Celebrating 25 years of success: Your first EURES Job

After drifting between various jobs in his native Croatia, Goran Marinovic heard about YfEJ and decided it was time for a new start in Germany. He contacted the Croatian Employment Service, a partner service in the job mobility scheme, who helped him to find a Duale Ausbildung, a type of vocational training that combines on-the-job training with school-based learning.

The company offering this opportunity was Stangl & Co. GmbH, an engineering company that produces customised precision parts for various branches of industry. Thanks to YfEJ and Stangl & Co. GmbH, Goran traded in his life as a handyman for a long-term career in precision engineering.

The Croatian is quick to praise his experience: “I would recommend this to anyone who is unemployed, and who is open to new things and to learning.”

Lucia Belúchová from Slovakia was also supported by YfEJ and began a year-long apprenticeship at a brasserie in the town of Laval in France.

Lucia wanted to gain valuable work experience abroad, while experiencing a new country, culture and language. Her dual apprenticeship meant that she spent around three weeks a month working as a waitress, and the rest of her time studying at the Training Centre for Apprentices for Towns in Mayenne (CFA VM). To help her settle in France, Lucia also received financial support from YfEJ and was offered accommodation in a local house-share with other young apprentices.

The brasserie in Laval has been recruiting apprentices from abroad for a number of years thanks to its partnership with the CFA VM, which represents YfEJ by acting as a matchmaker for local businesses and foreign jobseekers. This partnership is part of a pilot project of a consortium of 33 European training centres, and there is hope that it will inspire similarly successful partnerships across Europe in the future.

After graduating, Federica Passanante struggled to find long-term work in Italy, so she decided to look for opportunities abroad. Federica heard from a friend that EURES had connections with companies in Portugal, and decided to focus her job search there. Through the YfEJ programme, she applied to a vacancy at outsourcing provider Sitel, a company with an international workforce made up of native language speakers. The recruitment process moved swiftly and, in a couple of days, they offered Federica a job.

Federica received financial support from YfEJ to help her relocate, as well as additional administrative support from the EURES Lead Employment Office.

Alongside her work at Sitel, Federica was crowned the winner of the ‘My YfEJ moment’ photo competition in 2016. She won a voucher to spend on flights and was invited to attend an award ceremony in Rome.

For Federica, YfEJ was about more than just finding a job, as she expressed in the caption of her winning photo: “This YfEJ experience makes [it] possible to discover a beautiful country, but especially myself and my potential!”

Your first EURES Job is a EU job mobility scheme. To find out more about employment and training opportunities across the EU or to find employees with the skills you need, contact one of the scheme’s employment services or get in touch with a local EURES Adviser member via the EURES portal.

Find out more:

Croatian handyman finds career as an engineer in Germany thanks to Your first EURES Job

Goran’s experience in Germany

Slovak apprentices bring a European flavour to French restaurant

Your first EURES Job helps young Italian to find work – and herself – in Portugal

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