There is a job! Tips on job search and adaptation for IDPs

The war in Ukraine has led to large-scale migration of the population; according to the UN, as of August 2023, there are more than 8 million internally displaced persons in Ukraine. For many of them, finding a job and adapting to a new environment is one of the most important and difficult tasks.

*internal statistics of robota.ua

According to the State Employment Service, as of August 1, 2023, the number of unemployed in Ukraine decreased to 112,300 compared to last year's figure of 296,700.

At the same time, according to the analysis of Ukraine's largest job search portal, robota.ua, the labor market is recovering and the number of vacancies has already reached 87% of the pre-war level.

The greatest demand for labor is observed in Kyiv and its region, as well as in Lviv, Dnipropetrovs'k, Odesa, and Kharkiv regions. This is due to the fact that these regions are the most economically developed and have the largest number of enterprises.

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Let's move on to the main issues.

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So you're in a new city and you need to adapt and find a new job, or feel safe and comfortable in a new city, where do you start?

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First: take care of your psychological state, because to be able to work effectively and adapt to a new life, you must first take care of yourself.

We advise you to seek help from a psychologist, as there are many useful initiatives available today, including free sessions with a therapist, such as the service https://tellme.com.ua or the psychological assistance platform https://uamentalhelp.org/mental-help/, as well as the very easy and quick-to-use chatbot Friend.

Secondly, do not forget about your family and friends, share your experiences with them and do not be ashamed of your feelings, because your health and inner state cannot be "not in time"

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Once you feel ready to move on, determine the level of your qualifications and skills, your strengths and weaknesses. Determine what kind of work you can do best and in which direction you would like to move in the future, because a clear understanding of the vector of professional movement will not only relieve you of worries, but also help you maintain confidence during an interview with a potential employer. This way, you will be able to reinforce the seriousness of your intentions and build a trusting relationship.

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If you have identified a few weaknesses, think of them as areas for development and start working on improving those skills. Once you have a list, it's time to start looking for education and training programs that will help you reach your desired career goal faster and more efficiently.

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You can also seek help from career counseling specialists, such as the project "Career Guidance. Career. Entrepreneurship" project, which aims to support those Ukrainian citizens who have found themselves unemployed due to a forced change of residence and need assistance in finding a job and adapting to the conditions of the region of residence.

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Even if the situation today does not suit you and you are forced to build your life from scratch, having formed internal supports and having a clear plan of action will give you the desired level of self-confidence and peace of mind for tomorrow...

How to move from plan to action?

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Job search is also a job. Accordingly, this process requires a systematic approach, investment of your time, and quality preparation.

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1. Assess your experience and the labor market. We provide an analysis of the most popular professions and emerging industries in this article below.
2. Create a list of professions that interest you.
3. Check the relevance of your resume, add to it if necessary, or update it. You can use convenient templates in Canva or the resume builder on robota.ua.
4. Set aside time every day to browse job sites and respond to interesting vacancies.

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Where to look for vacancies:

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• employment centers or labor exchanges;

• Facebook pages of cities (cities, district centers where you live), professional Facebook communities;
• networking events and professional or industry offline meetings;
• job search sites and telegram channels, by the way, a cool database has been compiled by Happy Monday in this article.

*Set up a subscription or a bot notification from job search sites. This way, you will receive notifications of newly posted jobs and can quickly send your resume. A recruiter may close a job a few hours after it's posted if there are a lot of responses, so don't miss your chance.

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5. Say that you are looking for a job. Write about it on your social networks. Ask for recommendations from friends and acquaintances who have already found a job.
6. Prepare for interviews and follow professional ethics when meeting employers.

*Write down new or interesting questions from recruiters, especially if this is the first time you've been asked such a question. After the meeting, you can analyze your answer and prepare for the future.

7. Customize your LinkedIN profile: fill it out 100% and indicate that you are open to new offers, indicating the area in which you are located.

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Don't expect instant solutions. The main idea is to build an automatic repetition of certain actions without evaluation. Gradually, you will see a certain result, followed by a decrease in the level of fear and uncertainty.

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If you don't receive feedback from employers for a long time, or you don't reach the last stage, you should analyze the main patterns.
For example, if you don't receive feedback from recruiters on your resume, review your resume and start adding a cover letter when responding to vacancies. If you receive a rejection after talking to a company representative, ask for their feedback on the interview and professional advice. Most will be happy to share their impressions and experience. This will allow you to quickly understand what needs to be adjusted.

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P.S. A series of lectures from Happy Monday on job search during the war will help you prepare for the job search at the link.

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In which industries is there a shortage of specialists?

When looking for a job, you should also pay attention to the state of the industry and its development prospects. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, there has been a decline in demand for tourism and IT services in Ukraine, while the rapid growth of the Military Tech sector can be noted, which is only increasing and will potentially maintain demand after the war is over. The number of vacancies is also increasing in agriculture, HoReCa, banking, FMCG, retail, and telecom. At the same time, there is a shortage of job seekers for electrical engineers, cooks, internet connection technicians, b2b loan managers, and tractor drivers.

