Ukrainian woman who came to Lithuania with her daughters and found a job according to her specialty: “Lithuania will never be a stranger” | Life
Tetiana, a Ukrainian, does not have such despair in the voice of her friend who stayed in Germany and in Vilnius, Lithuania. She and her eldest daughter found jobs according to their specialization, and Tetiana’s team became her closest people in Lithuania – a country where the Ukrainian woman has never been, but will never be a stranger.
He found a job in Vilnius according to his specialization
“Our house is full of girls – I came with two daughters. One of them, the older one, is already working – she found a job according to her specialty. She is an architect. In Kyiv, he worked for a large construction company – building apartment buildings in Hostomel, but Hostomel is gone, there is nowhere to return. Finding a job by profession is such a value! What do the people still staying in Ukraine fear, that when they arrive in a foreign country, they will not find a job according to their profession, that they will have to do unskilled work – washing dishes, cleaning the house. If I had to, you know, I would also wash the dishes, but still, what a dream to work as a profession! This is very important,” says Tetiana, who has been working in Vilnius since mid-May based on her economic education.
She read about the vacancy in the technology and service center of Danske Bank after finding an advertisement on the Internet.
“I looked through several job portals and quite by chance I found an ad with a very clear description that made it clear that it was just for me. Although he is looking for a job according to his specialty, I will satisfy him, I could hardly believe that he succeeded. For many years, I worked as a chief accountant, and then as a chief economist in a Ukrainian state-owned company. Although the orientation is quite different – the company sold grain, but the work is similar, with invoices and settlements”, says Tetiana, who has been employed.
After taking a vacation, she planned to return in a few days
Tetiana got into the 18th payment specialist team after passing the job selection.
“After I sent my resume, the HR department of my current workplace contacted me and invited me for an interview. I also had to take tests, after passing which I took part in an interview with an HR specialist and a team leader. The conversation was held in English. Answering questions about work in English is easy, but speaking in English about Ukraine, experience there, I can’t. My current team manager helped me a lot. When I ran out of English words, she reassured me: “Say in Russian, I’ll translate.”
Despite her well-being, Tetiana had to look for a job and start working, because she ran out of money. “When we arrived in Lithuania, I was completely convinced that we had arrived for two or three weeks. In my previous job in Ukraine, I took a vacation, and then I took several weeks of unpaid vacation. I thought, we will stay here for a month, it will be like a vacation for the children and me. We will explore the country, rest. A peace treaty will be signed and we will return. when I woke up in the morning, I thought everything was about to end, but after the events of Bucha, we realized that everything was serious. The money we took in cash ran out, and I started looking for a job,” says the woman.
The most correct decision in the life of a Ukrainian woman
In Ukraine, Tetiana worked in a state-owned enterprise of strategic importance with 55 branches throughout the country. “Our company was guarding the state grain reserve, so we were among the first to be captured. All the co-workers who worked at Izium were simply shot in the office,” Tetiana briefly mentions. Meanwhile, her daughter worked as an architect in Kyiv.
“I don’t know why, but a week before the start of the war, I invited my daughter to come to us, in Western Ukraine. I thought that the war would start, I even laughed when my friends from Europe started calling us – I listened to them, I think they are reporting on the news about the war in Ukraine, it has already been going on here for eight years. However, I told my daughter to come for a week and be near me. Now I understand that it was the best decision in my life, because leaving Hostomel just after the war started was unreal – it was immediately occupied – shares a Ukrainian woman who arrived in Lithuania at the beginning of March.
During the first weeks of her life in Lithuania, Tetiana’s eldest daughter felt very bad – she rushed back to Ukraine: “I almost caught her. They kept repeating that it’s enough, we’ve stopped, that they’re going to rebuild Kyiv. I said it’s not time to go back, it’s not time to rebuild. Now she has calmed down, but, you know, we all dream that there will be such an opportunity and we will come back. I really want to come at least for Christmas, come, but for now I want mine, but for now I want mine. I don’t feel safe when there are explosions and bombings around,” says Tetiana. It is true that her husband and the girls’ father visited her and her daughters in Lithuania once before from Ukraine.
“The man can travel out of the country, he has the right, because he has been disabled for many years, but he stayed with us for two weeks as a guest and returned. He says that until the war is over, even though he cannot fight, he will remain and be needed, at least making ropes for the soldiers.”
Social life in Lithuania
While her husband is in Ukraine and Tetiana is in Lithuania, she cooks here not only for her daughters, but also for her co-workers when they visit her.
“Recently it was my birthday – the house is full of guests, my colleagues. They often visit me at home, and I also go to visit them. My team and communication with my colleagues are my entire social life here in Lithuania. My Ukrainian acquaintance stayed in Germany and has been sitting there alone with her children for half a year, she says that she doesn’t even have anyone to talk to. You don’t think about it until you experience it yourself. Maybe the education in Germany is better, but you have no one to talk to, no one to spend your free time with, you feel as if you are slowly dying socially. It’s a terrible feeling,” laments Tetiana.
In the first months in Lithuania, Tetiana and her daughters did not go anywhere either – there was simply no desire. “Since the beginning of summer, we started going out somewhere. There was a family day at work – I brought my daughters. They really liked my workplace. Although I worked in a large organization in Ukraine, there are still many challenges with the equipment needed for work – computers, printers. If it breaks, you won’t ask to be fixed, so I showed my daughters a modern office. The older one disciplined me with a smile: “Mom, don’t brag!”, and the little one was the last one to take out, only when everyone else had already left,” smiles the mother of two children.
Plans only last a few days
In order to be able to chat more with her colleagues not only about work, but also in a friendly manner, the Ukrainian plans to learn Lithuanian. “Lithuanian is not necessary at work – we all communicate in English. It is true that all Lithuanians in the team spoke Lithuanian to each other before I was hired. Before I was accepted, the team leader consulted with the team and she agreed to communicate in English from now on at work. I appreciate that. It is true that sometimes we insert a few Russian words when speaking – my colleagues speak Russian, or even Ukrainian – I have a work friend assigned to me, who helps me get to know the work from the very beginning, answers when there are questions, you already know so much Ukrainian. My team leader has already learned Ukrainian words,” says Tetiana.
However, first of all, he plans to take advantage of the opportunity provided by his employer and learn professional English. “There are many opportunities here: you can study, you can improve, after a few years you can try to apply for another position. It’s not just career advancement, it’s comprehensive development – the opportunity to understand, know, do more, the opportunity to have more responsibilities. Lots of plans, but at the same time not the slightest idea about the future. I have already agreed with the team leader, I clearly understand that I want to learn, I want to attend courses, but what will happen next is like a fog. The head does not plan, because we understand that all your plans can collapse in a moment, – Tetiana sighs. – Now I can’t plan more than a couple of days ahead, but I will definitely learn Lithuanian, because this country will never be foreign to me.”