www.technologijos.lt, 22 September 2011

1ClickFactory Academy - a private Business Initiative helping Lithuania's Youth to find Jobs

Youth unemployment in our country is one of the highest in the European Union. According to European Commission data, every third young person in Lithuania does not have a job. That is perhaps one of the main reasons that so many young Lithuanians have been leaving to go abroad lately: some to look for work temporarily, others permanently. The rapidly growing pace of emigration stimulates everyone - whether it be the State or the private sector - to search for ideas on how to change the situation. It is gratifying that bit by bit some such ideas are emerging.

According to official statistics, more than one third of the young and most productive people in Lithuania are totally without employment. Even tertiary education graduates are finding it hard to get work. Perhaps in some cases their situation is shaped to some extent by having a not very competitive specialty or by the lack of motivation of the young person. However, very often it is more likely to be due to their total lack of work experience and the fact that the basic knowledge and skills they learnt in higher education are far removed from the current realities of business and specific technology.

There have been discussions about the practical preparation of graduates for many years, but the discussions have largely remained just discussions. Institutes of higher learning complain of lack of funds; therefore, they have no chance to install and continually update laboratory bases and to buy the necessary software licences. The suggestion has been raised many times that universities would gladly pass the responsibility for practical preparation of graduates in the form of internships or work experience periods to business companies. But business companies are not keen on investing their time and resources in the preparation of young people when it is not clear to them whether any of the young people will stay and work for that company. Of course they are not keen on preparing employees for their competitors. At first sight it appears to be a hopeless situation.

However, not all companies think that way. This fact has been demonstrated by the company 1ClickFactory, which is the Microsoft Dynamics solutions centre for Lithuania. For the second year in a row it has invited tertiary graduates and students to the 1ClickFactory Academy, the purpose of which is to form young deveolpers, giving them skills in Microsoft Dynamics solutions programming and helping them to get more easily established in the work market.

For those who are less interested in the market situation, let us remind that Microsoft Dynamics business management solutions have been used around the world for more than 15 years. They are currently used by more than 350,000 companies, which means around 5 million end users. Globally there are about 4,000 certified Microsoft Dynamics partners, who supply these solutions to organisations.

What are tertiary institution graduates taught at this academy? Søren Fink-Jensen, the CEO of 1ClickFactory, says: "The basic aim of the 1ClickFactory Academy is to find talented and motivated students and to shape them to become full-fledged candidates in the labour market once they complete their tertiary studies. Lithuania's tertiary institution students are educated, energetic and forward-looking people; however, they often have limited possibilities to get into the labour market since they do not have the specific knowledge or skills for that market or those products. Extra study is also required to work with Microsoft Dynamics solutions.

This initiative has not gone unnoticed by the youth. According to the CEO of 1ClickFactory, the initiative, which started only last year, has picked up momentum this year: it has expanded threefold not just in terms of participants but also in terms of numbers of programmes offered. This year students were able to choose one of three study programmes offered: to get to know the Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Microsoft Dynamics AX programmes better and to acquire programming skills in this field or to improve their knowledge of the .NET technologies (.NET Framework).

Applications to take part in the academy were received from more than 70 students from Vilnius University, Kaunas University of Technology, Vilnius University of Applied Sciences (Vilniaus kolegija), Mykolas Riomeris University and Vilnius Gediminas Technical University. The majority of applications were from students in the Faculty of Mathematics and Information Science at Vilnius University.

Students interest in the programme is truly large. What attracts young people? Above all, they are motivated by their belief that everything they are now being taught will truly be useful and will be used in their work. This stimulates them to try harder and to be interested. These are the principles that should be applied to studies at higher institutions. They increase the effectiveness of studies and the return on the investment in education.

Seventeen students were invited to take part in the programme. What are the students' impressions after the course? Skirmantė Kiliūtė, a Faculty of Mathematics and Information Science student at Vilnius University, was most impressed by the fact that "as well as the extraordinary opportunity to gain the fundamental knowledge to start a career, this Academy allows a young person without work experience to see and to feel the principles of work organisation and work relations and to be pleasantly surprised to feel in the workplace the company's harmonious practice of relations with its employees".

At the Academy, students get not only practical experience but also the chance to find a job straight away. Six students who completed the programme have already been invited to join the 1ClickFactory team in its Lithuanian office. The CEO of 1ClickFactory hopes that the rest of the students will be able to join the 1ClickFactory or other Microsoft Dynamics partner teams in the coming year.

Apolinaras Škikūnas, Head of the Microsoft Lietuva Business Solutions Group for the Baltics, does not doubt the value of this initiative and the need for it: "The establishment of the 1ClickFactory Academy is timely and far-sighted. The need for specialists in Business Solutions software has been growing very rapidly in recent years. The economic crisis that business experienced in 2008-2010 showed us very clearly that businesses which effectively controlled their own business processes had a competitive advantage. Therefore, the need for developers who can understand the business processes of various branches of business and can develop appropriate business management solutions will continue to grow."

This initiative is one example of how private enterprise can begin to tackle the problem of the gap between the knowledge students gain in higher education and the knowledge required by the labour market. It is clear that in this situation, private enterprise is taking a more active role in seeking to retain our talented youth in Lithuania.

Read more about Academy.