Meet Liza
Like thousands of others, Liza escaped from Odessa to Moldova when the war broke out. Money was tight, so she turned to EmployUkraine to look for a job. A week later, she had secured a part-time role while she completes her Masters degree.
This is her story.
Liza moved from Mykolaiv to Odessa to study Maritime Transport Engineering. After a 4 year Batchelor degree, so began her Masters. Then the invasion began. “At that point, I couldn’t make any plans, I just needed to reach safety with my family.”
One week later, she escaped Odessa with her mother. After a 16 hour car drive, they made it over the border to Liza’s grandmother who lives in Moldova.
When we first arrived, there were a lot of problems associated with the thousands of people arriving so rapidly. People struggled to find housing, and there were difficulties with currency exchange.
They made it safely, but Liza’s father stayed behind in Odessa. “It’s difficult to be apart, but we call each other every day.”
Now that she was safe, Liza’s first priority was to find a part-time job to cover her living expenses while she tried to finish her Masters degree.
“I just Googled ‘Remote Jobs for Ukrainians’ and that’s where I found EmployUkraine. I registered and created my profile in about 10 minutes.” The next day, Liza found 20 job notifications in her inbox. So she logged in and soon found 2 jobs to apply for.
It went so fast. The same day I applied, the employer contacted me. I took an interview and the next day I was offered the job! From start to finish, it took just 4 days to get the job.
Anna Gát is the founder of the culture startup InterIntellect, an online events platform and community with some impressive Silicon Valley investors. Anna’s story is also inspiring. A Hungarian immigrant who moved to London, at first she struggled to find employment.
I had to start my life from zero with a suitcase and not knowing anyone in the UK. Having a well-paid online job would have made things so much faster, easier, and less traumatic.
Driven by her own experiences, when the war broke out in Ukraine, she decided to act. “I was thinking how to help and realised the best way I can think of is to help a few people to build their livelihoods and increase their autonomy in the world through having a secure job they can do from anywhere.”
At first, Anna asked around on Twitter and via friends, but that didn’t lead anywhere, so she Googled whether there was a platform for hiring Ukrainian refugees and found EmployUkraine.
I messaged around 10 people, and Liza was the strongest candidate. Our team love her and we’re all very happy with her work!
The positive experience with Liza inspired Anna to look for another open role, something she was original hiring for on other platforms. “We were very happy to meet Maryna, who I’m delighted to also be hiring, and she is starting on an important 6 month assignment tomorrow!”
Anna built her startup team to be fully remote – Brussels, Pittsburg, Montreal, New York City, Oxford. Now, the team is welcoming Liza from Italy and Maryna from Poland. “Now through EmployUkraine, we hired both Liza in Italy and Maryna in Poland.”
For Liza, the positive global mindset of Anna and her team was inspiring. “I’m really happy to join their global team, working remotely!”
Now that she’s secured her first part-time role, Liza is still getting 2 emails a week from employers inviting her to apply for their jobs. Lisa has also registered her mother on EmployUkraine, looking for an accounting role!
Liza’s message to her fellow Ukrainians:
Don’t be afraid to find something new, there are a lot of different jobs available. A lot of people respond to your applications because they want to help, and they also recommend you to other people.
Liza, you’re a star. Good luck with your job and your studies!
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