Job Shadow Days in Minsk: feedback from participants

Job Shadow Daysin Minsk: feedback from participants

24 students from the BSU, BSEU, BNTU, MSLU, BSUIR and The Academy of Public Administration under the aegis of the President and 20 mentors from 8 companies and 2 business-associations took part in the Corporate Social Responsibility the “Job Shadow Days” initiative, which was held by the Association of European Business in November 2015.

We collected opinions of students-“shadows” about their internship in companies:

 

Christina Sivokha:

I was a shadow of the director of the HR-department in the company SoftClub! I liked it very much. I was working from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. During this period I managed to write a short article, took part in the development of a mini-project called "Quartet" (I will not reveal its essence, it is a corporate secret), went to the interview together with the HR-director. I was also assigned the task of developing three concepts of holding the Day of the Programmer in the company. This presentation I introduced to the HR-department and the brand-manager.

It is worth noting that this is a great opportunity to see what you want to do in the future and whether this profession really suits you.

It was great! Thanks a lot to the organizers!

 

AnastasiaKlyshko:

I would like to thank the Association of European Business for the opportunity to be a "shadow" in the audit company Baker Tilly Bel. This is a very good and necessary thing for students. Even as I was at school I wanted to go somewhere and see how people work. So, my long-standing wish came true. Thank you!

And I was very lucky to have Anna Gafurova as a mentor. Very nice, smart and motivating lady.

I will be pleased to recommend your project!

 

AntoninaMorozova:

I really liked this project. I got an opportunity to get acquainted with in-house working process of the Cobalt company. It was also very interesting to take notice of workers’ opinions about lawyer’s joband responsibilities. Sometimes they did not coincide at all. Thank you for this opportunity! It is a valuable experience concerning practical knowledge and realizing, whether you want to work in such type of company.

 

Angelina Moiseenko:

Hello! I spent the whole day in the "SoftClub" Company and liked it very much. We were well greeted and all the staff were friendly, which was pleasant. In the beginning we were told about the company in general and given small gifts. After that we gave our presentation (our homework was to make a presentation on the most important events for the company for the last three years). I have personally received a share of constructive criticism, which was very helpful for me. I and Anastasia, a student of the BSU, spent the whole working day with a company’s brand-manager Dmitry Voloschik

He told us how he started working in PR-sphere, gave some good tips and recommendations. Then during the day we performed the following tasks: developed the corporate calendar, wrote news. I realized that perhaps one of the most difficult thing in the job related to PR-activities is that you should always be full of fresh ideas, something unusual, extraordinary. Sometimes it's not so easy. However it is very interesting and I am not disappointed with my choice. It is really good  to spend at least one day in a company and to see what a specialist is doing . Thank you very much for this opportunity!

 

Julia Karlovich:

The Job Shadow Days have brought joy and provided a lot of new information. I was very gladto get into sucha friendly team. We had fun and I received answers to all my questions. And what is more important – They gave me a  lot of energy and inspiration. Thank you, Office Solutions !!!

 

Elena Fedulova:

First of all I would like to thank the Association of European Business for this opportunity. It was a great chance to directly ask a potential employer on all aspects that interest a young undergraduate and to make sure that you have chosen the “right” profession.

I also would like to express my gratitude to the Cobalt Company law office for care and kindness the participants of the project Job Shadow Days were treated with by employees. In a pleasant atmosphere every employee – from the managing partner Darya Zhuk to a legal assistant –  shared with us some experience and explained their vision of working in this sphere.

Special thanks to the mentor - Nikolai Artemyev, for the excellent arrangement of our day spent together with the Cobalt employees.

Job Shadowing - a great example proving that a picture worth a thousand words.

 

Maria Dubovik:

I want to express my gratitude to the Association of European Business for the creation of such a unique project as the Job Shadow Days and for the opportunity to take part in it! I was very  lucky  to get acquainted with an excellent teacher and expert, Deputy Chairman of the AEB Maryna Barouka.

As a part of the project Maryina invited me to attend a lecture on management at the Faculty of International Relations, the BSU, where she firstly explained fundamentals of the discipline in a very interesting and straightforward manner, and then gave examples of their practical application in the management system of Google.

In addition, I spent the day at the AEB office, where I had the opportunity to participate in the workshop. Maryina showed me the main documents, clarified the points that interested me, explained in details what is "management" and how to apply it in practice.

Overall, I was really glad to get the opportunity to participate in the Job Shadow Days. And I think this project is a real opportunity for students to look at the targeted activity from inside and to understand how everything works in practice. Many thanks to the AEB and Maryna Barouka!

 

Dmitry Krasyuk:

I have learned about the Job Shadow Days from my friends. I liked the idea to feel myself as a practicing lawyer straight away. So I immediately filled a CV and sent it to the given address. Soon came the reply letter with a nice message "The audit company Baker Tilly Bel approved your application and waits for you at the company's office  ... contact person and mentor - Kate Myagkaya, a lawyer".

