Russia invaded Ukraine on February 20, 2014, capturing strategic sites across Crimia. Within weeks, Russian forces and militia allied with Russia controlled not just Crimia, but also substantial portions of eastern Ukraine.
Six years later on February 24, 2022, Russia again invaded Ukraine but this time its goal was to conquer the entire country. Ukraine, with substantial aid from other nations, fought back but at a terrible price with tens and perhaps hundreds of thousands killed and wounded on both sides and likely hundreds of billions of dollars in property losses. Yet, despite the war, there have been heartwarming stories. Some of those involve the adaptation by Ukrainian businesses and ordinary citizens in how they lead their lives and help their friends, family, and neighbors. Relocate.me, a Ukrainian job board for those seeking to work in other countries, is a prime example, as is its founder, Andrew Stetsenko. The business continues to operate under the leadership of Andrew even while he spends a substantial amount of his time procuring humanitarian supplies at border crossings and then delivering it to Ukrainian citizens, many of whom would have suffered greatly and perhaps even died without Andrew's volunteer efforts.
In this special episode, co-hosts Peter M. Zollman of AIM Group and Steven Rothberg of College Recruiter talk with Andrew about what business and life was like before and since the invasions and what those of us outside of Ukraine can do to help.
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[00:00:09] Welcome to the Inside Job Boards and Recruitment Marketplaces podcast. I'm Stephen Rothberg, the founder of College of Crudder Job Search Site. At College of Crudder, we believe that every student and recent grad deserves a great career. And I'm Peter Zolman, founding principal of the aim group,
[00:00:26] the leading global business intelligence service for marketplaces and classified advertising companies. We consult with recruitment marketplaces companies and publish aim group recruitment intelligence and a free weekly digest. We also host the annual global recbos conference.
[00:00:44] This is the podcast for you to learn more about how to create, manage and work with general, niche and aggregator job boards and recruitment marketplaces. Today's guest is Andrews DeSensco, this chief relocation officer for Relocate Me.
[00:01:02] Andrew, welcome to the show. Hi Stephen, thank you so much for having me. It is a pleasure and I so appreciate you joining us today on what is definitely going to be a really important episode. So, before we get into why it's so important,
[00:01:20] take a minute or two and tell the listeners a little bit about your background. Who's Andrew? Yeah, well, sure Stephen. I'm the founder of Relocate.me. This is the tech job board for IT professionals around the world who are waiting to
[00:01:36] actually my background. I'm also engineer more like a civil engineer, but I started my career as a tester and then probably around 12 years ago I switched completely to recruitment. My understanding is that relocate me is about 100,000 users strong niche job board for tech
[00:01:55] roles with relocation. Before the war, what percentage of those about? Were Ukrainians looking to relocate versus residents of other countries and how has that changed? Thanks Peter for your question. Actually, among this 100,000 users and right now probably
[00:02:16] even more we have over 120 new technologies around the world so it's really diverse in terms of geography of our users. I can't say that the audience of Ukrainian users have significantly changed in any other direction or either increase or decrease since the war
[00:02:38] started almost a year ago and based on the data that we have probably Ukraine was country number 8 or 9 from the top 10 countries that we have users from. Interesting. So, Andrews, is the revenue model for relocate me typical for a job board, meaning that employers pay to advertise their
[00:02:59] job openings, search the CV or resume database? Is it work like that? Yeah absolutely we are completely driven, the revenue is completed driven by the employers who are placing their job ads, the website and all the content, all the services are completely free. For the job
[00:03:20] seekers and action right now we're planning also to pilot with a few job-seeker boot camps for our candidates they are also will be free but the goal is just to support job seekers from
[00:03:33] around the world with the better preparation for their job hunt. So, like they'll go through a boot camp get a certification and then that'll help you better place them or for them to be a better interest
[00:03:48] to the employers. Kind of it will be the more specialized groups of some technologies like Java cohort or DevOps cohort etc so then in having this specialization for the group of users they will be together to also pre-select their employers for them as well as support them with
[00:04:10] making their resumes, petting the interviews, matching the cultural differences if you apply overseas so all this stuff together. Obviously this is a very difficult time for Ukraine. Russia first invaded Ukraine about nine years ago in 2014 when it captured and later in next
[00:04:31] Crimea and some of the territory in eastern provinces a year ago Russia again invaded and this time it's trying to take the whole country or destroy whatever is there. How has that impacted
[00:04:45] relocate me and the work you're personally doing on a daily basis? Yeah thanks for the question Peter. Actually yeah when we call it like the big war started like in on the 24th of February
[00:05:00] 2022 it was a great chaotic inside our team because actually no one did know what will happen next so definitely like probably the first week of our Ukrainian team members were completely shocked and unprepared but later on actually yeah we managed to arrange the workplaces for all of
[00:05:22] our employees safety-fuerced questions were kind of really important the time and based on on my experience I started heavily involved in the volunteering probably since the first days of
[00:05:36] the war so during the day I was mostly volunteering but still I have some night time where I spent more for for work and business related topics. And yeah let's talk if we can about that volunteering.
