When the war in Ukraine started last year, the UK and the world were shaken by the terrible scenes and desperately tried to find any way that we could to help. Avatar International meanwhile, were recruiting for a Senior Agile Coach for one of our Clients. When one particular candidate applied. During the initial screening with our Resourcing team, we discovered they were in fact a Ukrainian citizen, but had been on a family holiday while the war had hit Ukraine!
Upon the internal consultant interview, we were informed that he and his wife had made the difficult decision not to travel back to their home country in fear of their (and their young children’s) lives – and they had managed to secure Refugee status in the UK.
This family’s circumstance made us even more determined to successfully place this candidate with our client – we knew we wanted to help this family and ensure that this top caliber candidate was given the chance he needed!
Our client informed us that they would have to treat this candidate equally to the others that had been put forward (rightly so) and only offer feedback on his suitability for the role – and they proceeded with the hiring process with first and second stage interviews. To boot our client also operates in a highly regulated industry and comprehensive background screening also formed part of the process.
Finally the good news came that they were to offer our candidate the position, acquiring himself, his wife and young children, Tier 2 Skilled Worker VISA’s to remain safely in the UK! Obviously a lengthy and challenging process for both us and the client, as we work together to support our foreign candidates every step of the way until they are settled into their new role.
We’re glad to say the process successfully unfolded and the candidate has commenced employment in the new role.
The candidate has secured a home, furniture, car, personal belongings, and the children are enrolled into schools. To put the cherry on top, our clients’ benefit package included private medical / dental, pension, income protection, and continued study assistance (very important in the world of Agile Transformation) and an annual bonus – securing a positive future for this family.
This for us is more than a candidate success story, this has been a life-changing position for our wonderful candidate and his family – we are so proud of his perseverance, and that we got to be a part of helping his family remain in the safety of the UK – it feels like we have made a real difference to their lives.
We hope that this is a testament to how Recruitment Consultants can really change lives and futures, one job at a time!
