Mediha Pruzan, production controller
Mediha is a graduate economist who had been unemployed for four years: “I applied to every vacancy in the country, I sent my CV to all the employers, but I didn’t have the right contacts or enough luck... I joined Jobclub and regained confidence, learnt how to present myself. Jobclub helped me develop active job search skills and gain self-confidence. When you are young and have just graduated, you have no experience and even a job interview is a big challenge, which is why getting support from a professional is so important.
The activities we invested in Jobclub paid off the day when the Jobclub leader rang me and told me that there was an employer looking to recruit an economist.” From that day, her life changed completely – she went to the interview with few expectations as the job position entailed high responsibilities, but the company's owner decided to give a once-in-a-lifetime chance to Mediha, then 26 years old. Today, she works as a production controller for KAVAT, a Swedish shoe-making factory.
This is one of more than 3,000 success stories that proudly represent the Youth Employment Project (YEP) supported by Switzerland in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In a country with 60% unemployed youth, Youth Employment Project (YEP) has established a network of 25 “Jobclubs” within the public employment services in order to introduce reforms in the system and the attitude of these services towards young job seekers. During a three-week programme, Jobclubs help young unemployed persons acquire the skills and confidence they need to become competitive in the job market. Mediha Pruzan is one of the Jobclub members from Travnik, who was placed into employment after the programme and has been working for more than a year.
Corresponding project
Stronger public employment services for better labour market integration
