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Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK
IWPR Caucasus Reporting #655
Aug 24 2012
Graduate Unemployment Rising in Armenia
Employers looking for solid experience rather than paper qualifications.
By Gayane Asryan - Caucasus
In Armenia's fiercely competitive job market, having a good degree is
no longer enough. Many graduates say they cannot get a foot in the
door because employers are asking for substantial work experience
rather than formal qualifications.
Take Artur Baghdasaryan, who got a degree in marketing from the State
Economics University in July. Although he has the kind of
qualification many employers need, and has had some practical
experience as an intern, employers will not look at him.
After completing an internship over several months while still a
student, Artur was told he could not be hired because he did not yet
have a degree. Now that he has graduated, he gets told that what he
lacks is prior experience of work.
He has been to seven different employment agencies so far, and IWPR
accompanied him as he continued his job search.
At Chance, a private job agency, head Irina Karapetyan, said Artur's
lack of a track-record would be an obstacle.
`In my experience, I've never seen a single case where someone has
been taken on with no experience,' she said. `Few companies will agree
to do so, and they will pay 30,000 or 40,000 drams [roughly 70 to 100
US dollars a month], thus exploiting the individual for a few months
before saying goodbye to them.'
Because of the reputational risks involved in marketing, most
employers will not take on inexperienced recruits, partly to avoid the
trouble of having to train them.
Two other employment agencies visited by IWPR said they had nothing
suitable to offer Artur.
Artur was philosophical about these setbacks, saying, `I won't lose
hope - it will just take longer to find a job. The key thing is that
I'll have to be ready to work unpaid for several months.'
Anahit Parsadanyan, who heads the department for analysing and
forecasting the labour market at the state employment agency, said
graduates were accounting for an increasingly large proportion of the
unemployed.
While the official unemployment rate has fallen by nearly 15 per cent
since last year, university graduates now make up 16 per cent of the
total, compared with 12 per cent in 2007.
`Employer attitudes towards higher education have changed,'
Parsadanyan said. `I can assure you that they don't pay attention to
diplomas now, and often set out requirements that are simply
ridiculous, for instance work experience or an excellent command of
several languages. How can an accountant have an excellent or fluent
knowledge of three foreign languages?'
Tatevik Abrahamyan, manager of HR.am website - one of the largest
online recruitment advertising services in Armenia - confirmed that
nine out of ten employers seeking to place ads there underlined the
importance of at two of more years in previous work, a knowledge of
languages, and teamwork skills.
`Only when a candidate has met the specifications does an employer ask
what university they graduated from,' Abrahamyan said. `Employers are
acutely aware that a degree doesn't mean someone is any good, so they
attach great importance to experience.'
Nor are internships an automatic route into paid work, according to
Armine Haroyan, head of the scholarship programme at the Armenian
Educational Foundation. All too often participants come away with
little to show because the internship has been mismanaged.
`To put it mildly, universities are failing to pay enouth attention to
internships,' Haroyan said. `Some students admit that although they
fully understand the theoretical bit, they've failed to acquire the
practical skills that will give them a head start into work after
graduation.'
Experts say that the success of private universities in recent years,
coupled with more exacting demands from employers, has left too many
graduates chasing after the same jobs.
There is still demand for some professionals like doctors, vets,
accountants and finance experts - but as Parsadanyan pointed out,
these jobs are mainly outside the capital Yerevan and the salaries on
offer are low.
Other graduates find that their degrees are simply not in demand.
Anna Yeghiazaryan has a degree in Persian language from Yerevan State
University and has spent the last five years trying to find a job
where she can use it.
Persian should have been a safe bet, since Iran is a neighbour of
Armenia, and trade and other relations are growing. Yeghiazaryan now
realises that too many others had the same idea.
`I thought that since our country had friendly relations with Iran, in
future there would be more interest in and demand for Persian, but it
turns out there are so many experts in the language that they've
saturated the job market,' she said.
Yeghiazaryan has survived on freelance translation work, but needs a
regular job.
`A few months ago, someone from an employment agency rang me up and
offered me a job as an office manager. I was really disappointed,' she
said. `I love and respect my profession and I've dedicated eight of
the best years of my life to obtain it, so I am not going to give up.
I'd rather go abroad to find work than be forced into working as an
office manager here.'
The question is whether, and how, government should intervene to get
higher education and employer expectations more into sync.
`I agree that the relationship between education and the labour market
isn't very balanced,' a spokesman for Armenia's education ministry,
Artur Baghdasaryan (no relation of the marketing graduate), said. `We
can't stop applicants going into higher education on the grounds that
they might not find jobs in future - that would deny them their right
to an education.'
The head of the state employment service, Sona Harutyunyan, says
better communications should be established between employers and
jobseekers.
`We have set up a new programme within which we are running
internships designed specifically for the young unemployed. The
three-month practical courses will give them an opportunity to gain
relevant skills that correspond to what employers are asking for,'
Harutyunyan said. `We're also holding labour fairs where employers and
those looking for work can interact.'
