On May 30 and 31, the Center for CSR Development, supported by First Ukrainian International Bank (FUIB) and the Ministry of Youth and Sport of Ukraine, held the final All-Ukrainian Conference for Young People on Career Planning.

45 tenth-graders who won in the essay competition “My Career in Ukraine” met with the heads of national companies, representatives from the show business and public sector and received advice from them about ways to become successful in Ukraine. The teenagers had conversations with Serhiy Chernenko, FUIB's chairman of the board, Dmytro Bondarenko, general director of the LIGA group of companies, Oleksandra Alkhymovych, managing director of Luxoft Ukraine, Roman Hryshchuk, head of the Mamahohatala studio, Artem Stelmashov, head of the department of the development of local self-government, regional and international relations of the Kyiv City Council, Iryna Lytovchenko, head of the Directorate of Strategic Planning and European Integration of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.

Maryna Saprykina, chair of the board of the Center for CSR Development, said: “For the fourth consecutive year, “My Career in Ukraine” project has been giving schoolchildren, including those from small towns and villages, the opportunity to communicate with heads of large organizations. This is a unique chance for tenth-graders to try a particular profession and determine which higher education institution they will enter in a year”.

In 2019, we received 1,200 essays from tenth-graders about their future profession. The authors of 250 best works participated in 5 regional meetings, and 45 most active of them were invited to take part in the All-Ukrainian Conference in Kyiv, where teenagers met with famous people and discussed their future professions.

This year, the TOP-5 professions included: journalist, doctor, lawyer, teacher, and psychologist. As for the unusual professions, children mentioned police officer engaged in the protection of animal rights, director of crematorium, personal web-manager, and space doctor. All participants wanted to receive an answer to one question: what they needed to do right now.

Serhiy Chernenko, FUIB's chairman of the board, stressed the importance of mistakes: “Do not be afraid to make mistakes, they are an important resource for your own development, be grateful for them. The only thing that you should not make mistakes is in the choice of values. In everything else, be inquisitive, flexible, step out of your comfort zone, try new things, and move boldly towards the set goals”.

At the end of the conference, the participants familiarized themselves with the results of the study on the generation Z, presented by Natalia Bukhalova, general director of UMG, and took part in the master class “Skills of the Future and Goal Setting” by Svitlana Bochkovska, business coach.

And the next day, on May 31, the winners got a unique opportunity to spend one day with a person or a company of their dream. People and organizations whom the participants met included: Volodymyr Vyatrovych, Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance, Radu Poklitaru, choreographer, Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, Asters law firm, film.ua, Ukraine media group, psychologist Svitlana Royz, Serhiy Chernenko, FUIB's chairman of the board, AIMM Group architectural bureau, CitiDoctor clinic, “Come Back Alive” foundation, Hryhoriy Vepryk, photographer, Yevhen Mahda, director of the Institute of World Politics, writer, Yuriy Chornenkyi, marketing communications department of Kyivstar, Yevhenia Hrach, organization “I Want a Dog”, as well as makeup experts from “Loreal Ukraine” and G.Bar.

“Participation in the “My Career in Ukraine” project helped me choose my future profession and inspired to believe in myself. I met with cool people who motivate, energize, and share own experience. I have a dream that in a few years the list of professions will include a police officer for animals, and that I will be defending their rights”, said Daria Cherniavska, the winner of the competition, Ivano-Frankivsk.

“Today I was on the Maidan and saw: Maidan is a chance, it's not a victory. And you really gave me this chance to try to be who I want to become”, added Arsen Hots, urban-type settlement V. Berezovytsia, Ternopil region.