The Kyiv Post Employment Fair attracted 700 visitors and more than 40 companies to the Ukrainian House in Kyiv on March 31.
The job fair is a biannual recruiting event with a 13-year history of career matchmaking.
The attendees had an opportunity to talk to the representatives of the participating companies, learn in detail about their job openings, file applications on the spot and network. Both employers and job seekers said they found the event very useful.
Ehor Dovhopolyi, who studies law in Borys Hrinchenko Kyiv University, said that he came to the fair to look at the job offers and learn about the law firms operating on the Ukrainian market.
He said that he prefers to look for a job at recruiting events rather than online.
“Here you have an opportunity to talk to people,” Dovhopolyi says.
More than 40 banking, consulting, technology, web development, law, retail and public service agencies and companies were looking for employees at the fair.
Most of the companies’ representatives agree that an ideal candidate should have field-specific education and developed soft skills, such as communication and self-presentation. They also emphasize the importance of having a strong grasp of the English language.
Vasyl Beloivanov, an engineer from BIIR and the company’s representative at the fair, says that they have already gathered many professional engineers from all over Ukraine. However, as they grow and develop, they plan to build a new office and strengthen the company by hiring more employees.
“The search for new people is a never-ending process,” Beloivanov told the Kyiv Post.
Expert advice
The fair featured inspirational talks and discussions.
Among them was a discussion panel with government employees to introduce the peculiarities of public service to the job seekers.
Iryna Lytovchenko from the Ministry of Health, Dmytro Shevchuk from the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers and Iuliya Zaichenko from the Ministry of Justice shared their stories of choosing a public office over careers in private sector and opportunities abroad.
They all work for the strategic planning departments and hope to make a significant contribution to the overall performance of the government.
“(We have come) to look for ways of implementing strategies because very often they remain only on the paper,” Shevchuk said.
They also said that the procedure of applying for a job in the Ukrainian government doesn’t take much time and can be done online. However, the selection is demanding.
Lytovchenko says that the selection challenges both professional knowledge and the soft skills of the candidates.
Some Ukrainian experts and leaders held seminars and gave speeches.
Aliona Shkrum, a lawmaker with the 20-member Batkivshchyna faction in parliament, gave an inspirational speech about the importance of dreaming big.
She told the story of how she wanted to study at the University of Cambridge and managed to get a scholarship only from the fourth try.
“Listen to yourself and try to understand what makes you happy,” Shkrum said.
She also recommended finding a mentor who could support and criticize, as well as learning how to work in a team.
Liliya Savych, HR director at Leroy Merlin, told the attendees about the challenges of the modern world and the concept of VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity of general conditions and situations) and how to fight them.
The CEO at Eterna Law, Maryna Fomenko, talked about applying for a job in a classic law company, while founding partners at financial technology law firm Brightman Dmytro Honcharenko and Krystyna Nyemchynova introduced to the audience their vision of a modern lawyer.
General Director at Red Bull Ukraine Tetyana Lukinyuk talked about marketing and gave advice on how to pursue a successful career.
She said that it’s extremely important to enjoy the occupation a person chooses.
“You will build no career, have no success, and implement no cool projects if you don’t love what you do.”
