An Autumn Job Fair: Employees for a High-tech Russia, organized by the Institute of Engineering and Technology, was held at South Ural State University. Leading companies from the technical and industrial sectors of Chelyabinsk and the Chelyabinsk Region took part in this event alongside students of the institute, school pupils, and vocational schools graduates.
The event was dedicated to brining students, businesses, and employers closer together. The main goal was to introduce students to potential future employers, give them an understanding on the industry of Chelyabinsk and the Chelyabinsk Region, and agree about the possibility of offering pre-graduation internship with further employment. Irina Kiessh, Deputy Director of the Institute of Engineering and Technology, spoke about this event:
"We hold these meetings annually in order to help establish mutually-beneficial cooperation between students and enterprises of the region. Undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students got to know representatives of the leading enterprises in the aerospace, motor transport, machine-building, metallurgical, and energy industries. Our graduates saw what kind of specialists a modern enterprise needs, and I hope that as a result of this communication, they understood what competencies they must have in order to be successful in their chosen fields, to be in demand in the labour market, and at the same time to have professional mobility. It is also beneficial for employers, because business knows modern trends and is a customer, so the vacancies that are now in demand dictate the modern level of education, the specialists we train today, and why we do it".
In addition to students of the institute, future applicants were invited to the event: 10th- and 11th-form school pupils and graduates of vocational schools. This was done to ensure that they are now motivated to choose a promising direction for admission. The fair gave them an understanding of what specialties will be in demand in the future, what level of wages can be counted on, and first of all – how viable a given area is.
"Participation in the job fair has become a good tradition for us. Today, the demand for young professionals is great. When young people come to us immediately after graduating from the institute, their adaptation comes more easily, they remember all their knowledge, and it is easier to introduce them to new production and train them for the technologies that we have. Our enterprise is interested in physicists, industrial engineers, mechanical engineers, power engineers, chemists, and other specialists of technical directions. We take on students for work placement and provide them with dormitory accommodation, a salary, and a small bonus - free lunches,” said Head of the Group of Personnel Management of the Instrumentation and Mechanical Factory of FSEU PO Mayak, Irina Syrykh. “We have specialists who are graduates from SUSU in both company management and in divisions. Moreover, we have a SUSU graduate who this year earned a top spot in the robotics category in the AtomSkills Industrial Professional Skills Championship of the Rosatom State Corporation.”
The fair was attended by such companies as ChZMEK, Planeta-Avto, Chelyabinsk Metal Structure Plant, Chelyabinsk Mechanical Plant, ASKON-Ural, Trubodetal’, FSEU PO Mayak, Konar, URALKAM, Bovid, Saturn, ChelPipe, MRSK-Ural, Spetz-Avto-Vostok, Chelyabenergosetproyekt, Vostok-zapad, Elektromashina, Mechel, DST, and Turbina. Each enterprise presented their own stand with the details of their organisation; in addition, they gave students informational materials and souvenirs from the company.
“Today we came to tell the attendees about ourselves and invite students on excursions, practical training and job placement. In addition, we have an internship system where students can study and work at the same time. We need designers and young industrial engineers. The bulk of our employees are graduates of South Ural State University. I think such events bring together students, graduates, and employers; often, students do not even know what events are happening in the city and where you can take internship. But by getting acquainted like this, we invite them on an excursion, then to practical training, and then to internship, and that’s how they gradually come to us to work", shared Kseniya Avicheva, Leading Manager of Personnel of Chelyabinsk Mechanical Plant.
At the job fair, students asked about vacancies at different enterprises and filled out questionnaires. The employers asked questions about the focus of the students’ training and offered them appropriate directions of work, distributed booklets and brochures about their organisations, and invited students on excursions.
“I was invited to the job fair to get to know future potential employers. I am studying materials science and right now I am considering all of the directions I could go in, including working as a metallurgist. For now, I haven’t chosen a specific direction for myself, but I gathered the booklets; I’ll look over them at home and maybe sign up for the excursions I was invited to. I think that would be interesting,” shared fourth-year SUSU student Anton Gavrilin.
The job fair is the first stage; the next one is in December, where students will be assigned to specific companies. In the second stage, the enterprises will come to the SUSU departments and individually assess the level of student training and offer specific vacancies with agreed-upon terms of employment and salary. This complex approach by the Institute of Engineering and Technology provides 100% employment rate for students after graduation.