Employment Project

Humam Salih. He is a young, very energic person. He came to Turkey six years ago and continues his middle school here in Turkey. After middle school, he started night school for his graduation.

For to support his family, he started looking for a job. His brother saw United Work’s job advertisement, and they applied for his opportunity.

With funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through KFW-German Development Bank and in cooperation with the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), United Work conducts job placement by matching employers and job-seekers. The project helps people from refugee and host communities to find jobs. It supports obtaining work permits for refugees so all people of concern can equally access opportunities in the job market.

United Work consultants interviewed him for possible opportunities. After an interview with GMD company, he got accepted for an open position and started working. After his performance, the company found an open position more suitable for his skills, and he was immediately promoted.

“That this job is not also helping me personally and financially. In the beginning, I worked in the packaging and weighting department after the products were out of production. After two weeks, they promoted me to the distribution department when they saw my performance.”

He has lived here in Turkey since his childhood. He speaks Turkish natively, yet he wanted to learn English and German because he likes to translate between Turkish and Syrian colleagues.

“I feel that I’m getting better and better in my work and career here. My integration with the Turkish people is better than with the Syrians because I have been here since childhood. When I first came to Turkey, I faced many difficulties because of the language. “

Besides his work, he continued to study for high school. “Once I finish high school, I can study in college. I don’t have something in my mind about what department I will study, but I think business management or similar to it personally; I love industry and manual work and manufacturing in general,” He said.

Before working here, he worked with different cafes and restaurants to continue his education. He has been working at GMD company for more than five months from now on.

“I feel delighted here as I improve myself and get higher with my career in this factory. I love stability in work, not moving from one job to another, and developing my work.”

Alrayan Alajaji was born in Al-Raqqah city in Syria, and she is 18 years old. She came to Turkey 9 years ago, and she is living in Istanbul with her family. She is seeking to improve herself all the time because she wants to learn new things and she is ambitious, and she believes that she can achieve all things to her goals. She lives with her family, and she looks after her family members, who are 2 kids, one is 1.5 years old, and the other is 4 years old and also her parents, who are in the 70s.

When Alrayan came to Turkey, she was only 9 years old, and her priority was continuing her education. For this reason, she does not have any previous work experience. On the other hand, the need to work has emerged in the current period, and he has actively sought employment. “I was really in need of this employment project as I needed to find a job, especially in this current time and circumstances as I was facing many personal challenges. I hope these projects will continue to reach more people looking for work and this kind of support.’ she said.

Alrayan is an 18-year-old single woman who is obliged to take care of her family. Since their parents are very old, they are not able to work. On the other hand, since other siblings are also working on daily jobs or temporary periods., she is the only person in the household who works regularly. “I feel powerful and strong as I’m a woman working with work permit and taking care of my family and providing their needs,” she said. Al Rayan is very open to improving herself. Still, the circumstances made her move away from being a pharmacist, which was her biggest dream, and she started working after completing her high school education. However, she continues her life with hope for the future and focuses on her career. On the other hand, Alrayan designs handcrafted products and sells them online to support the home economy. “I make handmade crafts and accessories and sell them on e-marketing sites and applications like Hepsiburada, trendyol etc,” she said.

It is Alrayan’s first job in Turkey, and she is pretty happy. She is one of the beneficiaries placed in a job within the project’s scope carried out in partnership with Stichting United Work and the Danish Refugee Council. Within the project’s scope, she both registered for a registered job and got a work permit. For this reason, she thinks that working conditions are very supportive and encouraging. Alrayan learned about the job postings shared by Stichting United Work on Facebook posts and completed her job application. Stating that she is delighted with the institution she is currently working for, Alrayan also states that the working conditions motivate her. “I’m delighted and comfortable in my work, and I feel involved more in my workplace and adapting more,” she said.

Since Alrayan came to Turkey at a young age, she completed her education here and plans to build her life in Turkey in the future. For this reason, she thinks that he needs to improve herself a lot and believes that she should work harder to improve her living conditions. In addition, Alrayan says that she has excellent relations with his colleagues and her environment. ”I feel welcomed here, and I don’t feel disturbed or faced any problems in Turkey,” she said.

On the other hand, Alrayan believes that she should adapt better to the society he lives in, and she makes a lot of effort to improve her Turkish and attends courses on this subject.

Alrayan Alajaji is just one of the beneficiaries placed in the project under the partnership of Stichting United Work and the Danish Refugee Council. She herself wants to adapt to the society she lives. She also has big dreams, and she believes that she must work hard to achieve these dreams. One of the goals he has set for herself is to improve herself and prove himself by rising in the company he works for future.

In coordination with the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), the project places refugees and affected host communities members who have job prospects in skilled, labor-intensive projects, in jobs through support with applying for work permits, counseling and providing wages for the first two months.

Fatima is a 24-year-old refugee from Hama, Syria. Fatima was studying Chemistry at Homs University, but she could not graduate because of the war in Syria

After she came to Turkey, she got married. Now she is living with her husband and his family. “I do not have any children yet but I am taking care of my sick in-laws. My seventy-five-year-old father-in-law had a brain stroke in the past, and my sixty-year-old mother-in-law has diabetes.”

