A series of workshops and training will offer the Ukrainian refugees an opportunity to up their technical and soft skills. The House of Training will provide the 10 selected Ukrainians with courses on how to use the bob-50 programme, a standard tool for accountants in Luxembourg. They will be introduced to the LUX GAAP (Luxembourg generally accepted accounting principles), an essential set of rules and regulation specific to the grand duchy.
“According to , accounting professions are the most demanded and there is a clear shortage of talent on the market,” says LUkraine project lead Oleksandr Petrykov in charge of the programme. “With many Ukrainian refugees having a vast accounting and finance background it would be a wasted opportunity not to utilise these talents by the local companies.”
Filling the gaps in professional skills
A total of 70 applicants reached out to LUkraine, from which 10 were selected based on their accounting experience and English knowledge--one of the main criteria. Those taking part in the course will be certified in the first level of bob-50 after which those taking part in the programme will be put in individual courses to progress faster through level two and three.
“We are always talking about upskilling and reskilling and here we are doing training for upskilling competencies. In fact, we have people that have good competencies in accounting, but who are missing a little part that is important for the local market,” Christine Zimmer, head of marketing and communication at house of training told Delano.
A step forward in personal development
During a presentation on the launch of the pilot project, Petrykov highlighted that in Ukraine, soft skills are often overlooked by the employers but their role is considerably more important in the grand duchy. The Ukrainian refuges selected to take part in the training--who on average have 17 years of experience in the field--will also undertake soft skills training provided by five coaches.
“We’ll be coaching them on developing their CV and making sure that it is tailored to the positions here and using the language that is used here. But also doing interview preparations, so helping them feel confident and prepared for future interviews,” Rebeqa Rivers, one of the coaches told Delano.
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The project--made possible by the financial support of Belgian organisation the King Baudouin Foundation--is set to finish by the end of September. LUkraine and the House of Training hope to be able to do it on a bigger scale and with more funding if this pilot scheme proves to be successful.