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76.1% of companies surveyed by the job search service robota.ua report a shortage of staff, so if you are considering a career change, you should focus on the most popular areas.

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Currently, there are a large number of online learning products that will help you learn a new profession or improve your skills in your profession in a short time. An innovation in the education sector was the creation of Diia.Osvita, where everyone can gain important knowledge for their own success for free.

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IDPs can also receive vouchers for education from the state by contacting the State Employment Service, details are available here .

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TOP-5 vacancies in Ukraine and average salary according to robota.ua today:

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1. Sales assistant (UAH 13,900)
2. Manual worker (UAH 15,800)
3. Driver (UAH 28,100)
4. Cook (UAH 16,500)
5. Accountant (UAH 16,800)

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And what about salaries?

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Myth or reality? We analyze the thesis about the poor attitude of employers to IDPs and how to fight it

Unfortunately, the problem of IDPs in Ukraine has existed for many years, as more than 9 years have passed since the start of russian aggression on our territories. However, employers were clearly not prepared for the increase in the number of internally displaced persons. That is why today we face certain prejudices, including:

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1. Instability of employees' intentions for long-term cooperation

Employers are interested in long-term cooperation with an employee, as it allows for clear strategic planning and reduces the cost of constant search and onboarding of new specialists.

What to do about it: Indicate your actual place of residence on your resume, not your potential or past residence. Prepare a detailed answer to this question at the interview about your intentions and plans. The main thing is to be honest with yourself.

2. Problems with documents

Yes, we live in a time when you can file for a divorce in Diia in a few minutes, but this technological progress can also stop an inexperienced employer from making a decision regarding an IDP.

What to do with this? Part 2 of Article 7 of the Law of Ukraine No. 2136-IX dated March 15, 2022 "On the Organization of Labor Relations under Martial Law" for the period of martial law allows the parties to establish any available method of electronic communication by mutual agreement, not limited to the employment contract. This means that the employment relationship can be terminated online and you should take care of this before the interviews. In this case, the potential employer will not have any documentary issues. In addition, there is currently no requirement to keep an employment record book, and all these records can be kept in the personal account of the Pension Fund of Ukraine.

For legal advice, please contact the 24/7 chatbot "Legal Advisor for IDPs" at the link.

3. The language issue

It seemed that most of the problems with language skills were faced by immigrants abroad, because even English may not be enough, as many countries require knowledge of their main language, which is quite logical.

However, given the size of the Russian-speaking population in Ukraine, this is also an important and triggering topic. According to the Law of Ukraine "On Ensuring the Functioning of the Ukrainian Language as the State Language," proficiency in Ukrainian is mandatory for civil servants and service sector employees. In addition, communicating in Ukrainian within a company is often a company culture, and this norm is only gaining popularity since 2022.

What to do about it: Learn Ukrainian if you haven't already been motivated to start and talk about your successes at interviews.

The language can be improved by reading books in Ukrainian, using it in everyday life, watching videos and movies in Ukrainian. In addition, due to demand, many educational platforms have created online learning to learn more.

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How does the state help IDPs?

For everyone who is looking for a job, we have created an aggregator of vacancies from employment centers and popular job search portals, where you can find all current vacancies using filters, as the site is updated in real time: Unified Job Portal.

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The Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 331 dated 20 March 2022 "On Approval of the Procedure for Providing Employers with Compensation for Labor Costs for Employment of Internally Displaced Persons as a Result of Hostilities during Martial Law in Ukraine" stipulates that employers who have hired employees who have received the status of internally displaced persons are entitled to compensation for labor costs for the employment of such persons. And in January 2023, amendments to the procedure for providing employers with compensation for labor costs for the employment of IDPs came into force and increased the amount of monthly compensation from UAH 6,500 to UAH 6,700. However, the maximum amount of compensation that an employer can receive for the employment of one internally displaced person is UAH 13,400. Thus, the state encourages employers to hire IDPs by providing compensation for costs. A common problem is that small companies are not familiar with this law or do not want to deal with bureaucratic procedures.

Conclusions.

Now you know all the necessary information about the laws of Ukraine on employment, have a clear understanding of the situation in the country and an applied action plan for several scenarios in which you could find yourself.

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We advise you to familiarize yourself with the resources we have provided in this publication and formulate an action plan, and of course, act!

If you have any problems with your search and need expert advice, you can contact Yana Bardysh, who has extensive experience in career counseling, recruiting specialists for businesses, and mentoring in the Women for the Future project. Find Yana here:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/yana-bardysh/

https://t.me/career_bybar

bardyshhr@gmail.com

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Save the article and share it with those who might find it useful right now!

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The material was prepared by the team of the Peace for the Future Charity Foundation and career consultant Yana Bardysh. We thank the robota.ua team for providing internal statistics and important data for analyzing the current situation on the labor market in Ukraine.

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