Maryam Rezaei
Chrissoula Manolakaki
Panos Chreppas
Stamatis Tsagias
Asimeni TountaMarianthi Nika & Sotiris Baratsas
Overcoming our own problems and finding who we are and where we want to go is a very difficult task…and not a lot of people go through it, let alone overcome it! And most of the people who do make it through the tunnel of self-discovery, usually run and don’t look back! At some point and after many years, having achieved their goals and being “where they want to be”, some of them become either mentors or coaches and do pro-bono work to try help the younger not have to go through all the length of the tunnel, but make a short cut by giving them the know-how they need! But how many “young” mentors do you know? I mean have you heard of many young people, and I mean University young, who did look back at the tunnel and found a way to assist others to get through it too? Well I am lucky enough to have met Marianthi Nika & Sotiris Baratsas, two 23years olds who found a way to help young graduates to stop complaining about the lack of jobs and help them learn the right “skills” and be employable and irresistible candidates!
It all started when both Marianthi and Sotiris weren’t quite sure of what they were studding and if it was the right choice for them. After a few months in their first year in University and having attended many national and international conferences, they joined AIESEC and that’s where they also met each other. Being in AIESEC’s management team, it opened a new world for them and brought them closer to companies and their philosophy. In 2015, Sotiris wanting to help other students to see and learn the experience and know-how that he had learned the past 1,5 years, he together with Marianthi co-founded effect and the same year received the Athens Impact social entrepreneurship award. So, what is Effect and how do they help young graduates? Well they hold 8week seminars/workshops called “Success Academy” where mentors and executives from different sectors teach the most important soft skills needed in the work force! Graduates learn how to teamwork, how to write reports, marketing and sales plans etc. and on real company projects! And they have an incredible success rate of 90%!!! That means 90% of the graduates get employed by the companies after the 8week seminars and 40% of them get employed in the middle of the 8weeks! It is remarkable, as we are talking about a market that is still going through an economic crisis where jobs are quite scarce! But I guess as they said, it’s all about pairing the right supply with the right demand! They have also created a community where all the success academy graduates meet and network but also help each other!
I also learned something else from lovely smiling Marianthi and confident Sotiris… that age has nothing to do with transmitting knowledge… you can learn from everyone and from all ages! They found a problem in the supply and the demand of the work force and did something about it… they are a living proof that: where there's a will there's a way
And their advice to young graduates:
http://www.effect.educationDon’t be afraid to fall… you have nothing to lose when you are young… just go for it! And trust your instinct!
