Laden
December 7th, 2022

JOB FAIRS AT THE UKRAINIAN HOUSE

Early October 2022 we visited our first job fair at the Ukrainian House in Rotterdam. These job fairs are organised te help refugees from Ukraine find a job here in the Netherlands. The first time we were quite nervous and did not know what to expect. Now, we have already attended multiple of the Ukrainian House's job fairs and it has become one of our favourite events to attend!

What is the Ukrainian House exactly?
The Ukrainian House in located in Rotterdam at Pleinweg 169a and is a place where Ukrainian refugees can come together for a cup of coffee, a conversation, information, clothing or events. The events range from job fairs, to afternoon of crafts, courses on adaptation, mom's club and much more. Any Ukrainian can walk in and will be warmly welcomed by volunteers and peers, every day between 10.00 - 19.30.


The personal aspect of the job fair
The job fair that is reguraly organised is to help Ukrianians find a job. We are not the only ones present; many other companies have their stand next to ours. What we particularly like is the informal (and thereby very personal) setting of the job fair. There are many seating areas where you can sit down with a potential candidate and discuss their ambitions and opportunities over a cup of coffee. 

As mentioned before, the first time we were present we were a bit nervous. Even though we had our Ukrainian career coach Ivanna with us, it was still a trial. Who would we meet? Would we be able to help people? What was the best way to talk to people who have been through so much? Would we, apart from language, understand each other? Luckily, it all went well, mainly because of the comfortable environment and the amazingly kind people we met. The only obstacle we ran in to was the fact that we printed way too less application forms. Thankfully, the lovely volunteers at the Ukrainian House helped us print some more.