Employment mentors provide key support to mentees in identifying their strengths, motivation and preparation for entering the labor market, looking for a job and keeping it. The process of mentoring for employment represents an innovative approach in the social protection system in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it offers numerous benefits, among which is the creation of a platform and direction for further strengthening of institutional support and economic development of local communities.
Dženana Pindžo-Mekić is a professional counselor at KJU “Family counseling”. By profession, she has a master’s degree in sociology and is an academic painter. Dedicated to her work, she has completed numerous educations, of which her favorite ones are those that define her as a youth worker, and the education in art therapy that she is currently attending.
He sees mentoring for employment as an ideal opportunity for individual work with young people, where he can monitor their professional and personal progress, as well as their development into excellent employees and people. She believes that young people are often invisible on the labor market, and she is particularly interested in how she can help them develop skills and connect with employers, which would contribute to improving the quality of their lives.
The special desire and motivation to become an employment mentor was given by the desire to support others and the possibility to bring any positive change into someone’s life.
About how much the process of mentoring for employment influenced her, Dženana says: ” Given that we work to identify the mentee’s interests, strengthen skills and open new perspectives for life, mentors also have the opportunity to look at and reconsider their own attitudes, desires and interests.” I definitely learn from young people and confirm that there are no boundaries, that everything is possible and often how to prioritize .”
Although she enjoys mentoring, mentoring for employment as a very demanding process, Dženani also brings certain challenges. However, with creativity and good reorganization, he always manages to provide the best for his mentees.
When working with mentees, Dženana likes honest and open conversations the most, through which she tries to see all their interests, real needs, wishes and possibilities.
Dženana about mentoring for employment and its importance for the economic development of our country, states: “Mentoring for employment contributes to reducing the unemployment rate, and deals with social issues and providing opportunities to those who are often neglected in the labor market. With labor shortages locally and globally, rapid changes in the market and advances in technology, now is a critical time to make important changes and implement processes like this”.
The empowerment of individuals for Djenana plays a very important role in the development of the local economy and the building of the community from which the young person comes.
Inspired by her work with her mentees, Dženana wants to say to other actors who work with young people: ” Only perseverance, openness, listening and joint decision-making bring concrete solutions in working with young people .”
Institute for Youth Development KULT within the project “Social mentoring of young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina”, as a partner in the regional project “Social Inclusion of Disadvantaged Groups in the Western Balkans (SoRi III), which is implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in Bosnia and Herzegovina is developing an approach to social mentoring – mentoring for work integration, according to the methodology developed by the Association for Research, Communication and Development PUBLIC from Skopje.
Source: mladi.org