[00:05:52] You and I really connected little less than a year ago last spring and we worked together I think it took a few weeks to kind of figure things out but to worked with GoFundMe we had to figure out what the rules were everything was very
[00:06:12] fluid. It was changing all the time with what countries GoFundMe would work with what they wouldn't what they would allow fundraisers for what they wouldn't. I think you had another GoFundMe with a friend or something and if I remember correctly in the Netherlands but we wanted to
[00:06:33] create and we were able to go fund me that would make it safe and easy for those who wanted to donate to support your humanitarian efforts and by the way for the listeners who want to participate in
[00:06:45] that if they go to www to the number two the number two www to dot college recruiter dot com slash Ukraine that's the GoFundMe that we're referencing but once we got that set up last spring
[00:07:02] it over the next couple of months, over the couple of months you then were able to use the funds from that and other sources to purchase humanitarian supplies. Maybe you can tell the listeners about the foundation you created, the funds that come from GoFundMe, the kinds of humanitarian
[00:07:25] supplies that you've been buying like how does that all work? Where do you get them from and who do you get them to? Yeah absolutely. Your first full I'm incredibly grateful to everyone who has contributed to our Stevens GoFundMe page and all your donations in your kind of
[00:07:46] generosity is going towards a really a very worse white cause I would say and the idea of getting the donations started also with my LinkedIn posts and actually LinkedIn was and still
[00:08:02] my main tool for fundraising and it started just with the text message where I shared with my audience there that yeah it seems like I want to start volunteering and start to collect the funds
[00:08:17] to support Ukrainian citizens and diversity of so many positive feedback and suggestions how to get started and I guess the ball started to roll since the time so actually I just spread the word about
[00:08:32] my intentions first, I'll link it in and then I got as I said like tons of feedback and health advice is and then the things started. Actually in terms of the the nations where they're
[00:08:45] going at the beginning of the war there were a huge lack of almost everything it started even from the diapers especially on the eastern part of Europe where the supply was and logistics was completely
[00:08:59] broken medicine etc like some even some some stuff for the hospitals so at the beginning of the word was really reactive to find the the hospitals or the the Kindle Shelters or anything what we can
[00:09:15] find and then to deliver help either physically so we had a boost that we go towards them or just if it's on the for distances we just use the the postal services that sounded and probably after
[00:09:32] somewhere I clearly realized that the focus should be for the winter and warm closing especially for the thermal closing especially for the sleeping bags for the sleeping mats all the equipment that
[00:09:47] could hit you the warmers for your toes for your fingers the the hats and buffs etc because also there were a lot of concerns about the problems with the heating system, with electricity during
[00:10:04] the winter time and actually yes since the the winter started this was some some problems the electricity was the heating so I guess that was a really good good cause and actually a matter of time to
[00:10:16] focus on the warm closing that's currently our focus for this month and for the next month we'll see usually I just you know speak to a lot of other volunteers and to other people to get the real demand
[00:10:30] and the demand is changing like almost every month so I don't even know what could be in March on April we'll see but I will definitely will keep our go find me page and date it with the new
[00:10:41] request and what we are currently working on yeah and and Andrew's been great um I mean period adequately he'll send me you know 345 photographs of you know himself the supplies his overloaded many
[00:10:55] van his family probably is you really in but it gives people outside of Ukraine a little bit of a peek into the the work that you're doing will be back right after this break.
