Finding a job after graduation is especially difficult this year. First, almost all employers require work experience, which is difficult to get while studying at a higher educational establishment. Second, there long has been an imbalance between demand and supply of professions on the job market: school-leavers pursue their education to become lawyers, economists, or managers, while the job market needs engineers, teachers, doctors, turners, and metalworkers. Hence the problem: one can have a diploma and professional training, but there are no places available. Even those who manage to find a job in their profession are often required to pass a probationary term (often unpaid). Only then are they accepted to an official position. Maybe.
According to the information of the State Employment Service, there are currently over 400,000 vacancies in Ukraine. Out of them, 13,000 vacancies are for people who don’t have professional training or don’t require a special preparation. And there are around 400,000 graduates annually, according to the Ministry of Education and Science.
“The greatest demand is for highly qualified workers – metalworkers, turners, electro-gas welders, drivers, workers repairing electric equipment, and other representatives of skill professions,” told The Day deputy director of the State Employment Service Maryna Ahlotkova. “The demand for specialists of a higher level, top-managers, and also economists, managers, doctors, and engineers with a relevant work experience and a high level of qualification, and also highly qualified IT-specialists remains strong. It’s hardest to find work in agriculture, the processing industry, construction, trade, and repairs. One should remember that under any economic conditions a worker’s professionalism is valued most of all. Employers require more than just a diploma, they want profound knowledge and some work skills. Consequently, there is always a need for highly qualified personnel.”
Students themselves suppose that in order to have a good and well paid job, one should obligatorily have knowledge and ability to work (this is the opinion of 65 percent). This information has been recently made public by the Horshenin Institute, which conducted a sociological research on the topic “Students in Today’s Ukraine.” According to the survey, most of the respondents consider initiative to be extremely important, and 41 percent are sure that work experience is necessary. At the same time, apart from work experience, employers put qualifications first among their requirements for employees.
“For employers it’s not important whether the specialist is young or not, but whether he or she is qualified,” explains the department director of the Confederation of Employers Kyrylo Tkachenko. “If a young person worked and studied simultaneously, had an internship, it’s a big plus for them. But such a possibility [to get an internship. – Author] is provided only by the so-called advanced companies, which elaborate special programs for students. In Ukraine this still has a non-systemic character. Therefore the problem of employment lies in the absence of qualification. Employers require an ability to work in a team, learn, take on responsibilities, take an active social position, and in addition – possess basic competences. The knowledge of a foreign language would be a plus too. With every year these requirements increase – we live in an information society and 80 percent of data provided is in English. Thus, the knowledge of a foreign language is not the whim of employers, but a requirement of our times.”
Specialists also suggest getting rid of the stereotype that if one has a higher education diploma, it is enough for one’s whole life. According to Kyrylo Tkachenko, with the passage of time some professions cease to exist, new ones appear, for example, in the sphere of information technologies. Therefore people should adapt to changes and to the fact that perhaps one will have to change one’s profession. Maybe even more than once. This has been a norm in many European countries for a long time.
What professions should school-leavers look at today? Experts in Russia compiled a ranking of professions which are in highest demand for graduates of higher educational establishments. The first place goes to specialists from the sphere of information technologies and engineers. In Ukraine the situation is almost the same. As they explained at the Confederation of Employers, besides specialties connected with informational technologies and industrial production, agricultural workers are also very popular at the moment. Specialists bet on these fields, as they correspond to strategic directions of development in Ukraine. One more direction which experts draw the attention of school-leavers to is energy-saving technologies. Sooner or later Ukraine will start going in that direction, so demand for energy specialties will increase, specialists believe.
But while specialists share advice on where to look for a job, in some higher educational establishments the fifth- and sixth-year graduates already require documents confirming their employment. I’m more than sure that most of these documents are forged, because to find a job, moreover in one’s profession, is not easy for a young person. And one can obtain qualification and experience only at the companies where special programs for students function.
“I know a few companies which realize a program of personnel preparation and conclude bilateral contracts with educational establishments on specialist preparation for their students,” continued Tkachenko. “Unfortunately, there is no single and big database of such companies in Ukraine. That is why I’d suggest that young specialists should pay attention to big companies or companies with foreign capital. As a rule, they are interested in the preparation of students who would return to work for them after graduation. And such companies practically evaluate the potential of their employee. A year ago some human resources agencies also dealt with a similar practice and helped students get internships. Another way to facilitate finding a job is a more balanced evaluation of the choice of the future profession. Professional orientation work in Ukraine is still in a nascent state, and a respective resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers was adopted about measures regarding this. Therefore students must do something by themselves, too. There are many sources of information where one can search for employment possibilities. There is nothing bad in getting practice at one company, and then one more at another one. A person will get some experience of working in a team, and it will be an advantage.”
On the one hand, specialists are right that students should be more active. On the other hand, activeness does not always lead to positive results. Anyway, no one needs you without work experience. For no one is interested in teaching a young person from the very beginning and wasting money on preparatory courses. Especially if they can employ an already qualified specialist. That is why specialists or masters possessing red diplomas with distinction have to go into trade or services. Such conditions lead to the situation that most of students rely only on themselves; this is proved by the data of the Horshenin Institute. But in spite of this young people believe that the state should take care of their employment. Moreover, Ukrainian legislation presupposes providing the young specialists with their first jobs. But in the majority of cases one has to look for it by oneself.
