NEWS INFORMATION
Meet Yana, a Project Manager at International House Vilnius responsible for helping foreigners achieve smooth landings in Lithuania’s capitals. Her experience has given her lots of insight into the pain points people moving to new countries face, so her main task is to help newcomers feel at home in Vilnius as soon as possible.
“For me, I discovered Vilnius through the Erasmus+ programme and it has since. become my second home. My relationship with the city started through a student exchange, and now Vilnius is a place of harmony that has given me so many great memories.” Yana says. “The city’s rhythm matched with mine in the first days I was here. Vilnius is a unique combination of an urban centre with so much nature in it, which makes it exceptionally remarkable. Just imagine having constant access to the Old Town with its historic streets, bustling business centres and shopping malls, but at the same time, there are spacious parks and woods right in the city.”
Vilnius equals balance
Imagine commuting about two hours in cramped public transport to get to work, surrounded by endless hustle and bustle, crowds of people and skyscrapers. Then spending your entire day at work looking at the glass building opposite of you, and finally going outside to inhale "freshly polluted" air, only to spend another two hours commuting home, all while dreaming of a vacation in the park. Sounds scary, right? But no need to worry, this would never happen in Vilnius! Because Vilnius is a city where you can work for a large international company but still be relatively close to the historic city centre, forest and parks. And even if you live far from the centre, you can still get to work within an hour using comfy public or shared transport. You end up saving a lot of time, and after work you can walk around a city that boasts some of the best air quality in Europe. Yana adds, “I have always been amazed by the city’s endless creativity and the planned thoughtfulness of its infrastructural development and reconstruction.”
While I was looking for a job, it was looking for me
Yana’s story proves how caring the attitude towards foreign talents is in Vilnius. “I was looking for a job for several months while writing my master's thesis. Thanks to International House Vilnius and their skilful targeted advertising, I saw an ad on Instagram about the Land a Job in Vilnius job fair, which is where I found my favourite job,” Yana recounts. “By the way, just a reminder for job seekers: Vilnius is considered the EU leader in Fintech, as well as ICT, biotechnology, and lasers.”
Now Yana's task is to help other talents find their dream jobs and see that Vilnius really is the best place to launch or build an exciting career! “When I first visited Vilnius, I fell in love with it, and now I consider my most important duty to help others feel at home in the city too,” she says. “Vilnius is a city with a constant dynamic, where you can find good opportunities and amazing people.”