We are pleased to present students who are doing their internship at banking sector. The professional paid-internship program is being organized within the framework of the “Better Future for Syrian-Armenian Youth” project.

Syrian-Armenian youth Mane Hovagimyan, Vana Zakar and Maria Gharibean are students of the faculty of Management at European University who are doing their professional internship at ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank. Today we will present each participant’s impression of their internship.

Our first interlocutor, Mane Hovagimian (21 years old), is currently a fourth-year student. She moved to Armenia in 2012. As a teenager, she had an interest in her future career, so after graduating from school she applied for the faculty of Management at European University. To the question, which are the most favorite subjects in the university, Mane answered. “Banking and Financial Management, Communication Skills, Economic Activity Analysis,” adding that the knowledge gained during these lessons, she applies with practice due to this internship program.

Vana Zakar, who moved to Armenia in 2013, runs her professional practice at ACBA-Credit Agricole Bank, too. Vana initially had started her career in another field. After two years of studying at the Dental college, she realized that she was more interested in the field of management. In order to succeed in her chosen field, along with her academical lessons, Vana also actively participates in other professional training courses of Accounting / AS7 and the courses for Syrian-Armenians being organized by American University of Armenia. For the future, Vana imagines herself working in the bank or being a staff member of a business organization.

Our next interlocutor was Maria Gharibean (20 years old), who has been living in Armenia for three years. Maria began to take interest in her chosen profession and especially in banking,  while studying at the College of Management in Aleppo, Syria. Through her three years of study at European University, she has gained theoretical knowledge due to the different subjects (Strategic Management, Economic Management, Technology Management, Decision Making), which helps her to fulfill her assigned tasks more easily.

By speaking about the project of the “Better Future of Syrian-Armenian Youth”, the participants mentioned that this is a great opportunity for young people returned from Syria, to improve their skills, to get acquainted with Armenian labor market and have easier access to the labor market.

“This internship enables us to become familiar with the rules and ethics of customer service and communication. We are already acquainted with the types of bank cards, personnel and financial department activities, banking documentation and credit system,”-note participants.

From November 4, 2019, a two-month professional paid-internship program has been launched within the framework of the “Better Future for Syrian-Armenian Youth” project, for 15 Syrian-Armenian youth studying at Armenian universities. The project is funded by the World Council of Churches Armenia Inter-Church Charitable Round Table Foundation (ART) and implemented by Aleppo Compatriotic Charitable NGO (Aleppo-NGO). The main goal of the professional internships is to improve the skills and capacities of students and graduates, to enlarge their knowledge in professional field, to give an opportunity to gain work experience, as well as to get acquainted with working environment.