At the national competition of student companies – one of the projects of the partner organization “Youth Achievement” – among the twenty companies in the finals, there were as many as six companies whose mentors were employees of Telekom Srbija, while one of them won a third place.
Within the project implemented by “the Youth Achievement” with an aim to encourage the development of the entrepreneurial spirit among high school students throughout Serbia several months ago, twenty employees of Telekom Srbija, from various organizational units and cities, participated in the development of ideas and preparation of a business plan as mentors, sharing their expertise and experience with the students. Our employees Biljana Vuksanović, from the Human Resources Division, Danijela Jović, Siniša Arsić and Dragan Milisavljević, from the Strategy and Digital Division, Miljan Mandić and Snežana Isajlović from the Brand Strategy and Marketing Communications Department, Nemanja Šujdović, Miloš Bojović, Dejan Broz, Đuro Stojaković, Svetlana Kovačević, Vladan Stanković, Saša Veličković and Slobodan Petrović from the Sales Department, Ivana Pantelić, Aleksandar Vujić and Maja Mrdaković-Todosijević from the Tehnical Affairs Department, had the role of mentors, while our colleagues Marija Trifunović, Miloš Petrović and Bojana Ašković from the Finance Division, additionally contributed to the creation of a financial literacy handbook for high school students.
Apart from the students praising the commitment of and the excellent cooperation they had with the mentors with whom they worked on the projects, the employees of the company also shared their impressions. “I was a financial mentor to the team from the Technical School “Mileva Marić-Ajnštajn” from Novi Sad and I was immediately positively surprised by the enthusiasm of the students who were thrilled that a serious company as Telekom Srbija decided to support them and pay attention to them by appointing its employee as their mentor. The mentorship lasted three months and we were in constant contact, exchanging ideas and spending time together. With the other colleagues I also participated in creating a financial handbook which is supposed to help all high school students become better acquainted with the world of finance and possibly find their future profession there”, said Miloš Petrović from the Finance Department.
Miljan Mandić, from the Brand Strategy and Marketing Communications Department, believes that the “Student Companies” program is an excellent combination of education and entrepreneurship. “Thanks to this program, high school students have the chance to apply the acquired knowledge and additionally improve it with mentor support. I’m glad that I’ve been recognised as an adequate mentor by the Human Resources Division, that I had the chance to pass the basics of digital marketing and public speaking onto these young people, which they found especially useful during company presentation”, said Miljan Mandić.
Students working in the companies acquire knowledge about market economy and entrepreneurship during the school year, learning how to manage their company from its foundation, through the creation of a company report, to the possible closing of the company, while teachers and business mentors guide them in their work by helping them make the first entrepreneurial steps.
Several companies from Serbia with a total of 200 mentors took part in the “Student Companies” project. This was an excellent opportunity for Telekom Srbija to confirm its effort in the sphere of social responsibility in which support to young people has a very important place.
Telekom Srbija has already cooperated with the “Youth Achievement” organization on the Business Challenge project and received a VIRTUS award for its long-term cooperation in 2014.
We would like to thank our colleagues and we are proud of their contribution.
