Česky
There is a wide range of study programmes available at AKESO facilities, starting with internships and temporary jobs for medical school students, even from lower grades. As Naďa Hloušová, coordinator of the holding's cooperation with schools, says, they are also a very important element for the operation of the workplaces. "They gain a lot of experience with us, they help us and we have the opportunity to work with them right from the beginning and, so to speak, educate them," she explains. Although most of the students are from the vicinity of the hospitals, those from more distant towns are also applying for internships. "We have had people from Brno or Olomouc, for example, apply. We try to meet all of them as well as possible and give them our full attention. We show them the workplace, introduce them to our colleagues and involve them in the process."
"We have students from as far away as Brno or Olomouc applying for internships and temporary jobs."
A popular form of internship has become the Week on Trial programme - this is designed for people who are considering AKESO Holding as a future employer. "The idea is to try working with us for a while, to get acquainted with the environment, colleagues and workplace equipment. We conclude a work performance agreement with trainees or temporary workers, and if they are from far away, we offer them partially subsidised accommodation or transport," says Hloušová. Hand in hand with the temporary jobs, internships or work experience, she says, is a scholarship programme, which students can apply for after their stay at AKESO facilities and which they can be enrolled in after completing a certain year of study, depending on the type of school. "The condition, of course, is that they must then start working for us," she adds.
We meet students and professionals face to face
Although the schools themselves have shown great interest in involving their students, AKESO continues to actively seek out other new talent. As Alena Suchá from AKESO's HR department explains, the HR team has a sophisticated system for finding new recruits and uses all possible communication channels. "We go through direct advertising, we approach the schools themselves, but we also use existing employees who are motivated to actively search by a recruitment grant." Recruiting via social media - for example on LinkedIn or in Facebook health groups - has also proved to be an effective route.
In addition, AKESO also reaches out to students face-to-face at job fairs. Last autumn, its representatives visited the Job Days lekárstva a zdravia fair in Bratislava and also several Slovak medical schools. Later, they also presented their programmes at the Employers' Exchange in Olomouc, to which they were invited by the Faculty of Medicine of Palacký University, and last year the holding was one of the partners of the Healthcare 2022 professional conference, which was attended by 40 leading experts over two days. "This year, at the beginning of February, we will be attending a non-medical trade fair in Pilsen, from which we hope to get contacts with other skilled young students," adds Naďa Hloušová, who believes that this method of recruitment has proved successful. "Several times, we have arranged a preliminary date for a personal meeting at the fair, or we have received a CV directly in our hands, saying that those interested definitely want to work for us."
Company daycare and apartments are the most popular benefits
When attracting students and graduates, AKESO relies on the top-notch facilities of its facilities or attractive benefits, including employer-subsidized housing for the whole family. "Imagine being offered the opportunity to devote your full attention to your work and not have to worry about where to live because your employer provides you with a new apartment. Or that you don't have to worry about finding a daycare for your child because you have one next to the hospital. Add to that a beautiful, modern workplace with the best equipment and an employer willing to push things further and further," says Hloušová. Another added value to the job, she says, are better mortgages, allowances for sports or foreign language lessons. According to Alena Suchá, these benefits are also important: "The experience of students is very positive, for example thanks to the friendly attitude of the medical staff or the possibility of living in hospital flats even during the internship."
From the internship straight to the internship
Kristýna Tomášková, a former student of the Secondary Medical School in Beroun, who has been working as a nurse at the Hořovice Hospital since last September, also praises her experience at AKESO. "I came to AKESO during my practical training at our school, but then there was also the coronavirus pandemic, during which I was deployed to various wards to help out in an emergency situation together with other classmates. I specifically worked in the neurology ward, which at the time was linked to the internal medicine ward, and I stayed on to work there after graduation." Working in the field is completely different from studying, she says: "You have to rely on yourself, your knowledge and your judgement. It's no longer like school where you play with dummies, it's live people full of stress, fear and pain." But she wouldn't change her work with patients. "The feeling that you can help someone, that they are happy to see you and that you are often a great support to them is fulfilling for me."
"It's not like school anymore where you play with dummies. You just have to rely on yourself."
Paradoxically, the coronavirus pandemic, according to Alena Suchá, has also helped to partially stem the outflow of young talent abroad, which the Czech Republic is facing mainly because of better pay abroad. According to her, the holding company has recently succeeded in reducing these differences as well.
