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The 26-year-old Myrto Mezini draw everyone’s attention with her appearance in the French Parliament, where she spoke in the plenary asking French MPs for increased funding for the VIE, a program that incentivizes French employers to trust young graduates.
The young Greek woman is a living example of a success story of a young girl who was given the right opportunities, and she seized them and excelled. During her speech, she addressed the ways in which young European graduates can better utilize the French job market, essentially referring to a problem that all those in their twenties have faced, seeking employment.
“The problem is that employers often don’t hire young workers without experience, but in order for someone to gain experience, they need to be hired by someone else. This creates a vicious cycle where many young people, frustrated by such practices, give up job hunting in their field of study and seek employment in something completely different.
Myrto managed to break this vicious cycle by using this French program, and she is now at the forefront.
How it all happened
Everything happened with the help of Business France, a French government agency aimed at promoting the development of the French economy in the international environment. One of the areas it operates in is the VIE program, which largely funds the placement of young European graduates aged 18-28 in French companies around the world.
It is worth noting that employees under the VIE scheme are currently present in 124 countries, including Greece.
To highlight the importance of the program and to discuss in detail its funding, operation, benefits, and results, a discussion was organized in the plenary session of the French Parliament on April 11.
The discussion was opened by the French Minister of Foreign Trade, Frank Riester, and the Member of Parliament, Nadia Hai, and another Member of Parliament, Amelia Lakrifi, addressed a message, while among the selected speakers was Myrto Mezini.
‘The program has allowed over 100,000 young people to start a career in the international professional environment’
Myrto took the floor and began with a brief introduction of herself: ‘My name is Myrto Mezini, and I am here today as the head of the ‘Youth Center’ of VALEO, meaning I am responsible for the 900 trainees and the 250 people who belong to the VIE Program.’
Among other things, she emphasized that ‘the program has allowed over 100,000 young people, like me, to start a career in the international professional environment, and at the same time allows companies using it to expand their presence abroad.’
She also referred to the French company VALEO, which, as she said, ‘is a supplier of automotive mechanical components, with more than 100,000 employees worldwide, engaged in innovation for ‘smart mobility’, innovation for autonomous vehicles, and reducing CO2 emissions.’
‘We propose this program almost from the moment it was created, to grow our international presence as well as to allow young people to develop an international career. VIE allows us to train tomorrow’s leaders in various fields of activity and also strengthens our global position,’ she added, emphasizing the importance of the VIE program.
‘VIE participants are in the 4 corners of the world – America, Asia, Oceania, Europe….. In various positions – engineers, Research and Development, Human Resources, Markets, Finance, and many other departments. Real missions, which are the best for a young graduate who wants to learn and evolve both professionally and personally,’ she concluded.
Who is Myrto Mezini
Myrto was born in 1997. She received her bachelor’s degree in political science from Sciences Po (Paris Institute of Political Studies), which is considered the second best university in the world in the field of political science, with some of its internationally renowned graduates being Georges Pompidou, Francois Mitterand, and Emmanuel Macron.
She also earned a master’s degree in Management of Human Resources and Organizational Behavior from Sciences Po, thus starting a career in multinational companies.
She herself participated in the VIE program after completing her studies when the French multinational that hired her through this program sent her for a year to its offices in the Czech Republic.
Today, she works for a French multinational as an International Talent Acquisition Manager, responsible, among other things, for the company’s VIE program. She and the other six people in her department are responsible for 250 VIE individuals at the company’s various sites in 17 countries around the world, as well as for another 900 trainees working for the company (interns, apprentices) across France.
She is in constant collaboration with Business France, which selected her to represent, analyze, and present the VIE, providing the perspective of companies cooperating with the program.
