• The participants shared valuable experience and good internship practices
• They discusses the Generation Z expectations towards the labor market and whether the expression “brain drain” is a cliché

The Council of Women in Business in Bulgaria organized a forum “The internship – a necessary capital for young people and business”, which brought together representatives of the state, business and universities. They discussed the importance of internship as a first step in career orientation, shared valuable experience and good internship practices. They also discussed the Generation Z expectations towards the labor market.

“This event is an expression of one of the Council’s main goals – to support young people at their career start, to encourage their development and stay in Bulgaria. We are extremely proud that for 4 years we managed to make the campaign “Stay in Bulgaria” the largest internship initiative in Bulgaria. This motivates us to seek ways to further develop the program and this forum is an expression of this desire”, said at the opening  The Chairwoman of the Council of Women in Business in Bulgaria and CEO of Siemens Bulgaria Dr. Eng. Boriana Manolova. According to her the Council’s desire is to inspire sharing of good practices in companies and to make young people and business pay more attention to the need for internships. She announced that CWBB is preparing an “Internship Guide”, which will provide essential information and guidelines for internships.

The first panel was entitled “Young people and Europe”. The deputy minister of education Denitsa Satcheva thanked the business for having education at the center of its attention and at the core of its CSR campaigns. She pointed out that business has donated 54 million for causes related to education and youth–related education. “The Ministry of education is very focused on education and business. Education is a top priority for the government. In the next 2-3 years education will be one of the fastest developing sectors. All programs, related to internships, are very important and should be promoted on a larger scale in the future”, said Satcheva. She added that in the next few years almost 50 million leva will be invested in the digitalization of education.

Satcheva pointed out the large number of children dropping out of school as a big challenge. The latest data shows that Bulgaria has the highest percentage of young people aged between 15 and 24 who neither study nor work. “Digital skills, career orientation, civic education are the ways to attract back to education and society all students from groups at risk. We have to discuss a joint project between the state and the business in this direction”, stated Denitsa Satcheva. In her opinion we should stop using the expression “brain drain” as this is a cliché – the mobility is already part of young people’s culture and cannot be stopped.

Eva Maydell, MEP and patron of the National Internship Initiative, said she is delighted to support this program.  In her opinion, internships are the practical expression of one’s career desires and could show his strengths and weaknesses. Ms. Maydell said the National Internship Initiative could be multiplied abroad. She highlighted that the majority of the interns in the European institutions are supporters of the European idea. “Maybe we should try to attract those who don’t support Europe so much”, she said. It is very important to bring up young people who are curious and want to be creative, added Eva Maydell.

Vessela Tcherneva, Deputy Director of the European council on foreign relations, said everything happening in Europe affects both young people and business. In her opinion young people are one of the minorities in Europe. The situation is very worrying in the Western Balkans, which have lost one third of their population in the last few years. In the coming months two processes need to be very carefully monitored – the Brexit negotiations and the negotiations for the Multiannual Financial Framework. “The only chance for Europe to succeed is not only to be an independent player on the world stage as a foreign policy factor but also in the economy”, said Tcherneva. “The competitiveness of the European economy is what will give us the key to the future place of  the EU in the world. In another words – when Europe will be able to make its own Ipad, to be among the leaders”, stated Ms Tcherneva. In her opinion the internships and the contact opportunities between young people and business are a major bond that will enable Bulgaria to participate in the debate about competitiveness. Ms Tcherneva commented on the circular migration phenomenon which is about policies that facilitate young people to go study and make internships abroad but encourages them to return and apply the knowledge in their home countries. Bulgaria should be involved in such circular migration, she added.

The second panel was devoted to institutional and corporate internship practices, and representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science, the Technical University of Sofia and some of the largest companies in Bulgaria shared their experience in this field.

Maya Peycheva-Takeva, HR manager at Hewlett Packard Enterprise and member of the Management Board of the Council of Women in Business in Bulgaria, pointed out that the internship topic is very important for the company. The company’s goal is to keep 50% of the interns in permanent positions but actually this percentage is much higher – around 80-85%.

Maria Petrova, from the HR department of Siemens Bulgaria, said about 60%  of the trainees remain in the company. She highlighted that the digitalization and globalization have had an impact and have changed the internships. “The globalization and the digitalization are increasingly changing all aspects of everyday business and this requires new approaches in the way companies communicate with interns”, she said.

Irena Joteva, Managing Director of HILL International Bulgaria, highlighted the importance of all initiatives to keep young talents and pointed out that in 2019 the trend of shortage of employees will continue. She commented on Generation Z which is very technology-oriented.

Gergana Ivanova, founder and partner at The Smarts advertising agency, pointed out that the creative business is not an exception when speaking about shortage of employees. Furthermore, business faces the phenomenon of freelancers from whom it can’t expect the same as from a marketing team.

Marina Gagova from the Ministry of Education presented the project “Internship practices”, which brings together students, business and universities.

Silviya Yaneva-Stoyanova, Director of the Technical university’ s Career and Alumni Center stated that Generation Z expects support and in this regard the role of the mentor is huge.

The forum was closed by Eng. Vanya Kaneva-Minkova, HR director at VP Brands and member of the Management board of CWBB. She recalled how the National Internship Initiative had been launched. “We show young people that they are not alone and that the information exchange between them is very important”, said Ms Kaneva-Minkova.

For the fourth consecutive year, the Council of Women in Business in Bulgaria has been organizing the National Internship Initiative “Stay in Bulgaria”. The program is oriented towards the youngest professionals and will enable them once again to prove their qualities and skills, to get involved into the real business and to find opportunities for development along with suitable environment and a stimulus for their professional realization in Bulgaria.The initiative is under the patronage of Mrs. Eva Maydell, MEP.

In 2018 the Council of Women in Business in Bulgaria launched the first-of-its-kind Internship Guide. It consists of three parts. The first part aims to help young people with practical advises during their first steps of seeking internships. The second part is aimed at employers – how to organize the intern’s stay within the company, and the third one is called “Business Speaks: Successful Examples.”