that it makes you feel very excited or very happy for a short period of time.

The second one is "ikigai", a Japanese word that indicates what is your purpose in life, both personally and professionally. It is the reason why a person gets up in the morning and feels fueled to start the day.

The ikigai theory takes into consideration four aspects to design a meaningful and fulfilling career.

These aspects are:

- What you love
- What you are good at
- What you can be paid for
- What the world needs

Combining these two words means that, because searching for our ikigai can be hard, receiving a kick in the right direction might represent a game-changing push in one's job search, eventually directing people in their own right direction; towards their ikigai. After all, finding your own fit in life can be beneficial for more people than just you.

As bioengineers, we started thinking deeply about this after our graduation, finding ourselves puzzled by the countless possibilities that such a degree opened up to us, and facing some challenges to really understand how to properly design our future with the generalist education we received.

This kind of education might represent a double-edged sword. On one side, its multidisciplinary nature gives a broader understanding of several disciplines, opening up endless applications. On the other side, if you come from a similar background, you can relate to the feeling of having fuzzy perspectives, and sometimes it can be difficult to give a clear-cut answer to the question "what is it that you do?".

We realized that everything could be far easier by knowing more about what's outside of university and research while having more guidance and support to make the right decisions, starting from the university desks. But how does one build up his own perspective to design a career?

Kickigai answers this question in two fundamental ways:

- Being conscious of the available opportunities
- Being part of a network made of people who share the same objectives and passions

Why and how we do it

Every week we gather some amazing opportunities in health technology. This is a fundamental piece because we believe that making a conscientious choice requires by definition to acquire knowledge. And how can you choose something if you don't know it exists?!

This is the reason why we create a go-to place with up-to-date opportunities, that you might have had hard times discovering otherwise. For the same reason, we collect a list of companies in this field that you can filter according to your own specific interests.

Truth be told, being part of a network is the most valuable resource you'll ever get in terms of guidance and support to discover new possibilities. Every person's knowledge is shaped by experience and casual meetings, and learning from others is a privilege that can save you from making similar mistakes yourself.

The ultimate purpose of Kickigai is to connect professionals in this field with whoever is eager to advance their career in the amazing world of health technology, whether coming from a similar background or not.  Being part of a community is a unique chance to meet peers, share daily challenges and discover unique opportunities. No one is a teacher and we are all in a continuous learning process that our community is here to amplify even more.

So, let's bring ikigai and bioengineering forward, one career at a time.