Summer vacation time is now over and it is back to business. While the overall economic picture is far from rosy, some attractive job openings are popping up for those who know where to look.
Though unemployment remains historically high, recruitment agencies point to an uptick of job openings being posted online, which they say indicates that certain sectors are thriving.
Moreover, some of the top companies in Ukraine have lots of attractive job vacancies.
MTS, one of the leading mobile service providers and a participant of the Sept. 22 Kyiv Post Employment Fair, has around 100 vacancies nationwide, said Tetyana Syvashenko, the company’s human resource specialist.
“Recruitment in our company somewhat grew due to new projects. We have many vacancies in sales and providing subscriber services,” Syvashenko said. “We also have temporary projects for which we hire people.”
AES Ukraine, a domestic subsidiary of American energy giant AES Corporation, has around 60 openings, the majority having to do with electricity distribution in Kyiv Oblast. They are also looking for people to work at the company’s legal, financial and purchases departments.
“Our company is experiencing some shortage of SAP (business management software) consultants,” said Anastasiya Koshalko, AES’s human resources manager.
The demad is high for “sales managers in all kinds of business, starting from food products and ending with metal and other raw materials,” added German Ovcharenko, director of SuperJob recruitment portal. In terms of sought after employees “sales managers are the indisputable leaders for four years already,” he added.
As a major global outsourcing destination, Ukraine has more than 1,000 IT companies employing tens of thousands of highly educated IT professionals. The ratio of resumes is around 1.5 per IT vacancy, making it an employee’s market, added Ovcharenko. “It’s the highest ratio among all (categories of) applicants.”
By contrast, the average ratio in Kyiv is 10 resumes per one vacancy, according to an August report on the job market by HeadHunter, an Internet recruitment company.
The IT sector was also one of few industries largely unaffected by the financial crises. Salaries not only continued to increase, but are expected to grow further. According to a HeadHunter report, the average salary of a Java programmer increased by 17 percent over the last year. SuperJob estimated the current average wage at Hr 20,000. Other professionals in demand include marketing directors, PR managers, engineers and medical specialists.
Meanwhile, there seems to be more supply than demand for administrative staff positions, lawyers, accountants and teachers, with around 15 resumes per vacancy, said Ovcharenko.
Work experience remains a key selection criteria for employers. Those just starting their careers should best look for internships, often offered by Western companies.
“Beginners should focus on getting experience, instead of earning money,” argued Ovcharenko.
One alternative to applying through a company’s website or recruitment agencies, is meet potential employers directly at job fairs, like the Kyiv Post Employment Fair. “The chances of a person who comes to an employment fair are quite high, because he has the opportunity to talk directly to the HR manager and present his resume,” said Ovcharenko.
After the resume is processed, candidates meeting vacancy requirements are contacted for an interview, while others are added to the company’s databank and may be contacted when a corresponding position opens.
Effective CVs should be concise (preferably one page) and straight to the point. The resume should clearly state the position being sought. Describing achievements at previous work places, rather than merely listing responsibilities, is helpful, human resource specialists say.
When a resume is sent by email, the best way to draw attention to it is to write a sharp cover letter expressing the applicant’s interest in the company.
When it comes to a face-to-face interview, preparation is vital. You should do your research about the company and its operations, prepare answers to standard questions and dress in accordance with company’s dress code. Obviously, arriving late is out of the question.
Companies frequently make applicants go through more than one interview. At MTS, applicants face two or more interviews, where their professional skills as well as personal qualities are tested.
“We have high requirements for our candidates as well as for their personal qualities. (We test applicants for) compatibility to our corporate competency and necessary professional skills,” explained MTS’s Syvashenko.
And for the person who lands a job, positive trends are taking place on the salary front, including at MTS. “After the crises times when salaries were frozen, they were first increased in 2011 by around 10 percent,” Ovcharenko said, adding the same is expected for this year.
Kyiv Post staff writer Maryna Irkliyenko can be reached at [email protected].
Kyiv Post Employment Fair
Date: Sept. 22
Time: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Venue: Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce (33 Velyka
Zhytomyrska St.)
Participating companies: around 20 companies, including Google, KPMG, Winner, MTS, ProCredit
Bank, Lerya Merlin, Danone, AstapovLawyers and others.
Entry: Hr 20 for non-students; Hr 10 for students.
Workshops by:
Mykhailo Avdiushkiy from HeadHunters on “Optimal job search.”
Volodymyr Kashkanov from Dragon Capital on “Why work for someone
else? Trade stocks online on the Ukrainian Exchange.”
