On December, 5 the NSTU Resource learning and teaching center hosted the final of the competition for disabled people ‘Path to a Career’. Although the participants were people with infantile cerebral palsy, hearing and visual disabilities, the health problems did not prevent them from demonstrating their knowledge and personal qualities to potential employers. The winner of the competition, who is the student of the Novosibirsk State University of Economy and Management (NSUEM), received job offers from three companies.
The contestants are the graduates and seniors with disabilities. During two months they took part in trainings and various learning programs. The top prize is to get a job offer from a prestigious company.
Overall, more than 30disabled people took part in the competition. The first stage of it was the interview with the representatives of a company. Ten contestants with high motivation to find the job of their dream were shortlisted for the final stage. Those who failed at the first stage were offered alternative inclusion job offers.
This year winner Ekaterina Tomiliva, the NSUEM student, was offered job by such companies as the ‘Eastern Machinery’ company, the ‘Philip Morris Sales and Marketing’ company and the ‘Vympelkom’ company. The jury also recognized the competences of two contestants: Polina Konohova the NSTU graduate who was offered a job by the ‘Philip Morris Sales and Marketing’ company, and Maria Komandykova, the NSU student, who was offered a job by the ‘Eastern Machinery’ company.
The competition procedure presupposed organization of trainings for the contestants, which were held twice a week at the NSTU Institute of Social Technologies and Rehabilitation and in such companies as Sberbank, Ancor, 2Gis, IKEA, and Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers. It provided the contestants with the opportunity not only to gain new knowledge and skills but to feel the companies’ atmosphere and specificity.
During two months each participant was supervised by the facilitator from the company, whose main responsibility was to advise and prepare the contestant for the interview and self-presenting at the final stage of the competition.
According to Lyudmila Mozheikina the NSTU coordinator of the competition, who is also responsible for career guidance and employment of disabled people, ‘The disabled participants have demonstrated higher level of motivation than their healthy peers usually do. The ten people who took part in the final stage were highly motivated. Some contestants arrived very early to rehearse the speech. One guy from the suburbs of Novosibirsk came at 8.15 though the event was scheduled for 10.00. And the outside temperature was – 36° C. Could you name many people who are able to do the same? This case demonstrates that disabled people possess admirable traits of character and extraordinary professional skills. The competition rejects stereotypes and proves the fact that every person can show the best of himself.
It has been for the fourth time when ‘Path to a Career’ competition is held in Novosibirsk. The event organizers say that every year the competition help about eight finalists to get job offers from big companies. The companies’ representatives provide feedback on working performance of the disabled employees. The organizers of the competition see positive dynamics in companies’ involvement. The number of the companies has grown from 15 in 2015 to 40 in 2018.
‘There are common stereotypes of inclusive employment in Russia and abroad. The applicants feel the fear of being rejected. And employers perceive the disabled employee as a problem. They believe that every disabled employee needs a specially equipped working place, flexible hours and special approach in communication. ‘Path to a Career’ rejects these stereotypes and demonstrates that disabled people are valuable assets. It is a fresh impetus for getting new insight into modern society’ – says the Head of the Corporate Responsibility Department of the Novosibirsk affiliate of Ernst & Young Company.
Notice
The ‘Path to a Career’ competition is a joint project by the NSTU Resource learning and teaching center for disabled people, the Business Committee on disabled people employment of ‘Integratia’ Association and Russian Disability NGO ‘Perspektiva’.