The Kyiv Post Employment Fair, hosted this year in a new venue at Kyiv’s Osvitoria hub, welcomed more than 200 guests on Oct. 8 to interact with major Ukrainian and international companies.
This year’s fair was the first “offline” event held by Kyiv Post Employment since fall 2019. Due to the global coronavirus pandemic, the Kyiv Post’s employment events had been forced online, where it hosted several online seminars on careers advice and job interview tips.
Banks, government agencies, law firms, food companies, job sites, and major hotel companies were all in attendance, offering tips on how to land a job, find new opportunities, or sit the perfect interview.
The event mostly gathered students and graduates eager to get to know each company’s HR presence and employment opportunities, but many visitors also attended the fair looking to change employment in important corporate positions.
Back in business
The recruitment industry had a hard time in 2020. The global pandemic forced many companies to lay off record numbers of staff, stop scouting for new talent, and relocate many jobs online.
This year, HR managers came to the employment fair with a positive outlook, bringing with them information about exciting job vacancies, corporate programs, and internships.
ProCredit Bank Ukraine presented many job postings at the fair and has also increased the vacancies on its website this year. Anna Stolbova, HR manager for the company, stated that she believed that the employment market had opened back up after the pandemic.
“Now, it’s easier for employees to find a job,” she said.
Some of the vacancies promoted at the fair included financial analyst positions with the National Bank of Ukraine, client-facing positions at Kyiv’s Premier Palace Hotel, graduate legal positions at Golaw, and contract work with car-importer Winner.
Lydumila Olshevksa, a recruiter for Winner, said that some of the attendees of the fair were now in contention to win positions at the company.
“We had one person, looking for an administrative position…she gave us her CV, we asked her to follow our site and find some of the vacancies,” the recruiter said.
“Now we’ve just had a phone interview…It was successful and I feel like maybe we can close this vacancy using this.”
Corporate exhibitors displayed vibrant stalls emblazoned with their corporate branding and gave away corporate merchandising and promotional materials. Many employers stated that the employment fair had been a useful tool to meet candidates and strengthen the HR image of their brands.
National Bank of Ukraine HR manager Natalia Zhuravlyova said that events like the Kyiv Post Employment Fair are an excellent opportunity for employers.
“We think that these events are very important because we understand that we can show ourselves, see different candidates, and invite them to work at the NBU,” Zhuravlyova said.
Job-seeker tips and tricks
Employers at the event spent a lot of time speaking with young professionals and advising them how to get the most out of an interview. Some of the HR managers at the fair were asked to provide some of their tips and tricks for excelling at a job interview.
HR manager for Golaw Daria Parafinyk said it starts with the resume. It should be a properly structured resume, in which the information is clearly stated about previous job experiences, education, and the year of graduation.
“The selection of an ideal candidate, of course, always starts with your CV,” she said.
Iryna Sitnikova, talent head at French multinational food company Danone in Ukraine, during a seminar at the event, highlighted that the key to professional progression during the pandemic was having a “growth mindset.”
By nurturing self-development and learning, jobseekers could start a cycle of personal development which she called her “growth agility model.”
The NBU recruits some of the greatest financial talents in Ukraine and competition for positions is fierce. Despite the easing of quarantine measures, the central bank has not increased the number of positions it hires for.
However, according to Zhuravlyova, candidates should not be afraid to apply to vacancies. “You should come to an interview, just show us your potential, your hard and soft skills, and that’s all,” she said.
Government opportunities
The National Agency of Ukraine for Civil Service also had a presence at the fair. The Agency hires candidates for a number of positions in different ministries in Ukraine, both for national and regional administrations.
Irina Tymchenko, a representative of the agency, came to the event to talk to jobseekers about career opportunities in government.
According to her, competition for the civil service is not as difficult as it seems and doesn’t require previous experience. The preconception that it is difficult to work in government couldn’t be further from reality, Tymchenko told the Kyiv Post.
“A student can come even if he has not worked anywhere else before,” Tymchenko said.
Ukraine has recently embarked on an ambitious program of digital transformation. In 2019, the Ukrainian government even established a new ministry to achieve this goal. This has opened up many opportunities to graduates in the field of IT who are taking their first steps into the job market.
“Such specialists are needed in every ministry,” Tymchenko said.
The agency representative advised interested jobseekers to “be confident in their own abilities.” The agency provides specific advice on its website about how to properly prepare for an interview in the civil service and tips on how to reach a candidate’s potential.
English’s value
A mastery of the English-language can open many doors for candidates in Ukraine. University students in Ukraine are required to take at least one foreign language as part of their degree. Students in Ukraine now study up to 432 hours of foreign languages per year, with English being the most popular foreign language.
“Our perfect candidate knows English well, of course, from an intermediate level,” said Stolbova, HR manager for ProCredit Bank Ukraine. Almost all employers at the event highlighted the importance of the English language and its use in work life.
Most major employers stated that they were actively looking for English-speaking candidates. Premier Palace Hotel considers it to be essential for client-facing positions, legal firm Golaw stated that it was important for dealing with international clients, and the NBU has English as a requirement for its positions.
English can even be a useful asset in the field of journalism in Ukraine. The Kyiv Post had its own stall at the fair, where it advertised editorial vacancies which require a high level of English competency.
The Kyiv Post Employment continues to regularly post and update new job vacancies on the newspaper’s website. Those looking to attend future events and online seminars are welcome to follow the Kyiv Post Employment Facebook page.
The Kyiv Post expects to host its next employment fair in spring 2022.