Fatima does not have any previous work experience because she could not find any job opportunities when she came to Turkey. “I have faced then I found United Work’s Facebook page and contacted them and they find me this job. This is the in my life as I didn’t have the chance to work before. I love my work here. Currently, I am under the , but I want to improve myself in my job. I am responsible for contacting customers, answering their questions and explaining our company’s services. It gives me the chance to be a productive person and improve my job skills simultaneously. I want to keep improving myself and move to or higher positions in this company. I am focusing now on gaining experiences..”

. She is currently working in a call center. “I like to work and be a productive person and to improve my skills all the time. I feel optimistic and ambitious in my life,” she says.

Most employers look for employees with either experience or degrees. Because of that, they cannot find a suitable job to improve their skills.  Therefore project provides work permit consultancy services and two months of wage support.

“This project has provided me with the chance to work with work under legal conditions which is a great influence on me personally and financially, especially in these hard situations. I would be very hard to find a job alone if I didn’t have help. Here is a very respectful company. I really like the work atmosphere and the employees are helpful and kind, which really affects my life and personality. I would not have been able to look or find a job if it weren’t for the support from SUW since I did not have much experience and did not know how to look for a job.’’

“Getting the work permit was very good for me as I feel more stable in my work, and I get all my rights and got social security insurance.” Therefore, the project also targets equal access job opportunities on the market.

“My dream is to be part of Turkish society one day and have my own house with my husband and also to have my one day even if a small one.” Most people want to start their own enterprises, but the lack of knowledge and experience holds them back. “I wish it to be the start of my working career.  “

Employment projects funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through KFW-German Development Bank, the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) and United Work carry out job placement projects for refugees and host community members in Istanbul. During the project, United Work assists employers and job seekers to match their needs, places refugees and affected host communities members who have job prospects in skilled, labor-intensive projects, in jobs through support with applying for work permits, counseling and providing wages for the first two months.

Mhmad Alothen is a 33-year-old refugee from Damascus, Syria. He came to Turkey in 2015. He lives in Istanbul, but his family is still living in Syria. So, he is currently taking care of his family. Mohamad had a work experience in textile sales in Syria. He worked for several international textile brands there. Currently, he is working in a hotel as a barista. He likes his job and feels enthusiastic about his career.

At the beginning of Mohamad’s carrier journey in Turkey, he could not find a suitable job for himself in the textile retail sector because of the language barrier he was facing. Thus, he started to work in various cafes, which helped him learn and improve his TurkishNowadays Mohamad can speak Turkish clearly. After gaining some experience, Mohamad started working in restaurants.

Mohamad mentioned that Covid-19 affected his life. “After Covid-19 reached Turkey, I had to change my work and I started to apply for different jobs. So, I sent my to the United Work team. Followingly, they arranged an interview with the hotel management. After the interviews, I got accepted here in the restaurant department,” he said.

Covid-19 has affected all job markets in the world. It has also raised a financial crisis for both employers and employees. Mostly, employees are looking for jobs to improve their skills. “I hope to improve myself in the hotel and tourism sector and I look forward for better positions in this hotel and in the tourism sector. Many people can do my job, but I have ambitions to get promoted to better positions. Currently, I am facing some financial problems because of the Covid-19 economic recession, but I am trying to solve these problems with my new job.

Celile Aydın was born in Muğla, and she graduated from the Industrial Engineering department in İstanbul; she is living in İstanbul with her schoolmates. She is very intellectual and open-minded; she believes in women’s power, and she wants to stand on her own two feet.

Currently, Celile is a Human Resources assistant, and she is delighted with her position and company location. ” Most of the institutions’ locations are far from where I lived. For this reason, I consider myself very lucky to be in the institution where I am currently working because my living area is very close and very convenient in terms of transportation,” she said. Celile is happy with her colleagues and work conditions, and Celile mentioned that “On the other hand, we got a good rapport with my colleagues, and they are very open to helping me in every field I need. This makes me feel comfortable and relaxed. I see myself in this institution for a long time”.

Celile always wanted to work in the field of Human Resources as her career goal, and it was a great passion for her to improve herself in this field. For this reason, when she applied for a job, she acted in line with her career goals and followed her dreams as an idealist woman. Celile is very satisfied with her company’s high-stress environment and versatility, and she believes that it is an excellent opportunity to improve herself. “The institution where I am currently working is a multinational structure, and the use of the English language is very important. Therefore, I see the great benefit of having studied English in my university life. On the other hand, thanks to my colleagues, I got over the feeling of lack that I experienced while speaking English in a very short time.” she said.

“It might be correct to mention that being a woman a somehow advantageous for the application for job vacancies because women candidates face positive discrimination in job application processes and provide an advantage in getting a job. However, in the recruitment processes of female candidates in small-scale companies, work circumstances open to abuse can also be mentioned in some cases beyond being not merit-based. As a result of this situation, it is seen that women encounter some unpleasant problems, and this causes a very troublesome process for women.”

United Work carries out a project under BRIDGES Programme in coordination with the Danish Refugee Council (DRC). Funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through KFW-German Development Bank, the project provides career counseling, assists in job placement, pays the work permit application fees, and provides wage subsidy in the first two months of employment.

Celile believes that the project provides a comfort zone for both employers and employees and increases their motivation to work. For this reason, she finds this project is successful. While focusing on her career, Celile wants to eliminate all the uneasiness in his mind and wants to work with high motivation.