Gayane Asryan is a reporter for eMedia.am.
http://iwpr.net/report-news/graduate-unemployment-rising-armenia
IWPR Caucasus Reporting #655
Aug 24 2012
Graduate Unemployment Rising in Armenia
Employers looking for solid experience rather than paper qualifications.
By Gayane Asryan - Caucasus
In Armenia's fiercely competitive job market, having a good degree is
no longer enough. Many graduates say they cannot get a foot in the
door because employers are asking for substantial work experience
rather than formal qualifications.
Take Artur Baghdasaryan, who got a degree in marketing from the State
Economics University in July. Although he has the kind of
qualification many employers need, and has had some practical
experience as an intern, employers will not look at him.
After completing an internship over several months while still a
student, Artur was told he could not be hired because he did not yet
have a degree. Now that he has graduated, he gets told that what he
lacks is prior experience of work.
He has been to seven different employment agencies so far, and IWPR
accompanied him as he continued his job search.
At Chance, a private job agency, head Irina Karapetyan, said Artur's
lack of a track-record would be an obstacle.
`In my experience, I've never seen a single case where someone has
been taken on with no experience,' she said. `Few companies will agree
to do so, and they will pay 30,000 or 40,000 drams [roughly 70 to 100
US dollars a month], thus exploiting the individual for a few months
before saying goodbye to them.'
Because of the reputational risks involved in marketing, most
employers will not take on inexperienced recruits, partly to avoid the
trouble of having to train them.
Two other employment agencies visited by IWPR said they had nothing
suitable to offer Artur.
Artur was philosophical about these setbacks, saying, `I won't lose
hope - it will just take longer to find a job. The key thing is that
I'll have to be ready to work unpaid for several months.'
Anahit Parsadanyan, who heads the department for analysing and
forecasting the labour market at the state employment agency, said
graduates were accounting for an increasingly large proportion of the
unemployed.
While the official unemployment rate has fallen by nearly 15 per cent
since last year, university graduates now make up 16 per cent of the
total, compared with 12 per cent in 2007.
`Employer attitudes towards higher education have changed,'
Parsadanyan said. `I can assure you that they don't pay attention to
diplomas now, and often set out requirements that are simply
ridiculous, for instance work experience or an excellent command of
several languages. How can an accountant have an excellent or fluent
knowledge of three foreign languages?'
Tatevik Abrahamyan, manager of HR.am website - one of the largest
online recruitment advertising services in Armenia - confirmed that
nine out of ten employers seeking to place ads there underlined the
importance of at two of more years in previous work, a knowledge of
languages, and teamwork skills.
`Only when a candidate has met the specifications does an employer ask
what university they graduated from,' Abrahamyan said. `Employers are
acutely aware that a degree doesn't mean someone is any good, so they
attach great importance to experience.'
Nor are internships an automatic route into paid work, according to
Armine Haroyan, head of the scholarship programme at the Armenian
Educational Foundation. All too often participants come away with
little to show because the internship has been mismanaged.
`To put it mildly, universities are failing to pay enouth attention to
internships,' Haroyan said. `Some students admit that although they
fully understand the theoretical bit, they've failed to acquire the
practical skills that will give them a head start into work after
graduation.'
Experts say that the success of private universities in recent years,
coupled with more exacting demands from employers, has left too many
graduates chasing after the same jobs.
There is still demand for some professionals like doctors, vets,
accountants and finance experts - but as Parsadanyan pointed out,
these jobs are mainly outside the capital Yerevan and the salaries on
offer are low.
Other graduates find that their degrees are simply not in demand.
Anna Yeghiazaryan has a degree in Persian language from Yerevan State
University and has spent the last five years trying to find a job
where she can use it.
Persian should have been a safe bet, since Iran is a neighbour of
Armenia, and trade and other relations are growing. Yeghiazaryan now
realises that too many others had the same idea.
`I thought that since our country had friendly relations with Iran, in
future there would be more interest in and demand for Persian, but it
turns out there are so many experts in the language that they've
saturated the job market,' she said.
Yeghiazaryan has survived on freelance translation work, but needs a
regular job.
`A few months ago, someone from an employment agency rang me up and
offered me a job as an office manager. I was really disappointed,' she
said. `I love and respect my profession and I've dedicated eight of
the best years of my life to obtain it, so I am not going to give up.
I'd rather go abroad to find work than be forced into working as an
office manager here.'
The question is whether, and how, government should intervene to get
higher education and employer expectations more into sync.
`I agree that the relationship between education and the labour market
isn't very balanced,' a spokesman for Armenia's education ministry,
Artur Baghdasaryan (no relation of the marketing graduate), said. `We
can't stop applicants going into higher education on the grounds that
they might not find jobs in future - that would deny them their right
to an education.'
The head of the state employment service, Sona Harutyunyan, says
better communications should be established between employers and
jobseekers.
`We have set up a new programme within which we are running
internships designed specifically for the young unemployed. The
three-month practical courses will give them an opportunity to gain
relevant skills that correspond to what employers are asking for,'
Harutyunyan said. `We're also holding labour fairs where employers and
those looking for work can interact.'
Gayane Asryan is a reporter for eMedia.am.
http://iwpr.net/report-news/graduate-unemployment-rising-armenia