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After higher education, young professionals have a lack
of skills in applying the acquired knowledge.
On the other hand, because of the dynamic economic environment
employers want to hire a person who can immediately deliver results.
It often appears contradictory that it is
impossible to find a job with a university degree
or that employers claim that there are not enough experts for them to hire.
This social phenomenon is particularly evident
when unemployment is on the rise and when
the non-competitiveness of the domestic economy is noticeable.
Therefore, the Technology Park Varaždin and its partners
partners initiated a project called YICT- Young Innovative Career Trackers.
Project partners are the Faculty of Organization and Informatics
in Varaždin, the city of Varaždin and the Croatian ICT cluster.
An important role was played by a collaborator on the project
the Microsoft Innovation Center in Varaždin.
On one side we put companies that want to start a new project
but don't have the appropriate experts
and on the other side unemployed young professionals and students
in their final years of college.
Specific needs for jobs where identified and education was initiated
with real examples of projects that where proposed in the YICT project itself.
62 participants and 15 companies applied for the procedure.
During the project, 11 employment contracts were signed
which was more than expected.
Another 20 workplaces and at least 5 startup companies
which are entitled to a HRK 20,000 grant and
incubation in the Technology Park are expected.
I graduated from the Faculty of Organization and Informatics in Varaždin
focusing on Information Systems and I have been
looking for a job for about 6 to 7 months.
During that period, I worked for some time
as an economist with a high school diploma.
I came to the YICT project to practice in a company called
Abit and after a week I was offered a contract of employment.
I finished college here in Varaždin, Faculty of Organization
and Informatics, a four-year undergraduate degree, focusing on
Information Systems and I have a graduate degree in informatics.
I was without a job for almost a year since I graduate from college.
The problem is finding an enough willing
and sufficiently educated IT workforce.
It is difficult to get employ immediately
after college without experience.
This was a very good idea and project in which young people who have degrees
or are close to graduation are taught real, concrete and practical things.
I am very happy with the project because I managed to widen and deepen
the knowledge I was lacking. This made getting employed easier.
Out of 6 participants that where involved in my projects,
two of them I have already employed.
I joined the the project because I needed a young,
quality workforce and it was the way to it.
In addition to formal education and experience
gained in this project we have gained some
some practical experience and it was the first work
experience for many of us.
We have gained a lot of contacts with business
companies that work in our profession.
The educational program within the YICT project is designed to
cover the most attractive and the most critical issues and areas
of IT and is tailored to the needs of the labor market.
The program covers latest technologies, with an emphasis
on mobile technologies and cloud computing.
The project aimed at training 40 young people,
most of them being senior students of the Faculty
and long term unemployed individuals under 30 years of age.
Project participants are provided the opportunity of obtaining financing
for their own projects via the Proof of Concept program
where they can get €50,000 free funding.
The theme of this project and its scope,
its goal is closely related to our own business.
Closely related to our mission which is,
among other things, to ensure the Croatian industry,
society and public administration, a certain
number of high-quality IT professionals.
We put together entrepreneurs and young professionals
who have just completed their formal education
but do not have enough skill in applying and mastering the technology.
We financed all of the activities that are necessary to
accelerate that process and during the project we produced
10 employment contacts and 5 to 7 startup companies are expected
in the near future, which will be completely populated
with people that have participated in the project.
In addition to the results of this project we have established a fund
which would help at least 5 young companies of this type per year
and incubate them in the Technology Park in Varaždin.