15/12/2015
14th "Graduate Students’ Forum"
TITAN supports graduate students in their preparation for the labor market
A well-attended 14th “Graduate Students’ Forum”, the annual event organized by TITAN and promoting better networking and meaningful dialogue amongst graduate students and representatives of the business community, was held on 27 November 2015 at TITAN’s plant in Kamari, Viotia.
More than 250 graduate students from the Athens University of Economics and Business, the University of Piraeus, the National & Kapodistrian University of Athens and ALBA attended this year’s event, which was entitled “Navigating today’s labor market: reality and prospects” and aimed at giving a realistic illustration of the labor market challenges, together with solutions that will allow young people to find their way out of a possible deadlock, coupled with specific ideas and guidelines for professional choices and requirements for success.
During the first part of the event, the young scientists were briefed by Endeavor about its study on “Creating jobs for youth in Greece”. Then, they had the opportunity to listen to the views of representatives from Greek companies, who gave short presentations and shared their personal experience to highlight what is missing from today’s labor market and to talk about concepts such as extroversion, inspiration and young people’s guidance. The speakers were Haris Makryniotis (Managing Director, Endeavor), Alexander Athanassoulas (President and Managing Director, STIRIXIS Group), Giannis Anastasiou (Managing Director, Frezyderm S.A.) and Panos Paleologos (CEO, Hotelbrain).
In the second part of the event, which was of a more practical nature, the discussion revolved around “Seeking career opportunities and requirements for professional success”. The aim was for students to obtain practical advice from the speakers of the panel, and become acquainted with useful “tools” that can help them claim a solid place in today’s labor market, e.g. a good CV and strong presence in professional social networks, taking on board the experience and knowledge of successful market executives. The panel consisted of speakers such as George Nikoletakis (Founder of 100mentors.com start-up business), Martha Milona (Chair of the Greek People Management Association) and Ethel Agelatou (LinkedIn Trainer & Consultant, HR Adviser).
Students and speakers were welcomed by Ioannis Monahos, Manager, TITAN Kamari Plant, and Dimitris Papalexopoulos, Managing Director, TITAN Cement S.A.
About the “Graduate Students’ Forum”
The challenge faced by young people in their transition from education to employment and the provision of support to them is a top priority among TITAN’s activities. In this context, the Group has established a particularly fruitful cooperation scheme with the academic community, which includes training and internships, information events jointly organized with educational institutes, visits at universities, implementation of educational programs at the sites of the plants, cooperation with student initiatives etc.
The “Graduate Students’ Forum” has become an annual institution of TITAN Cement S.A. It was first launched in 2002 and has been taking place since at TITAN Plants in Kamari, Viotia, and in Nea Efkarpia, Thessaloniki. To date, more than 4,000 students have participated in a total of twenty-four events.