19 May 2011 - In only two months, the Centre for Information, Counselling and Training (CISO) in Tuzla has seen about two hundred of young people seeking assistance in finding work. Of these young people, five have already found employment. The CISO in Tuzla was officially launched in April 2011. It is one of 16 such centres being opened throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina within the MDG-F Youth Employability and Retention Programme. This three-year project is being jointly implemented by five UN agencies in cooperation with a range of local stakeholders.

CISO centres offer a unique type of service for youth aged 18-30, who are the most affected population group in terms of unemployment. Recent study estimates that youth unemployment in Bosnia and Herzegovina reaches an astounding 57.5%. Instead of acting merely as mediators in a job seeking process, the CISO centres work together with young people with a goal of empowering them to successfully navigate the current economic trends of frequent job changes, additional trainings and even career switches. Together with staff of Government employment bureaus, about nineteen UN Volunteers work as career counselors offering young people information about market and education opportunities, organize skill workshops and individual counseling.

The two national UN Volunteers working as career counsellors in Tuzla, Slobodanka and Maja, have their schedules booked for weeks ahead.  They are seeing a steady increase in a number of clients, and are busy contacting high schools, companies and non-governmental organizations in Tuzla, and are even visiting other interested municipalities. Just two weeks ago, upon an invitation from a little town west of Tuzla, Gracanica, they held training for 16 local young people on how to apply for a job.

When a young person comes to CISO for the first time, a CISO counsellor-advisor schedules an appointment for a 45- to 60-minute interview. In this initial contact, the young person will be informed about the services offered by the centre, and how the centre and its staff can assist and support a client based on his/her individual needs.

CISO Counsellor-Advisor in Doboj Nela explains this process: “A goal is to learn as much as possible about a person: what school they completed, do they have any working or volunteer experience, what they do in their free time, did they apply for any job in the past and how did that go.” Based on this information, Nela makes a decision on what type of service is the most appropriate for the client, i.e. individual or group counselling, or a participation in skill workshop. At the end, together they make a work plan and assign each other with tasks to be completed by the next appointment.

As it was the case with Tuzla, the CISO centre in Doboj has immediately seen a significant interest and response from local youth, a majority of which completed high school education though a large number of clients have completed BA degrees. The most interested young people are those searching for their first job, and are generally entirely unprepared for this process.

Maja and Slobodanka, Tuzla CISO Counselor-Advisors Though the 16 CISO centres have only recently opened, or will be, experience with a large number of registered users points to what are the basic problems faced by young people in a looking for employment . Firstly, a significant number of young people do not actively apply for jobs, thus they have not had many opportunities to interview for a job or to see whether their applications work at all. In addition, clients mainly need to be trained how to write CV, letter of application and intention. Career counsellors additionally train them in active job search without waiting for vacancy announcements to be published.

In the CISO centre in a small community Odžak, Refija has just completed a training session on how to write a CV, and is working to organize computer and language courses for young people in this community. Based on her work to date, she emphasizes that one of the key problems is that young people do not use vocational or other training mechanisms available outside of the formal education system, such as seminars and courses.

Considering the fact that a majority of employers in BiH looks for people with experience, looking for the first job is especially challenging for BiH youth. The CISO Counsellor-Advisors s are also directing  them to organizations and local services where they can engage on voluntary basis to gain valuable and much needed practical experience. In a short time that CISO in Odzak exists, already 65 young people expressed wish to volunteer.

Volunteering increases employability. It enables individuals to gain skills and practice, and offers an opportunity to establish lasting personal and professional connections. In addition, CISO Counsellor-Advisors underline that volunteering increases a feeling of personal achievement and motivation, and that it builds self-confidence which certainly has positive impact on the process of job searching. 

At the beginning of May, CISO centre was also opened in Brcko. Located in new, spacious and light facility in downtown Brcko, the CISO centre –like the other centres – is equipped with computers and internet activities. It also has separate workshop rooms.

Why not visit the CISO centre in your community, and see for yourself how they can help you achieve your goals.