The Boiling Point hosted the seminar “Interaction between university and employers as the prerequisite to the high-quality education of graduates”. The program of the seminar featured a roundtable discussion on the issues of interaction between Flagship Universities and industries.

The Boiling Point hosted the seminar “Interaction between university and employers as the prerequisite to the high-quality education of graduates”. The program of the seminar featured a roundtable discussion on the issues of interaction between Flagship Universities and industries.

The central focus of the seminar was the establishment of mutually beneficial cooperation between a university and an enterprise. The directors of enterprises and representatives of universities sought a solution to this problem. The discussion was moderated by Elena Pavlova, the Director for Personnel Training and Development of the Segezha Group. 

Gulnaz Fizratovna Galieva, the Head of the Department of Practice and Graduates Employment Promotion of Ufa State Petroleum Technological University shared the experience of her university in this area:

“Besides being the Flagship University, our university is also the Flagship University of Gazprom. Most of our graduates get employed by Gazprom, Rosneft, Transneft and other large companies. We start preparing children for the professional work while they are in elementary grades up until the senior classes. Later they enroll in our university. Some applicants are enrolled in employer-sponsored programs, which means that they now from the beginning which enterprise will employ them in the future. 

Besides that, we have what is called “distribution of graduates”. Every year we host career fairs at which representatives of enterprises assess the skills of the students, determine which position they can fill and what career they can pursue. This is an enormous work but it brings amazing results. We see that 90% of our graduates are employed.

In this manner, we train exactly those specialists that are in demand and have all the necessary skills.”

Galina Alekseevna Zhuravleva, chief human resources officer, shared her practices of attracting youth to the Petrozavodskmash, the branch of the AEM-technology:

“The biggest advantage is that the Government turned attention to the problems of workforce supply to industries, providing them with both managers and blue-collar workers. From our perspective, Petrozavodsk State University has been the Flagship University for decades, as it has been and still is training specialists for our enterprise. Updating of equipment naturally entails the demand in highly-qualified professionals who can work with the new software and the most advanced equipment. In 2010 we signed the agreement on cooperation with PetrSU. Under this agreement, we have jointly developed a scholarship program. The young people come to the enterprise while they are still students. They get immersed in the production process, are involved in the development of design and technological documentation. At the same time, the enterprise allocates funds for personal scholarship paid to the students on the basis of their academic record.

In the nearest future, we will sign with the university an agreement on the establishment of a specialized department of PetrSU at the Petrozavodskmash branch of the AEM-technology in Petrozavodsk.

We will present our proposals for the curricula in view of the requirements and standards applied in the atomic energy industry. We will provide practical training to the students from the first year of studies. By the results of the practice, the off-campus committee will award labor grades. Our goal is that every graduate of the university in our field has a job. In this manner, we will motivate the youth for career development, so they understand that there is something to strive for.”

Mikhail Vissarionovich Shiriaev, the first Vice-Rector of Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University:

“Nizhny Novgorod region is slightly different from Karelia, primarily we have a lot of defense enterprises so our university focuses on providing specialists for this industry.

Our experience shows that there should be a very close interconnection of all systems: science-education-industry. The interaction between science and industry is what gives innovations.”

Anton Shabaev, Director of Optisoft, shared his practices:

“Our contractors and projects require high qualification and do not make allowance for students. So we instead of staff recruitment we rather have staff selection. We try to select the best. I can say that it is not only the graduates who are ready to work in our company but the senior students of the Institute of Mathematics and IT as well.

For PetrSU students we hold workshops and lectures, at which they are taught modern technologies. The classes are held by the teachers of the Institute of Mathematics and IT. We offer some tasks and coordinate the curricula.

By the results of the students’ work we invite those who have succeeded, tell them about our company and openings. And if a student is interested, he or she takes part in the many-staged selection process alongside all other candidates. The selection includes interview, test assignment, trial period and probation period. Of course, we make some allowance for age and work experience.

Our company implements interesting projects for foreign and largest Russian contractors.”

Aleksandr Valerievich Zhdanov, Vladimir State University, talked about both achievements and problems they have encountered:

“In the area of employment, we are doing quite well. We have enterprises that are well-known around the country, but there are pitfalls too. For example, graduates of the Department of Machine Construction come to an enterprise, work there for three years, and then leave for Moscow where the salary is three times higher, if not to Moscow then to Nizhny Novgorod where the salary is twice what they make in Vladimir. This is how it is.”