[00:11:17] Do you love news about LinkedIn indeed Google and just about every other recruitment tech company out there hell yeah I'm Chad I'm cheese we're the Chad and cheese podcast all the latest recruiting news
[00:11:30] and insights are on our show dripping in snark and attitude subscribe today wherever you listen to your podcasts we out welcome back to the inside jaw boards and recruitment market places podcast you know from from a practical standpoint I remember very early on and this is probably
[00:11:55] June or so of last year what you what you were doing if I remember correctly is driving to a border crossing and then you would pick up because because men of basically fighting age right like
[00:12:12] 18 right 55 or something or not allowed to leave Ukraine so you could go to a border crossing pick up supplies and then drive them to you know keep or wherever it was that that you were going is that
[00:12:28] is that still the what the process? No actually but you are absolutely right at the beginning of the war a lot of foreigners were afraid to you don't to go inside the Ukraine because of the uncertainty
[00:12:43] then the only way was to come to the border on the Ukrainian side then to wait for our partners and our NGO friends that will bring so they literally cross the Romanian border then they stop on the
[00:12:59] Ukrainian border we'll just unload the denation from their bus bring to other to our bus and then we go to the places where we can deliver or is it said like because the Ukraine is a free big
[00:13:12] country we also use the post services quite intensively to descend it to really far locations it could be like even a thousand kilometers from from us and so now actually yeah the situation was the logistics much much better as well as there is still more safer and predictable
[00:13:33] situation in Ukraine so more foreign NGOs and volunteers could easily come right now especially to the western part so that's not the case anymore to coming to the border but it was extremely true
[00:13:46] when probably the first three or four months is okay yeah and just referencing something you said a little bit earlier too that you don't know what's going to be happening you know what supplies
[00:13:56] etc will be happening in the next month or so month two months three months I've done some volunteering work with you know humanitarian responses and what you're saying is is so true for those who
[00:14:10] have been involved in it you the needs change dramatically day to day you know if there's a hurricane chainsaws are what you need the first week and the second week you need cleaning supplies
[00:14:26] in the third week you need beds you know or whatever and I'm sure it's very similar on your end from medical supplies like turnicates which literally your life saving devices and cost almost nothing
[00:14:44] come you know compared to what they can do bottled water I'm guessing is probably not a big deal anymore but in the first days of the war literally probably saved thousands of lives just being able to have
[00:14:57] access to clean drinking water when when people were being evacuated so the again the go the go fund me for those who like to donate what happens is you you can go to go fund me the funds get
[00:15:13] transferred to me because I'm in the US and so go fund me is is willing to work with me thank you folks it go fund me but that's at www.coldracructor.com slash Ukraine those funds tend to hit my
[00:15:28] account in two to three business days and then usually the same day or the next day I then send them to Andrew via PayPal because our friends at PayPal are willing to to to work with with with
[00:15:43] Andrew and others in in Ukraine and some other countries so it's a it takes an extra step and takes an extra two days or so but if you donate on Monday then he's able to use those funds
[00:15:55] by the end of the week to to buy humanitarian supplies and then and then be delivering them which Andrew at some point you're going to have to like sit down take a breath and and realize that
[00:16:07] you personally have saved it's got to be hundreds maybe thousands of lives and and that's just it's just remarkable so um Peter as as we're leaving off I just wanted to point out
[00:16:19] that you have raised more than thirty thousand dollars through the gun go fund me which now has a thirty five thousand dollar goal I hope that by the end of this podcast or within a day afterwards
[00:16:34] we'll exceed the thirty you because it's not me we we have done we've made some contributions but oh it's your work and more importantly Andrews I hope by the end of the next day or two we will
[00:16:51] see you exceed that thirty five thousand dollar goal and then you'll have to raise the goal to fifty thousand dollars because if you if you reach a goal like that the only thing to do is to
[00:17:06] raise the goal and we hope eventually that the humanitarian aid goes not towards immediate needs of day to day but toward rebuilding and uh resuming normal life in an era of peace and
[00:17:30] stability whenever that comes uh sooner rather than later ideally so uh Andrew for listeners who want to get in touch with you personally and directly how can they do that and then we'll give the
[00:17:45] URL for the fundraiser one more time and it's really remarkable what you're able to do and we heard from jubal about how they are keeping their business going now we've heard how you're keeping going
[00:18:01] it's not an easy time to keep anything going but good for you and we hope the funds that Stephen is raising will help you even more so how do they get in touch with you then we'll give the URL one more time
[00:18:18] and we'll wrap up yeah I think you should much be there for the warlords definitely I'm very active on link it in probably this is the number one place where you can find me just type
[00:18:29] uh Andrew uh Statsenko STETS ENK oh and then you can definitely I'll pop up somewhere or my content or my page I'm happy to connect happy to discuss any um mutual opportunity as partnerships
[00:18:45] so definitely feel free to message me on uh quite active and reply probably within uh 24 hours to you to every single request so for those who want to reach Andrew again on linkedin uh Andrew
[00:18:58] Statsenko uh of relocate me if you're an employer and you're looking for some of the world's best tech talent um that is definitely the guy that you're gonna want to reach out to whether they're
[00:19:12] whether it's tech talent and Ukraine whether they're in UK France Australia really anywhere in the world he is helping those people connect with some of the world's greatest employers um the URL for the
[00:19:27] go find me www.college recruiter.com slash Ukraine and um for the listeners thank you very much Andrew Peter it has been a pleasure thank you guys and best wishes to you and Ukraine
[00:19:44] likewise thank you so much Stephen Peter and yeah help everything uh we'll answer where we're inside job boards and recruitment marketplaces is a co-production of evergreen podcast college recruiter and the aim group please subscribe for free on your favorite app
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[00:20:16] I'm your host Peter's element of the aim group the leading global consultancy in the field of marketplaces and classified advertising find out more about our reports on recruitment marketplaces job boards and class divides including our new recruitment marketplaces annual at aimgroup.com slash
[00:20:36] reports I'm your host Stephen Rothberg of job search site college recruiter each year we help more than 12 million candidates find great new jobs our customers are primarily fortunate 1000 companies government agencies and other employers who hire at scale and advertise their
[00:20:55] jobs with us you can reach me at Stephen at college recruiter.com welcome change agents to your go-to place for stories that ignite your spirit fuel your purpose and connect us all we believe in the
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