Finding one’s first job is a tough task that young people face, HR experts say. The key to success, according to them, is being the best at what you do. "Talent is becoming the new force of our time," said Nadia Vasileva, Director of Manpower Bulgaria, Serbia and Croatia at the “Jobs of Tomorrow” youth career forum. The initiative, organized by Junior Achievement Bulgaria, aimed to help more young people find their professional vocation. For this purpose they met with business representatives, HR experts and top professionals. It turns out that not only job seekers, but employers face challenges. Analysts say the companies now aim at attracting talent they need, rather than receiving access to financing. The reason lies in the increasingly aging population and the lack of workers with the necessary qualification. "A Manpower Survey of 2014 showed that 36% of employers worldwide are struggling to find the talents they need. In Bulgaria, 44 per cent have difficulties in filling open positions," said Ms. Vasileva. The most wanted are engineers, skilled workers, managers, IT specialists, hotel and restaurant personnel, doctors. Nadia Vasileva told us more about the areas in which young people have a better chance to find a job:

"Currently the sector of business services has been developing well. We are talking about finance, accounting, real estate, insurance, telecommunications, transport and logistics. In other sectors there is also lack of qualified employees.”

26-year-old software engineer Vasil Chomakov is one of the specialists who met with young people to tell them about their profession. "Software engineers are very much needed. I receive job offers from foreign and Bulgarian companies through Linkedin on a daily basis," he says. The young man, however, prefers to work for a major US software company that has positioned its biggest development center for Europe in Bulgaria.

A salary that is four times higher than the national average, a fast growing sector, ability to work from anywhere in the world were part of the benefits that Vasil talked about with the audience.

"Statistics show that more than half of the 12 youngest billionaires on Earth, work in the software industry. All the others with the exception of one have inherited the wealth of their parents. We can conclude that if you want to become billionaires you will either have to work in the software industry, or your parents must be billionaires. Unfortunately, my parents are not billionaires and I headed for programming," Vasil says jokingly.

Emmanuel Serafimov is a 12th grade student in the Professional School of Electrical Engineering and Automation in Sofia and dreams of a career in the software industry.

"I want my future work to be related to computers, because I have always liked them. The salary is not the most important to me. I like my job to give me pleasure. Working with computers and creating new things, like software, is what I like," the student says.

English: Alexander Markov