“ProCredit Young Bankers' Programme contributes to build qualified employees in the banking sector in Macedonia. We urge other companies to use this approach and offer quality internship opportunities. This will contribute greatly to mitigate labor market inefficiency, and help the best candidates to rise up and seize the employment opportunities.”
Ognen Graorkovski, Senior Specialist in Human Resources, ProCredit Bank Macedonia
May 2011 set a monthly record of 40 jobs placed through My Career program, launched in 2009 by the USAID Competitiveness Project to boost youth employment and workforce skills. Through a matching website, e-career fairs and certification of career counseling, My Career has introduced new concepts in workforce development to Macedonian employers— who are increasingly embracing internships as a cost-effective way to recruit a skillful workforce.
ProCredit Bank, one of the leading banks in Macedonia, is also a pio-neer in providing a continuous stream of structured internship oppor-tunities for young prospective employees through Young Bankers' Programme. This May, they completed the first six-month cycle of 15 internships. They offered the 10 most successful candidates full-time jobs. The company plans to run four Young Bankers' Programme per year; currently the second cycle is underway with 13 interns. The co-operation with My Career was established in December 2010. Pro-Credit Bank use different My Career services for better promotion of the Young Bankers Program among the youth, advertising the intern-ship positions, using My Career data base to identify potential candi-dates for interns and participating at e-Career fairs.
“We train the interns in all bank operations; Young Bankers' Pro-gramme also focuses on communication, analytical thinking, and all relevant banking-related subjects. The course involves theoretical classroom training and practical on job training. We guide them and closely monitor their performance in order to achieve their best pro-fessional development in our bank” said Ognen Graorkovski, Senior Specialist in Human resources, ProCredit Bank Macedonia.
“I had intensive training consisting of theoretical classroom trainings and learning about the bank operations and three months on-the-job training with an assigned mentor,” explained Vesna Velkova, employee of the Bank, previously part of the first Young Bankers’ Programme that started in December 2010. “After successful completing the six-month internship program in the Bank, I was offered a position. I feel honored to be a staff member of a bank that truly appreciates qualified employees.”
Since its start in early 2009, My Career—spearheaded by the USAID’s Macedonia Competitiveness Project—has hosted a website to match students and job-seekers with employers looking for interns and skilled workers. Over 300 firms, 52 municipalities, and several leading universities have registered on the site, making it an essential source for job opportunities and experiential learning. To date, My Career has facilitated 1,821 internships and 345 jobs for young Macedonians.