After reading about the company and mentor ( in the modern world it is enough to enter some words in Google), I began to read up on tax legislation and auditing activities, as I didn’t  want to come to the office without an adequate level of theoretical knowledge.

And that very day arrived - 4 November, 10:00, I come into a spacious office of the audit company Baker Tilly Bel. What immediately catches the eye is a lively concentrated work of employees, though in the movies filmmakers show employees as being too busy with drinking coffee, but there is a coffee machine at the office :)

Then I was met by a man, whom I was to follow on this fascinating way - my mentor, Kate Myagkaya, Counsel. Catherine immediately struck me as a very open person, so I had no doubt that communication would be easy.

Before starting my job, I was asked to sign an agreement on non-disclosure of confidential information, as the activities of the audit company are associated with trade secret, disclosure of which is unacceptable. To give a complete picture Kate told me in details about her duties in the company, so that we could later set to work.

In addition to legal activities, Kate is involved in personnel matters. She suggested me to solve the case in the labor legislation related to the procedure of making employment agreement. After having dug in the regulations, l managed to come to the right conclusion, and later we have discussed all the details of the case with Kate.

Then I drew up the claim for recovery of funds, penalties and interests for the use of borrowed money. Kate said that in order to save time and good relationships between companies many disputes are resolved without going to court.

While analyzing the issues of taxation of individuals, I confirmed my speculations that one should always bear in mind taxes, which haunt us  everywhere, in any legally significant action :) In the beginning it wasn’t easy for me to solve the task on tax legislation, but then everything became much easier, because Kate has proved to be excellent teacher by explaining everything straightforwardly and quickly. Well what else can I add? Sheisa professional!)

Summing up, I want to note: I liked it! It was cool! And if a person who reads this review, has not yet participated in the Job Shadow Days initiative, you shouldn’t hesitate to take part in it. Thanks to the Association of European Business for the interesting project, the audit company Baker Tilly Bel for the opportunity and, of course, Kate Myagkaya for the nice work!

 

Anastasia Chepul:

If someone is hesitating, the Job Shadow Days is definitely worth a try! I prepared to "follow like a shadow," but there it was: a full working day waiting for me. The brand manager of the SoftClub Company provided an opportunity to perform the same functions as full-fledged employees. The day was very informative and rich in events. I did not event expect that it will be arranged at such a high level.

Modern education gives you the hooks clinging to which you develop yourself and learn in a selected direction, gains new knowledge outside the university. It is great, when  only yesterday you learned the theory, and tomorrow you will apply the acquired knowledge in practice. Thank you!

 

Angelika Lewandowskaya:

During one day in the Republican Confederation of Entrepreneurship, I learned what actually happens in practice, that I probably would not have found out by just flipping through textbooks – the problems in business that exist in our country and what is being done to solve them as well as what has already been done to improve the situation. Following my mentor, the Chairman of the Confederation Vladimir Nikolayevich Karyagin, I was amazed by the scope of tasks and the pace of work on his usual working day. The Job Shadowing - is a good opportunity to learn from the inside about the features of the chosen sphere of activity.

 

Tatyana Radchenko:

The Job Shadow Days for me took place in the outsourced accounting department of the company Baker Tilly Bel. I would like to express my gratitude to my mentor Anastasia, who has acquainted me with the company’s activity and has demonstrated the work of accountants in practice. I received answers to all my questions and was able to plunge into the atmosphere of a friendly team.

Thanks very much to the Association of European Business for the opportunity to participate in the Job Shadow Days! Such events are very interesting and necessary for students.

 

Daria Ermashkevich:

My JSD was at the SoftClub Company in the department of HR. There were 5 shadows in the company - two in the marketing department, two in the HR department and one person - the developer. In the morning we were met by an employee of the HR-department, and we went together to the conference room. There was given a small presentation about  the company, and then everyone could present a prepared task. For me, it was the development of the concept of the festival "February 23". Development itself - is a separate issue :), but what I really liked is that after the presentation all participants received a constructive and really useful feedback.

Then we were divided in groups, a mentor and a task were assigned to each person. I had to write an article about the SoftClub educational project «SC-Youngsters». I developed a plan of the article and an interview, conducted interviews, had a conversation with participants, supervisors and a manager of the project, and wrote the article. In the evening we went to the awarding ceremony of the first graduates of «SC-Youngsters».

I really liked the JSD, participation in it helped me to better understand the features of the job in the HR-department, while watching the employees and directly taking part in the daily life of the team. Thanks very much to the team of SoftClub  and to the Association of European Business for the opportunity!

 

 

Opinions of students and mentors from Brest, who participated in the Job Shadow Days, organized in cooperation with local Brest Regional Development Fund, can be read here.