What our clients and our young candidates think of us and our recruitment services
Every day more and more European citizens live and work in a Member State other than their country of origin, bringing different skills and new perspectives to the companies or organizations where they work. But, sometimes, finding people with the right mix of commitment, dedication and passion and who share the philosophy of our organization or company, can be a challenge.
Today we want to tell the positive impact that projects such as Your first EURES job, can have in supporting employers in the search for workers in other European countries. This is why we interviewed Fabio Bargiacchi, creator, Executive Director and co-founder with Abbot Apollinaire Malu Malu of ECES, the European Centre for Electoral Support, a foundation created in 2010 that promotes sustainable democratic development through assistance and operational support services to electoral actors.
Padova is a city located in northern Italy, just a 30-minute train ride away from Venice. It is one of the most elegant and dynamic cities in Italy. The center has excellent examples of medieval, renaissance and modern architecture, the atmosphere is unique and combines the unique blend of history and the charm of a student city. Located in the heart of the City is Pagination.com, at which Mila, 24-year-old from Germany is currently engaged in a 5-month traineeship, thanks to the Your first EURES job project.
Pagination.com is a cloud database publishing company, and offered a traineeship as an International Marketing Specialist. Although Mila studied languages, she has always been interested to have more of an insight into Marketing. For the employer, Mila had the perfect requirements as she is a German native speaker, and they were looking for someone to help them with their marketing strategy on the German market. They offered her a wide range of tasks that she could do during the traineeship including translation and marketing related tasks.
>>>> Read the full interview here
The journey undertaken by Alvaro in early 2020 was very long. His starting point, his hometown, Seville, the city of Real Alcazar, one of the most spectacular monumental complexes in the world, a cheerful, colorful and sparkling city that lives in the streets and in the great open spaces such as the huge Plaza de España, the Mara Luisa Park or the innovative Metropol Parasol. At the end of his journey the beautiful Holland, its tulips, the flat areas and canals to travel on two wheels; a jovial and culture-rich country with its small jewel cities, The Hague, Rotterdam, Maastricht, Frisia, Ultrecht, Eindhoven, Delft, chests to discover on the trail of great men, artists and philosophers.
But what prompted this 26-year-old Spaniard to embark on this journey to Europe? We asked him directly, contacting him during a work break, a few days ago: "... this is my first work experience abroad; what drove me was curiosity. Curiosity has determined the choices of my life and I have always wanted to know a new country and above all to learn a new language."
Álvaro works as an auxiliary nurse at a seniors' residence in the Netherlands ...
Brussels is home to some of the EU main institutions such as the European Commission, the European Council and the European Parliament. A city capable of enclosing a large mosaic of languages and cultures, with lots of restaurants, clubs and a lively nightlife. With 80 museums, the Royal Palace and a rich history is also an interesting artistic capital.
In this charming city we "virtually" met Livia, 29 years old, from Pordenone, Italy, who is making a traineeship at ALDA, the European Association for Local Democracy, a non-governmental organization.
"I studied computer science at a technical institute in Pordenone and I always had a great passion for graphics. After graduating – Livia told us – I worked as a programmer, but my passion for drawings, sketches, images, animation and multimedia works has always been very strong and periodically the desire to practice that profession has resurfaced in me, so, while doing several jobs, I finally decided to take specialization courses in digital graphics".
>>>>>> Read here the full interview
When we think about a project like “Your first EURES job”, our thoughts immediately go to the young people looking for a job; however, this project goes further than that. Besides being a job mobility program aimed at helping young EU citizens find a job opportunity, this program helps companies to find qualified workers who might not be available in a particular territory.
To understand the impact of a project like “Your first EURES job” for an employer, we contacted the Edmund Mach Foundation, which has been collaborating with us for many years. The Edmund Mach Foundation is a real citadel of agriculture that extends over a campus of about 14 acres with classrooms, greenhouses, laboratories, offices and a huge green area, located north of Trento, Italy, in the municipality of San Michele all'Adige. It is a prestigious institution founded in 1874, which has accomplished important international achievements over the years.
As Daniele Barbacovi - psychologist, Coordinator of the Human Resources Development Unit of the Mach Foundation - told us, this organization operates on multiple fronts: "it has three centers: an education and training center which includes an agricultural institute with one thousand students enrolled every year; a research and innovation center which operates in Agriculture, Food and Environment areas and employs most of the international human resources, including youth selected by the YfEj project; and a technology transfer center, which is responsible for transferring national and international research activities into the Trentino area in support of agricultural entrepreneurs, public entities and private companies in general".
