On March 6, the Eurasia Foundation of Central Asia (EFCA) and partners conducted Osh-2012 Job Fair at Ibragimov Kyrgyz Drama Theater in Osh, Kyrgyzstan for over 2000 job-seekers who visited the event to contact employers directly and apply for jobs, discuss current employment tendencies, network with peers and structures, and receive new skills and knowledge.
The job fair was organized under the “Education Loan Program in Kyrgyzstan” project supported by USAID and implemented by the EFCA with the overall goal to increase the access to education for prospective students and access to qualified graduates for prospective employers.
The job fair was officially opened by welcoming speeches from the representative of Osh Regional State Administration, Aziz Idrisov, the director of Youth Labor Market, Erkin Konurbaev, USAID’s Education Program Manager, and Shamil Ibraghimov, EFCA Executive Director. The job fair served as a unique opportunity for residents of the southern Kyrgyzstan, including young people, recent graduates of higher and vocational schools, experienced specialists, women, and local entrepreneurs, build their personal and professional capacity, access local labor market, and meet company representatives and apply for available vacancies.
Nearly 50 companies, including such employers as Demir Kyrgyz International Bank (DKIB), Kyrgyz Investment and Credit Bank (KICB), and Kompanion, as well as wide spectrum of building and construction companies, and other small and medium business entities, announced their vacancies and successfully recruited and invited candidates. Government agencies also such as the Ministry of Labor, Employment and Migration offered over 2,000 vacancies in total, which included mainly jobs in the public sector such health and education, which required skills and experience in these sectors, and jobs in technical trades.
Of total 2,000 job seekers attending the event 60 percent either acquired a job on the spot or received invitation for interview and further employment procedures. In addition, the job fair participants received professional and psychological counseling and showcases, including over 500 people receiving one-to-one careers advice and attending master classes on CV-writing, interview skills, and personal presentation. For those still pursuing their education, KICB and Kompanion promoted their student loan products and services to support their endeavors to acquire quality education.
The event served as a holistic platform for job seekers and students to improve their job hunting skills, helped them better understand their career choices, gave them direct access to employers, and interestingly, contributed to the support of vulnerable and marginalized groups to benefit from these services and opportunities otherwise hardly available in the region.
The event was organized by the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Migration and the Eurasia Foundation of Central Asia, with support from the International Business Council and American Chamber of Commerce, as well as with contribution of KICB and Kompanion.
