Making Your First Job a Success: Expert Guidance for Career Starters

At the beginning of one's career path, one is faced with many questions and dilemmas: how to make one's CV stand out, what part of the requirements should one cover in order to apply for a position, or which skills should one seek to develop as a priority.

These and many other questions were discussed with our guest panelists Yordanka Dule (Talent Attraction Director, TELUS International Europe), Katerina Shopova (HR Director, Lidl Bulgaria), Mila Topalova (Partnerships Manager, Tuk-Tam), Andrea Tonieti (HR Director, UniCredit Bulbank), Galina Dimitrova (HR Manager, Nova Broadcasting Group), Nevyan Petrov (HR Director, Coca-Cola Helenic Bulgaria) and Milena Kumanova (Manager Talent Attraction and Management SEE, Nestle), during our online discussion "Career expectations of young talent" on May 19th.

For all those who were unable to join the live event, here we summarise their key advice to young talent at the start of their career development:

What part of the requirements do we have to meet to dare to apply for a position?

Often, exhaustive requirements in a job description are intimidating. When asked by the audience when it is appropriate to apply and how many of the listed requirements should we cover to send our CV with peace of mind, the panelists advised young talent to be brave and not be unduly worried by a few uncovered points.

A further guideline from the panelists was for candidates to research the positions they have identified in advance - either within company career pages, for example, or through independent market research. Katerina Shopova said that this type of research helps with personal calibration of whether a person is suitable for a position and whether it meets their expectations. And thus it also makes it easier to decide whether to apply for a position or not.

Yordanka Dule also gave practical advice to the participants in the event by emphasizing the distinction between mandatory and additional requirements in job advertisements. She recommended that young people when assessing whether to apply for a position, should start with the skills listed as mandatory and, if they meet them, send their applications without hesitation. In addition, Nevyan Petkov said that even if the advertisement itself does not specify mandatory skills, a critical reading of the requirements and the nature of the job will help one to distinguish the points on their own, which companies will not be able to compromise in their choice of a candidate.

And in case of hesitation, the advice from his side is to apply. An added advantage of every application sent is that through it, the young talent gets into the company's database where they can be automatically identified as suitable for other open opportunities in the organization.

What skills are beneficial in the workplace in your companies?

Young participants in the event were also keen to know which skills they should focus on as a priority and which bring success in their career development. Panelists unanimously noted the growing importance of communication skills and emotional intelligence (EI).

They listed the ability to assess a situation, the ability to reach a decision, and the ability to control one's emotions as key abilities in today's working world.

For young people entering an organization, the particularity is the lack of work experience. There they are confronted for the first time with stress and with concrete cases. As advice to anyone starting their career development, Nevyan Petkov said that it is important to analyze these new situations and one should constantly strive to draw conclusions and conclusions from the newly gained experience. A conscious effort in this direction will help young people build their emotional intelligence and respond effectively in a variety of situations.

"In the future, it won't be the people who know the most who will be the most successful, it will be the people who manage to get results through contacts, manage to ask the right questions rather than knowing all the answers"
Nevyan Petkov - Human Resources Director, Coca-Cola Helenique Bulgaria

One of Manpower's recent global surveys showed that we still do not even know the names of the majority of occupations that will exist in 10 years. This fact further highlights the importance of emotional intelligence and the ability to learn and develop, also known as Learnability. Specific knowledge that is available and applicable today will not be as applicable and essential five or ten years from now. This is why Manpower's advice to young people is to focus on developing their emotional intelligence and be open to new knowledge at every stage of their career path.

To conclude, Katerina Shopova advised the participants to focus on acquiring new knowledge and skills and to stimulate their vertical development and enrichment as professionals. Accumulated experience and qualifications, combined with patience and appropriate opportunity, will naturally lead to successful horizontal career progression.

During the event, we also presented and commented on the results of our latest survey on the attitudes of Bulgarian students. Take a look at the full analysis and find out if your requirements when choosing an employer and expectations of future managers match the answers of over 350 Bulgarian students at home and abroad.

If you have any further questions, you can contact us at [email protected]