>>>>>> Read here the full interview
The following story is about a young woman who has combined the passion for a profession with the great willpower necessary to find the job opportunity she had always looked for.
Maria Elena, 32 years old, graduated in Surveying and Mapping, after high school continued to work on her skills in order to cope with the great difficulties of finding a job in her home region in Italy, where the youth unemployment rate is very high.
Although she studied surveying, Maria Elena has always cared about "people's smiles"; in fact, her only great desire has always been to work as a dental assistant. Maria Elena's path was a difficult one, as she told us: "I started working at a dental practice in my home town with no prospects, with an undetermined working time and few job guarantees; but my desire to learn the job I had always dreamed of since I was a teen pushed me to take the challenge. After all, the scent of antiseptic, the feeling of cleanliness, calm, order and silence that belongs with dental studies had always fascinated me. On the other hand, however, I had to deal with the frustration of uncertainty, as very often work reality is different from how you have imagined it."
In the Louvre Museum in Paris, there is a beautiful painting by Jacques-Louis David that represents a battle. It takes place in 480 BC: on the one side the Spartan troops, led by Leonidas, on the other, the Persian army. An unequal clash, with an already marked outcome: there were only 300 Spartans against many more Persians. Leonidas was aware that it was a suicide battle, but he still wanted to fight. David, fascinated by the legendary Spartans’ courage, decided to paint the picture to celebrate those brave warriors. At the center is Leonidas, who stands out above all the others. He wears no armour, only a helmet, a cloak, a shield, and a sword, ready to fight against a better organized and more numerous enemy.
So, like Leonidas and his soldiers, many young people, as mobile workers, have lived and are experiencing an exceptional, unexpected and difficult situation due to the Covid-19 emergency. We thought that it was time to get to know their stories, their motivations and share them.
Our journey through the stories of the young European mobile workers, starts with Alberto, 25 years old from Milan, currently engaged in a 6-month internship in Paris, thanks to the Your first EURES job project (...)
>>>>>> Read here the full interview
"As a company using the mobility scheme of YfEj from 2013, we would like to express our sincere gratitude and satisfaction from the received services. The programme facilitates the recruitment process and speeds up the process of finding jobseekers. The mobile platform for submission of the relevant documents simplified the application process.
(...) YfEj facilitates the transition into the labour market of young mobile workers."
"When I decided to leave from my country I felt disoriented: to learn another language, to understand another organizational system, another way of living and working were some of my biggest issues at that time. In my first experience I have unfortunately suffered (...). I had already decided to give up, when suddenly I have received a very good proposal through your first EURES job. This wonderful project has supported me financially and bureaucratically in employment, social and language adaptation in Germany, where I still live and where every day feel my work an my expertise recognized and I am happy and proud to be a European citizen. I would recommend anyone this project! Work is dignity! "
"YFEJ is a perfect way for us to find new young motivated employees from abroad. We hired at least 20-30 new employees during the last 2-3 years with the help of YFEJ. (...)
For us the program brings a lot of advantages. We get a lot of very good and well educated applicants and we also get financial help in order to offer them a well organised onboarding and training program."
One year later, Fabio is able to look back on his experience and how important it has been for him: "You get into this experience with a very nice first step which will make it much, much easier, so I think definitely yes, I would advide anyone to do that!"
Agata, a young Italian nurse ready to transfer in UK to work in a public hospital.
Thanks to Fabio who accepted to recount his experience within YfEj initiative for a video realised by the European Commission for the European Year of Citizens 2013!
"Thank you very much to give to young people the opportunity to get an experience abroad. I love my job in Spain, I improved my Spanish a lot and my employer will probably contract me for a longer time. This program is great. Please continue. Thank you."
"MSX International is the leading global provider of outsourced business solutions and technology services with more than 70 years of industry experience and over 4,500 industry experts in 48 countries. The long-term success of our business needs talents with different expertise and background that are able to bring fresh ideas and points of view. The really international atmosphere and the diversity of culture, age and lifestyle give us a booster to meet the business need of the Customer and to supply best practices on time and with efficiency. This is the reason why we are looking for talents from all over the World."
"We joined Your first Eures job with enthusiasm as it is an active employment policy and it makes easier for employers to provide opportunities for young people to gain first hand experience of the workplace. Increasingly, geographical mobility is recognised as constitutive of most careers and business competitiveness. Europe has a long way to go in order to make such mobility possible. It is an ambitious task, and one that will undoubtedly require the active engagement of both the public and private sector."
