On April 19th, a graduation ceremony was held for the program’s participants and mentors. The program had 42 participants, of which 28 successfully completed one of the following tracks: Frontend Development, Backend Development, Software Testing, Project Management, or UX/UI Design.
Over a period of five weeks, participants were given extensive support and guidance by a team of professional mentors who specialize in IT and HR. The team consisted of Veaceslav Bezusco for Frontend development, Sasha Pleshco for UX/UI design, Oliga Nikolenko for Project Management, Anastasia Sersun for Backend development, Natalia Nezalzov and Dina Gritco for QA, and Chrystina Chemerska for HR and soft skills. The mentors provided two working sessions per week, which allowed participants to sharpen their skills and work on the hiring process
The aim of the Careeraid Mentorship Program was to help individuals at the beginning of their professional journey acquire the skills and abilities that employers are seeking. The program was free for Ukrainians and was hosted online, starting on March 13th and concluding on April 16th.
At the graduation ceremony, Technovator CEO Maria Nemciuc shared the story of the project’s creation and achievements. Mary mentioned that “Careeraid was born out of the idea to help Ukrainian professionals get employed by European companies. We created a database of job vacancies and opportunities, but even though the companies were open to employing specialists from Ukraine, job seekers did not have the required skills to pass the recruitment process. Therefore, we decided to take a step forward and help not only with job search but also with interview preparation.”
During the ceremony, three guests shared their success stories of switching from different, unrelated domains to IT and their path to a successful career in the IT domain.
Elena Danilova, an A/B testing optimization analyst at Orange Systems, shared her story of switching from accounting to front-end development. With a diploma in accounting and 8 years of experience as an accountant at Tez Tour company, forced by the pandemic situation and her maternal leave, Elena took the decision to start over in IT.
“In 2021, I found some courses and decided to test myself in the IT domain. Of course, I had a huge number of doubts, but even though I decided to try, and thanks to that, I understood what my calling was. A huge role in my formation and path had my mentor. Having a person who can guide you, show you the path, and give specific guidance is crucial. In a short period, after finishing the course and with the help of my mentor, I got an interview scheduled at Orange Systems.”
At the end of the celebration session, the participants expressed their delight and admiration for the progress made during the program, as well as for the support and knowledge provided by the mentorship.
Irina Kramar, a participant in the program said that ”This course and experience have been incredibly valuable and helpful for me! First and foremost, the mentors have provided structure to all the job search processes and motivated me to be disciplined in this challenging endeavour. Grateful for the abundance of insights and practical methods to enhance my effectiveness in the job search process. For delivering well-structured, highly relevant material in the field, and for emphasizing what to pay attention to and what to prepare for. Thank you so much, Careeraid, for your support, your time, and your willingness to help.”
They also mentioned that they are prepared and excited to start their professional journey in the IT field.
The Careeraid Mentorship program was organized by Technovator with the support of the European Fund for South-East Europe (EFSE).
