WHO: “Initiatives on the labour market in the rural region” is a project developed by The Center for Institutional Analysis and Development (CADI-Eleutheria Center) in partnership with The Romanian Institute of Training (Institutul Român de Training) and The Romanian Education and Social Inclusion Institute (IRESIS Association).

The project is co-financed through the European Social Fund’s Sectoral Operational Program Human Resources Development 2007-2013, Priority Axis 5 – Promoting active employment measures, Key area of intervention 5.2: Promoting long-term sustainability of rural areas in terms of human resources development and employment. The project will be implemented from April 2014 until September 2015.

OUR OBJECTIVES: Our general objective is to improve the rate of employment on the labour market for young jobless people (16-24 years old) in the rural regions, of those actively seeking employment and of people engaged in subsistence agriculture from the central and southeastern regions of Romania.

WHAT WE OFFER: We offer a full package of information, career counselling, and training.

The activities we carry out are:

• Psychological aptitude-testing and individual counselling sessions. A great opportunity for the young employment seekers to assess their interests, values, and abilities and to set appropriate and realistic career objectives.

• Personal development and group counselling sessions. Throughout the course of two days, our participants will be involved in activities that contribute to the development of a flexible mindset in the approach to a specific career path. They will learn tools to improve the sense of wellbeing, self-regulation and self-organization abilities, how to set up career objectives and initiate plans of action to ease the transition to the future job.

• Self-awareness seminars regarding a healthy lifestyle. The seminars are a good way to identify and further develop healthful habits which promote a better personal image of the candidate. The subjects approached during the seminars range from diet, personal hygiene, housing and workspace hygiene, to first aid and reproductive health.

• Career training. The project offers 2 types of courses: improvement and qualification in 11 distinct professions.

  
  

  • The qualification courses (for national compulsory education graduates only): commercial worker, pastry chef, tailors and sewers in the apparel industry, security agent, hairstylist, construction worker, housemaid.

  • Improvement courses: commercial worker, secretary, and receptionist.

  
  

• Support in seeking a job. Our career counsellor will provide additional support to those actively engaged in the process of job-seeking by organizing job-clubs (1 day learning sessions for job seeking skills) and by providing information regarding available jobs and employer contacts.

• As a reward, the participants who are actively engaged in all the activities of the project and in seeking a job will benefit from a grant.

WHY do we support young people: Because looking for a job is often difficult and it takes patience and perseverance. The transition from school life to the labor market environment can be at times unsuccessful, frustrating and may lead to complete abandonment of the journey. We want to help young people achieve positive results and enjoy their first job.

We intend to increase the amount of information young people receive regarding opportunities on the labor market, to boost their motivation towards career development and achievements, to raise awareness about their existing abilities and the need to link them to the job desired.

WHERE is the project taking place: In the South-Eastern region, Galati, Vrancea, Constanta, Braila counties.

In the central region, Brasov, Mures, Harghita, Sibiu counties.

The project addresses (mainly) people who have never participated in other POSDRU projects.

The results of the project

The main goals the project aims to achieve are:

• Career counselling and psychological testing of 740 participants

• Professional training of 630 participants

• Support in job-seeking of 630 participants

• At least 145 employed persons by the end of the project
  

For more information access the project’s website: http://initiativerurale.ro