I started researching professions in the Armed Forces of Ukraine on work.ua . I realized how unsuitable I am for this line of work. In addition to positions such as assault soldier, rifleman, grenadier, etc., there were quite a few other vacancies. There were many vacancies for drivers, electricians, and cooks. The harsh reality was that I was neither a driver, nor an electrician, nor a cook.
All I had behind me was three years of experience as a sales agent, eight years of volunteer work (fundraising and giving lectures to young people), three years of experience working in a shop-café, and the last five to six years working in a web studio.
The first vacancy that caught my eye, for which I seemed to be more or less suitable, was a clerk. Among the requirements was knowledge of a PC, or more precisely, Microsoft Office, which I had learned a little during my five years working in a web studio. Responsibility, sociability, attentiveness — well, to some extent, I had these qualities 🙂 Willingness to learn new things — well, five years of working in IT taught me a little bit about learning new things. Knowledge of the basics of office work. I asked ChatGPT how long it would take to learn the basics of office work. It replied that if I studied three hours a day, it would take two weeks. That’s not five years to become a doctor 🙂 I thought how wonderful it would be to get a job in this field. But then it occurred to me that there are probably lots of smart people like me, and that without connections, it would be impossible to get a job there.
Then I decided to take a more realistic path. I looked at which job was the most popular. It was a UAV operator. One of my friends, Maxim, with whom I served in the military, had just gone into this profession. So I had already heard a little about it. After reading a dozen different job openings for UAV operators, I didn’t see any special requirements such as an electrical engineering degree, etc. Moreover, in one of the job openings, I read that experience in computer games would be an advantage. Well, I thought, this is definitely for me 🙂
I started writing down the UAV operator job postings that had the fewest requirements. Then, after getting myself ready and gathering my courage, I started making calls.
Contacts started to appear, and people said, “Come and see us.” Also, after talking to people, I realized that it matters a lot which TCC you go to. That is, whichever TCC you go to, you will stay there, and it will decide where to send you next.
On one of my calls, I came across Vika (name changed for security reasons). Vika asked me, “Why do you want to be a drone operator?” To which I replied, “To be honest, I’m not ready for assaults or trenches.” Vika replied, “Well, to be honest, UAV operators sit in trenches with other soldiers.” I sincerely thanked Vika for her honest answer and asked what I should do then. Vika said that there was a vacancy for a clerk, for example. I was very surprised that she immediately named the very vacancy that I originally wanted to get. I said, “I thought it was impossible to get this job.” Vika said that they had such a vacancy. Then Vika asked what type of service I wanted—as a conscript or as a contract soldier. I replied that I was a little afraid to sign a contract and probably wanted to go as a conscript. Vika replied that people have a misconception that conscription gives more freedom. In fact, the opposite is true—those who go through mobilization are a mobilized resource, and this resource is sent where people are most needed. Most often, people are needed where there are high costs. Vika suggested that I come to them and discuss everything in more detail.
Share
