Students of specialty "vocational education" in dialogue with big agribusiness

On November 15, at the Faculty for Humanities and Pedagogics, the Department of Pedagogy, within the framework of the Agrarian and Educational Consulting Club, created on its base, initiated and held a regular meeting of students and the scientific-pedagogical staff of the faculty with the leadership of the leading enterprises of the agricultural sector of the economy. This time (and this is the third meeting of the Club this academic year) guests of the University were the director of staff of the supermarket chain "Silpo" Pavlo Sych with his team and adviser on foreign economic issues of the chairman of the board and the owner of the agro-industrial holding "Myronivskyi Khliboprodukt (Myroniv Bakeries)" Dmytro Heorhievych Los.

The meeting was opened by the Head of the Department of Pedagogy, Sopivnyk Ruslan Vasylyovych., who emphasized that today the educational process in the specialty "Vocational Education (Technology of production and processing of agricultural products)" requires extraordinary approaches and implementation of the principles of dual education. The acquisition of professionally important competences by students, securing their secondary employment and further employment is possible provided they are acquainted with modern technologies and real-life models of agricultural production. Such meetings with stakeholders hold synergistic interaction within the “business - science – education” complex.

Yulia Yevtushenko, Deputy Director of Personnel of Silpo ITC (by the way, a graduate of the specialty “Pedagogy of Higher School” of NULES of Ukraine, who cooperates fruitfully with the Department of Pedagogy), noted that smart and initiative students are the target audience of the network; they have developed many adaptation programs.

Extremely useful information was shared by the director of staff of the supermarket chain "Silpo" Pavlo Sych, introducing the audience to the system of motivation of staff in the network "Silpo" - one of the largest employers in the non-budget sphere of Ukraine, which has about 30 thousand employees. Pavlo Viktorovych was able to engage the audience in a constructive dialogue and was pleased that the students are oriented on such managerial issues as factors that influence the establishment of financial remuneration for employees; are aware of what the principle of grading is and how to determine the external competitiveness of the company.
Informally, with the presentation of the videos, the guest talked about how the corporate culture of ITC "Silpo" contributes to the improvement of the results of the activity (system of benefits, recognition, measures for employees, working conditions, training, career, work/life balance). Students were especially interested in the recognition programs - contests "Best Worker", "Battle of the Professionals", "Talent Shows". The grandeur and level of these events is confirmed by the level of invited "stars": Yuriy Horbunov, Ihor Lastochkin, Volodymyr Dantes, Vlad Yama and others. Young people were also interested in teambuilding, such as Hoverla's team climb and Negative Emotions dropping Day.
Pavlo Viktorovych emphasized that the rapid adaptation and career development of young professionals is facilitated by the various curricula designed for each position; training of modern formats; webinars using electronic technologies; foreign landing for the workers.
In the course of the interactive meeting, the future graduates of the specialties "Vocational Education", "Information and Communication Technologies in Education" and "Pedagogy of Higher Education" had the opportunity to ask questions to the highly respected guest. Students were interested in different things. For example, what method of intangible motivation is the best; what interesting ideas were brought by representatives of the company on gastronomic tours; how many students work online; how long it takes to take a position; what qualities are needed to improve; how soft skills are taught during trainings; how the company addresses the problem of environmental concerns and plans to dispose of plastic bags; whether there are motivation programs for those students who work for the company on an hourly basis; what tips you can give to those who are getting a job and more.

In a business-like way, but s brief, but capaciously, the foreign economic advisor of the Chairman of the Board and the owner of the agro-industrial holding “Myronovskyi Khliboprodukt” Dmytro Heorhievych Los, was also sharing his secrets of success. A highly educated person and a professional, he insisted that young people still need to read additional analytical information, forecasts for the next 5-10 years, navigate trends and their dynamics, learn foreign languages, learn to plan their careers, to be ready for those realities that are just emerging today, and tomorrow will be real challenges for future professionals ("experience of the future"). Dmytro Heorhievych spoke about the experience of chicken meat production; stressed the need to take care of the quality and conformity of these products to European standards at all stages (production, consumption, import, transportation, re-export). He denied the myth that today young people in Ukraine have nothing to do, on the contrary, every holding company needs new and different personnel. And with the Ukrainian manufacturers moving beyond their home country, this becomes more and more apparent. The guest urged students not to be limited to textbooks and purely theoretical instruction; strive to gain experience from other countries through distance learning; strive to learn something real, plan their educational trajectory. After all, the world only appreciates what each individual specialist knows. And the student's age, according to the businessman, is the most favorable for learning and self-determination.
Summing up his speech, Dmytro Heorhievych emphasized that the “Myronivskyi Khliboprodukt” Holding always expects young people from NULES; that every future specialist should learn to compete not with Ukrainians, but with the whole world. What is crucial for every employer is the specialist's motivation and desire to act and develop.

  
The students' interest in informal live communication with the representatives of big business showed that the meeting was beyond the scheduled time and the audience was completely filled. The magnitude of the personalities you invite, the ability to continue the dialogue with them, the motivational prizes for the best questions, and the top tips for "Find what works for you and brings satisfaction" and "Listen to your heart for what you really want; there is no predetermined life trajectory; you have to believe that everything will work out for you” became a gift for the Student Day from the Department of Pedagogy for those who are about to start their careers.

Olena Varava,
assistant of the Department of Pedagogy