It was an unusual start to the weekend for Zhenya Halych, the lead singer of rock band O. Torvald, which will represent Ukraine at Eurovision 2017 in Kyiv this May.
Halych took to the stage, but didn’t sing. Instead, he shared his advice and motivation with the attendees of the Kyiv Post Employment Fair – a biannual recruiting event with a 12-year track record in career matchmaking – held at Olympic Stadium on March 25.
“Believe in your dreams,” Halych said. “We’ve been playing in garages for years… and always had to prove (that we were worth something). Our dream finally came true. Our rock band will represent Ukraine at Eurovision.”
But dreaming is not enough to land a good job. Persistence, the right qualifications and stamina are important too.
These are some of takeways from the career fair, which allowed some 30 leading companies to meet up with applicants and get to know each other. The list of participating companies included Porsche Ukraine LLC, the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Beetroot, Lifecell, Brain Source International, PwC, L’Oréal Ukraine, Smart IT, ProCredit bank, Mazars, EBS, Baker Tilly Ukraine and others.
Good careers advice was also in abundance.
During the panel discussion, Dutch psychologist and professor at University of Amsterdam Kilian Wawoe said: “Finding a job follows the same logic as finding a partner in life. So if you go to somebody that you don’t know and start offering yourself, normally that doesn’t work.” Wawoe suggested to get to know the place one wants to work first, and then send a CV.
“Don’t send off random CVs, because most of the time you don’t even get a reply.” Wawoe added.
Ukrainian restaurateur Dmytro Borysov shared his life story with the attendees. Borysov started working in advertising business at the age of 15, and he later got into the restaurant business. His first eatery – Barsuk – opened its doors in 2009. That first venture is a high-end beer and food joint offering a wide selection of tasty food, beer and wine. Now Borysov’s “family of restaurants” includes 10 venues. The latest one – Chicken Kyiv – opened in downtown Kyiv a week ago.
There’s no secret strategy that he follows, Borysov said. “Look, now I raise five children and own 10 restaurants. Usually I have to wake up at 6 a.m. to do everything.” Borysov himself works on the menues of his restaurants and communicates with farmers that supply fresh meat, eggs and dairy products to his venues.
There was some good news from the IT industry as well. Bearing it was Swedish entrepreneur Andreas Flodström, the CEO and founder of the Beetroot IT company, which specializes in building teams of developers and designers from Ukraine, arrived in Ukraine four years ago.
He sees great potential within the country: “For an entrepreneur, Ukraine is like a land of opportunities. Because in everything that is dysfunctional, there is a business opportunity, right? And if you can, then combine a business opportunity with making an impact that actually drives society forward.”
Driving society forward is Flodström’s goal and that is why he also founded the “Beetroot Academy”, a Swedish school that prepares students for a career in IT.
The first group of students completed the course in 2014 and currently courses are being offered in five Ukrainian cities: Chernihiv, Kyiv, Poltava, Kramatorsk and Odessa. But Flodström has bigger plans. They aim to expand from 5 to 20 academies by 2018. This will allow them to educate 2,000 people every year.
Flodström sees IT expertise as a tool for a solid, future career. As for his own career, Flodström has decided to leave his home country for a certain reason: “Here in Ukraine, I just feel that I get more impact from my work than I get at home in Sweden. …I like this sort of dynamic here. For me, when I go back to Sweden, I feel a little bit limited. I feel like I am in a box because everything is so planned, and I am quite spontaneous.”
The main advice from many speakers, including lawmaker Mustafa Nayyem and Yulia Tychkivska, former Vice President of Kyiv School of Economics and co-founder of Bendukidze Free Market Centre where she heads Education Reform team is to focus on education – even online courses might be of big help. Denys Zhadanov, CEO of Ukraine-based Readdle, known for iOS apps like PDF Expert, said finding mentors also can boost one’s career.
Improving practical skills during various internships is another key to a succesfull career, according to Roman Borysenko, a deputy governor of the National Bank of Ukraine.
“We are open for the generation Z,” Borysenko says.
