“Job readiness training: How the LIVES 3.0 project supported the unemployed

Losing a job is always stressful, and in times of war, it becomes a real challenge. Unemployment remains a significant issue in eastern Ukraine: businesses are closing, companies are unable to relocate in many cases, and the requirements for candidates are changing. At the same time, the job market requires professionals who can quickly adapt.

To help people find their place in these new conditions, the LIVES 3.0 project, implemented by “Responsible Citizens” in partnership with Mercy Corps and supported by the UK government, organized a series of training sessions.

300 participants took part in the training, gaining not only knowledge and tools for adapting to the new conditions.

The program combined three key areas:

• Career guidance – training on writing modern resumes and cover letters, preparing for interviews and self-presentation.
• Legal assistance – consultations on retrieving employment records from occupied territories, workers’ rights in cases of forced downtime or dismissal, various social protection issues, and more.
• Psychological support – working with anxiety, uncertainty about changes, and fear of employment.

“The project didn’t just teach technical skills—it gave participants the opportunity to understand their real value in the job market. This was an important step in developing their resilience: they became more confident in their abilities, learned how to adapt to changes, and build a stable career. Such transformation is supported by the real steps participants have taken after the training—from new opportunities to active employment. This is confirmed by their feedback and concrete actions towards employment,” said the coordinator of the educational program of the project, Olena Bielolipceva.

The project reached participants from Donetsk, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, and Zaporizhzhia regions, providing training opportunities both online and offline.