It Takes a Village ...
continued from page 7
Conclusions
Harnessing the power of internships is not easy
for a small, SME-dominated economy like Macedonia. However, expanding
internship opportunities for students and recent graduates would likely help
combat the country’s stubbornly high unemployment rate in a proactive and creative way. Without expansion of the practice, the continuous development of
talented and ambitious young people is likely to be truncated, causing them to be
overlooked by local employers and resulting in brain drain.
Fortunately, the increasing popularity of Macedonia as an FDI destination is
breathing new life into the local labor market on the demand side. With the
views and preferences of foreign companies already influencing the practices of
local partners and the local labor market, more (and more meaningful) internship opportunities are appearing. Savvy local corporate leaders will want to be at
the forefront of this transformation, lest they risk losing a competitive edge to
more proactive players.
Transitioning from Intern ...
continued from page 11
Today I’m employed in Makedonski Telekom and
my job includes taking part in various software
development projects providing client-oriented
solutions. I work on application development and upgrades, testing and support,
as well as database system configuration and application migration. “T-home.mk”
and “moj.telekom.mk” are among the well-known portals I’ve worked on.
AmCham Board of Directors
President
Miroslav Marchev
Tax and Legal Services Director
PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ltd.
Skopje
1st Vice President
Mirjana Tanevska-Efremova
Member of Management Board
Makedonijaturist, Inc. Skopje
2nd Vice President
Selim Simbil
General Manager
Wabtec MZT, Inc. Skopje
Secretary Treasurer
Slavko Projkoski
Author: Irena Ivanovska, Specialist for Segment in the Chief Operating
Officer Customer Area.
As a graduate student in Economics, the advertisement for interns without any
previous work experience in one of the most profitable companies on our market, Makedonski Telekom, was very interesting. Very soon after applying, I was
invited to join the team within the Chief Financial Officer Area. It sounded like
an excellent opportunity and a place where I would be able to apply what I
knew; and, that was really the case.
As a first-time intern it was a real challenge to fit within the day-to-day activities
of such a developed company. But via teamwork, knowledge sharing within my
team, a shared commitment, orientation and responsibility to meet goals, I was
able to contribute.
The experience and knowledge that I gained during the 6-month internship
helped me get a job on the staff of Channel Management immediately afterwards.
Getting this job increased my motivation, responsibility and, of course, commitment to carrying out my new duties. A few years later, my desire for advancement, acquisition of new knowledge and expertise in other areas led to the next
challenge and a new level in my career. I became part of the Marketing and Product Team of T-Mobile. This was an entirely new experience and a challenge that
entailed assuming greater professional res ۜ