The international project Your career is waiting-get ready !, which was led and implemented by the EPIC non-profit organization together with project partners from the Czech Republic, Italy, and Belgium since June 2019, was completed in September 2021! The project aimed to help young people aged 16-20 prepare for the first job interview and at the same time encourage employers to employ disabled young people.
What did we do in the project?
Youth unemployment, as a key problem in many European countries, was captured in each partner country in a 20-month survey. At the beginning of the project, an initial analysis was carried, defining the main causes of youth unemployment or measures to address this problem. At the end of the project, the country-by-country analyzes were updated with the experience gained during the project as well as with recommendations and merged into a Synthesis of comparative analyzes of youth (un)employment in all partner countries (2019-2021).
You can see it here: https://epic-org.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Youth-unemployment-synthesis_SR_%C4%8CR_ITA_BEL_2019-2021.pdf
The aim of the project was achieved by implementing 2 types of trainings:
The first training was the so-called Job interview simulator. The training aimed to prepare students, both theoretically and practically, for their future job interviews. We taught the students of the last years of secondary vocational schools how to look for a job, what are the types and stages of interviews, how to dress for a job interview, what is verbal and nonverbal communication at interviews, and how to prepare an engaging CV or motivation letter. The success of the training in Slovakia was close cooperation with international companies DELL, IBM, Siemens, Kaufland, Jaguar Landrover, and the personnel company AU JOB, thanks to which students had the opportunity to try a simulated job interview with real recruiters. A total of 439 young people were trained in the partner countries, of which 104 (23.69%) were at a health or social disadvantage. EPIC Non-profit organization, in cooperation with experts, prepared a training manual for simulating job interviews, which was translated into all languages of the partner countries.
You can see it here: https://epic-org.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Job-interview-simulator_Slovak-Republic.pdf
The second training was the so-called Disability awareness training. The training was applied to Slovak, Czech, Italian, and Belgian employers according to a successful model from Australia. The training aimed to support the employment of young people with disabilities among employers. In the partner countries, 18 trainings were held with 36 different companies from the public and private sectors. In addition, each country has entered into 1 permanent partnership with a trained company committed to hire a young person with a disability. The training was carried out based on a training manual, which was translated into all languages of the partner countries.
You can see it here: https://epic-org.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Disability-Awareness-Training_Slovak-Republic.pdf
The success of the training was recorded in videos with the shared experiences of students, teachers, employers, and other participants of the project Your career is waiting-get ready!. Three videos were created under the auspices of EPIC non-profit organization. The video with the feedback of the participants from all partner countries is subtitled in English to be available to the general international public.
You can watch them here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2EWacxRgqn9dBDCQ7YGeW
The results of the project were subsequently presented at online conferences in Slovakia and the Czech Republic and a physical workshop in Como, Italy. The participants in the conferences were primarily local employers and policymakers in the field of education at regional and state levels.
Among other things, inspiring examples of good practice of the project participants were heard at the Final online conference organized by the Belgian partner.
Even though the COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected the implementation of the project, the goal and expectations of Your career is waiting-get ready! were successfully fulfilled thanks to the efforts of all project partners.
Thank you!
Project partners:
EPIC non-profit organization (lead partner – Slovakia)
EPIC Assist, o.p.s. (Czech Republic)
Cometa Formazione Societa Cooperativa Sociale (Italy)
Tracé Brussel (Belgium)
Project donor:
The implementation of the project was supported by the ERASMUS + program
