At least 800 people and 35 companies participated in the Kyiv Post Employment Fair on April 6 at Toronto-Kyiv business center. For many job seekers the fair brought them a step closer to starting a successful career, either at home or abroad. Meanwhile, for participating companies it was a chance to get in contact with fresh talent and boost their image as top employers.
On the employer side, there was demand across the whole spectrum of professions, from agriculture to computer science, engineering, law, management, and pharmaceutics. As ever, foreign employers were looking to tap the best-qualified Ukrainian talent, but there were companies who were looking to fill positions that don’t require a university diploma: For instance, Moments Group was on the lookout for promising waiters, cooks, and barmen to work in their network of cafes and restaurants.
Some applicants were up at 5 a. m. to make it to the fair. “I graduated from university four years ago,” said Veronika Hryshchenko, who came to the fair from Korosten — a town of 64,000 people in Zhytomyr Oblast, 164 kilometers north-west of Kyiv.
“I don’t work or live in Kyiv, although I studied in Kyiv,” Hryshchenko said. “Now I want to find a job here, because I want to develop myself as long as I have a chance to realize my potential in my career.”
Hryshchenko said Kyiv offers far more opportunities and vacancies compared to her native Korosten. Besides making contacts and talking to potential employers, she decided to listen to a motivational speech by one of the fair’s special guests — Svitlana Zalishchuk, a Ukrainian lawmaker from the EuroOptimists group.
The world is calling
Attendees of this latest of the Kyiv Post’s semiannual jobs fair found that a job abroad is only an application away for job seekers in Kyiv. The Sabis international network of private schools was offering Ukrainian teachers a chance to work in the oil-rich countries of the Middle East. And NatWest, a UK banking group, was scouting for Ukrainian talent to join its support and competency center in Warsaw.
NatWest employs 1,500 people in the Polish capital, and around five percent of those employees come from Ukraine. “I work for finance department and I have a lot of great colleagues from Ukraine in NatWest,” said bank representative Adriana Mrowczynska. “So we’re looking at the Ukrainian market and we want to be visible as a brand. If (people in Ukraine) are looking for a job in the banking sector, in the data sector, if they have analytic minds, why not try to move to Poland and work for NatWest?”
Salaries for graduates start at around 900 euros per month at NatWest, which is a tight budget given the cost of living in Warsaw — but enough for a start. However, Ukrainian graduate of Kyiv School of Economics and current NatWest employee Volodymyr Mytsko said that it was worthwhile starting a career with his current employer. “My position is now data analyst, and it’s the next level up (from where I started). We have a lot of projects (and) it’s always up to me and up to my knowledge and motivation (to grow professionally with NatWest).”
Up to the challenge
Ukrainian companies are taking up the challenge from international competitors for talent: For instance, job announcements aggregator Jooble is now in the top‑5 of job search web-pages globally. Although company representatives declined to give the exact figures of starting salaries, they were upbeat when asked if they could compete with NatWest in terms of salaries.
Moreover, Jooble imports talent to Ukraine said Olesya Dzyoba from Jooble. “(We have people who) have moved to Ukraine and joined our team. Several guys came from Africa and one from Pakistan.”
“We found one of them through our common acquaintance and ex-Jooble employee, who is a native of Brazil,” Dzyoba said.
But knowing languages is not the only requirement to join Jooble’s team in Kyiv. “The person must fit into the company at the level of values. We need people with initiative, good communication skills, who are able to think like project owners and take complex decisions. We treat all candidates the same. There are no advantages (given) to foreigners or Ukrainians,” said Oksana Ogneva, another Jooble representative.
However, she said foreigners do get additional support from a special company employee charged with helping them settle in Ukraine. Currently Jooble employs six foreigners and has a total staff of about 200.
State headhunters
The stand of the National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine or NABU was one of the most popular at the fair.
Bureau detective Nadiya Polkhovska was there to search for potential colleagues. She said competition is fierce to become a NABU detective, and the selection process lasts about six months.
Marharyta Zhyvaha, a NABU spokeswoman, said that applicants need to have university education in order to qualify for any position in the bureau. “This is a mandatory condition to qualify for any public service position,” Zhyvaha said. Future detectives need to have a law degree and two years of legal experience in order to qualify for participation in the bureau’s selection competition.
Students of law can, however, do an internship with a NABU detective. “We welcome students (for internships) to show them various aspects of detective work, what it’s all about,” Polkhovska told the Kyiv Post. She recommended the would-be detectives undergoing the five-stage selection process to “prepare well for each of the stages, remember that legislation-related questions can always come up in the written test, be patient with the step-by-step selection, and be completely honest when answering the bureau psychologist’s questions.”
During her motivational speech, lawmaker Svitlana Zalishchuk called on the young crowd in front of her to take an interest in politics: “Politics is one of the most interesting and relevant spheres in human decision making, and for engaging people,” she said. For Zalishchuk “politics is a sphere in which we create the reality that will dominate the world and Ukraine.” She especially called on women to enter politics: “Twelve percent (of lawmakers in parliament being women) is too little. I’d really want to see more. We’re working on a gender quotas law, and I whole-heartily call on young women not to succumb to self-doubt, but dare to be much more active, believe in yourselves so you can move forward (to political careers).”
Zalishchuk’s speech was followed by seminars organized by participating companies. Engineering company BIIR Ukraine described careers in the sphere of alternative electricity production. OSCE staffers from Ukraine and Norway spoke on starting and making a career in international organizations, while Nexia DK gave an in-depth introduction to the world of auditing and consulting.
Hryshchenko’s main takeaway from visiting the Kyiv Post Employment Fair was that she needed to brush up on her English: “A lot of the employers there require knowledge of English, which I don’t speak well. So, I need to develop in this direction, too. I have long had plans (to study English) but now I’ve once again realized that it’s high time to get it done. Not just think, but do.”
