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The American Chamber of Commerce in Kosovo in cooperation with the Government of Republic of Kosovo held the 5th CAREER FAIR in Kosovo, a career fair which is becoming traditional in our country. The Fair aimed to provide a networking opportunity for both students and companies, and offer students the chance for informal interviews, and eventually, employment. The 5th Career Fair was held on April 18th, 2008, at “Red Hall” in Prishtina and lasted for one day. The value added of this career fair was the involved in the fair of the National Career Guidance Resource Centre (NCGRC) of Kosova which is an inter-ministerial Centre mandated to help people of any age to search for and select education, career and employment opportunities and paths. Alongside the participating companies present in the fair, there were about 17 Career Guidance Centers which provided counseling and assistance to the students on how to find and choose education, career and employment paths. Although the Fair did not host a whole number of companies, representatives of Kosovar and international businesses participating in the fair represented almost the whole range of sectors such as banking, consulting, IT, education, energy, and brand name distributors. Specifically, the companies that participated in the Fall Career Fair 2007 were: ProCredit Bank, Meridian Corporation, Expik, Raiffeisen Bank, University of Business and Technology, Iliria Royal University, Devolli, Economic Bank, and TEB. These businesses presented employment and internship opportunities to visitors, and used the event to create networks with other exhibitors and visitors. There were about 130 employment opportunities available, both internships and full time. Companies thought it was an excellent opportunity to informally network with students, gather CVs and inform the public of what they do. The visitors were thrilled with the idea of having many companies in one place, where they could be interviewed and make contacts. The 5th Career Fair kicked off with the opening remarks held by Mimioza Kusari-Lila, the executive director of AmCham Kosovo. Ms Kusari-Lila talked about the importance of the career fair and its concept to the Kosovo society and in particular to the students. She emphasized the role that this career fair plays in reducing the unemployment rate The opening of the Fall Career Fair was conducted by the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Education Science and Technology, Agim Hyseni. Mr. Hyseni was quite happy with the fact that such an event is being organized in Kosovo as well and praised AmCham for organizing such an event with the Ministry of Education. He pointed out the importance of this career fair in enhacing students’ progress and paving for them the way to successful careers. The visitors of the Career Fair were mainly students from private and public universities in Kosovo and the region. There were 650 registered students attending the Fair, whereas we estimate that another 10 % of students entered without registering, making a total of over 700 students that attended the Fair from 10:00 until 16:00. On average, each student submitted CVs at four companies during the Fair, and the majority of the students were interested in the banking and consulting sectors, with a smaller focus on the brand name distribution. Most of the students attending the Fair were from the University of Prishtina, and were still enrolled in undergraduate studies. |
