POLYDYNAMO CENTRE OF SOCIAL INTERVENTION OF CYCLADES “Creating and exploiting the Video-CV tool in a small island like Syros: challenges and difficulties”

Polydynamo Centre of Social Intervention of Cyclades is a non profit organization, founded by the Local Authorities of the Cycladic Islands, i.e. the Prefectural Self-government of the Cycladic Islands, the Municipality Ermoupolis the Municipality of Mykonos the University of the Aegean the Unified Vocational Training Centre of Cyclades.

LOCATION Syros, Naxos and Andros

Operates at local national and international level, materialising action programs financed by the European Union and the Greek State (Leonardo da Vinci, Equal, Grundtvig etc), concerning social and economic integration, fighting exclusion and promoting equal opportunities. POLYDYNAMO CENTRE OF SOCIAL INTERVENTION OF CYCLADES

Aims to facilitate the interaction of groups to develop innovative approaches for the integration and rehabilitation of unemployed and vulnerable social groups to provide counselling and guidance to promote cultural activities POLYDYNAMO CENTRE OF SOCIAL INTERVENTION OF CYCLADES

Provides Vocational counselling, professional orientation and business plan development Individual psychological and social support for the professional career Support of disabled people Job-research techniques (CV, cover letters, interviews) POLYDYNAMO CENTRE OF SOCIAL INTERVENTION OF CYCLADES

Provides Information and support regarding European initiatives and National projects, training courses and grants Networking with the local society, the business world and social institutions for the economical and social development of the region POLYDYNAMO CENTRE OF SOCIAL INTERVENTION OF CYCLADES

Provides Initiatives and actions that promote citizenship and social inclusion Non-formal education activities Training and informative material concerning the access to the labour market and the promotion of citizenship POLYDYNAMO CENTRE OF SOCIAL INTERVENTION OF CYCLADES

Tools Training DVD for the job-interview (three interview role-playings and CVs) Training guide for the Finding a job techniques (CV, cover letter, interview, internet searching, spontaneous candidature) POLYDYNAMO CENTRE OF SOCIAL INTERVENTION OF CYCLADES

Tools Counseling tools (self-knowledge, professional orientation, professional plan, business plan, market research) Guide for professional dexterities POLYDYNAMO CENTRE OF SOCIAL INTERVENTION OF CYCLADES

“Creating and exploiting the Video-CV tool in a small island like Syros: “Creating and exploiting the Video-CV tool in a small island like Syros: challenges and difficulties”

The POLYDYNAMO CENTRE OF SOCIAL INTERVENTION OF CYCLADES organised 2-days informative sessions for a manager of a Centre for Employment which is called “Unified Vocational Training Centre of Cyclades”, and 2 tutors/operators of another Employment Centre which is called “Vardakios Training Centre”, in the place of experimentation activities. Those Centres are situated in Syros island, in Cyclades. The informative sessions took place in Syros at the venues of Polydynamo the 17 th and 18 th of May The duration of the informative sessions was 14 hours. Two managers and nine operators participated in the informative sessions. The participants were from the : “Development Company of Cyclades”, “Unified Vocational Training Centre of Cyclades”, “Vocational Centre of Posidonia, Syros”, “Municipal Enterprise of Municipality of Kalamata, Faris”, “Vocational Centre of Magnisia”

The Protagonists

The participants All the participants enjoyed being involved in the process of creating a Video-CV and to participate in the seminar All the participants welcome this tool with pleasure and great interest and enjoyed the whole process of the creation of the Video-CVs. The majority of the participants (operators and managers) had not before participated in the creation of a video-CV but some of them had participated to the creation of other digital products (e.g video-taped interviews) and shared these experiences with us providing good feedback to the project.

The material The training materials have generally been positively evaluated. One weakness of the material was that the steps identified for the technical operators to capture and edit the Videos, were implemented using Windows XP software. However, there was no specific information about Windows Vista where the menu is completely different. For technical operators it’s easy to work out the relevant steps, but for operators who have limited expertise about technology, it was quite difficult to find the way of how to do it.

The presentation All the participants found the presentation and the instructor, clear enough in order to understand the concept and the process of the creation of the Video-CVs and very helpful. Some of the participants expressed the opinion that the information sessions could be one delivered in day rather than two and they preferred the practical sessions rather than the theoretical.

The equipment They felt happy that they have new skills concerning how to edit the Video, although there were some difficulties because of an incompatibility problem with Vista Windows (see in question 6) All the participants agreed that the equipment proposed is perhaps too exhaustive because it is quite difficult for the Centres to have all this equipment. Especially the reflectors, the barn doors and the edge crates.

Challenges/Strenghts All the participants believed that it’s an innovative tool The counseling procedure empowered the individuals involved and encourage the verbal expression of the individual. They believed that the tool can valorise the everyday knowledge (in formal skills and learning) acquired by people that are not yet formally recognised. Video-CV can be a very useful tool as part of a wider characteristics of life-long learning for most of the Centres in Syros and Cyclades It allows non formal evidences (videos, pictures) to be presented to employers in a way that the traditional written CV cannot provide.

The Video-CV, because of its shortness, is the most effective tool for job seeking as potential employers generally do not dedicate more than 2 or 3 minutes to the analysis of the documents sent by job seekers. The tool can help in saving time in the employment selection procedures. The Employers have the possibility to record and save the interviews in order to view them in a second time. The applicants have the possibility to try more than one times to prepare and present their themselves in a positive light. Applicants would save money, for example for travel and time to do job interviews. Challenges/Strenghts

Difficulties It required a lot of time to be completed and most of the participant had to return to their positions We had to meet each one separately because of their time schedule Lack of equipment. For this reason we used the same place for all of the participants. Technical competences needed on the side of operators, and most of the Centres – especially in smaller places like Syros, Kalamata, Volos- did not have the appropriate staff with technical competences. The market is not very familiar with such a tool

Difficulties Many smaller employers in rural areas did not even have access to the Internet and therefore have no possibility of viewing the applicants on the web platform. Some of them do not have even the necessary equipment at their disposal. Fear of the camera It was difficult to memorise the script

Suggestions They suggest to include the Video CV tool and its creation in the curriculum of Training Programmes that relate to the job selection process. Through this process the staff will then be well educated on this subject and will have the technical competences. In the Centres the technical equipment will be constant and familiar and there will be no time restriction because it will be part of the curriculum. The operators that were involved in the process suggested that the most suitable and practical way to fully exploit the Video CV tool as a way of matching job demand and supply is by creating strong links between the Centres for the Employment (and similar structures) with local Enterprises. Also to create clusters among the employment Centres and Enterprises. Another proposal is to present and promote the Video CVs in Forums and in Universities.

11 N. Mandilara Str., Hermoupolis Syros, , GREECE, tel.: , fax: Where to find us