March 20-22 – CFA Association Russia Board members Neil Withers, Denis Sitnikov and Vladimir Tutkevich took part in EMEA Regional meeting in Athens.

During the panel discussions, society leaders and directors discussed which services are required from CFA societies worldwide by different groups of stakeholders.

CFA Russia participated in a discussion on young professionals, individuals within the ages of 25 to 35 who have up to 10 years of working experience after graduation.

Following nine areas were identified during the discussion and presented by CFA Russia:  

(1) Skills development: It was identified that this group is interested in expanding several skills. They would like to obtain help from CFA societies in upgrading their career skills, including several hard- and soft-skills. They desire specific, focused skill trainings from their societies.

(2) Networking: This group requires networking opportunities, which help them expand their business contacts. These networking events can take different forms, such as meetings with foreign and local speakers at business breakfasts and lunches, informal networking sessions at bars and clubs, or various professional and educational events, including roundtable discussions and live presentations.

(3) Career Information: Such services as job boards and vacancy updates are also required from CFA societies as a source of career development information.

(4) Career coaching: Young professional require workshops and other career events, which would help them expand their career development skills. This would include coaching on interview techniques and on compiling CVs and resumes.

(5) Career Days: Larger career-related events are also required by young professionals in the CFA community. HR/recruiter events and panel discussions are efficient ways to bring together HR professionals/recruiters with the CFA audience. The most common format of these events is the Career Day.

(6) Continuous Education: Continuous education events in various forms, to expand both soft- and hard-skills.

(7) Mentoring: Young professionals would be interested in direct, one-on-one mentoring from more experienced professionals. This would be aimed at helping young professionals in developing their careers.

(8) Social Media: Soft skill trainings on social media usage and the ways to present themselves in the career world using social media.

(9) Volunteer Opportunities: Many young professionals are interested in receiving volunteer opportunities and leadership opportunities from their CFA societies.