Nearly one in two Generation Zers admits that their first job doesn’t align with their long-term career ambitions. According to the World Economic Forum, young professionals change roles on average every year in their early years. And that’s not a problem—it’s the new normal.
Nearly one in two Generation Zers admits that their first job doesn’t align with their long-term career ambitions. According to the World Economic Forum, young professionals change roles on average every year in their early years. And that’s not a problem—it’s the new normal.
At the start of a career, it’s difficult to understand in advance what role is «yours.» That’s why most young professionals are looking for themselves in the process: trying out different roles, changing teams, and looking at the business from different angles.
However, such a search often looks like a chaotic «career seesaw»: there is a lot of movement, but it is not always clear where it leads.
That is why Philip Morris International Inc. has created a new European career program, Europe Graduate, for young professionals with up to three years of experience who want to not just change roles, but to build their careers quickly and understand the business systematically.
The bit.ua publication spoke with three participants of the program to understand what lessons they learned from their first years of work and what advice they would give to those who are just starting out.
«I love trying new things both in work and in life, so for me, my career has never been a story about one role or one department. For me, it’s normal to try, change direction, and gradually find my own,» said Vladislav Baltayev, who currently works as a warranty specialist in the Customer Experience department.
He joined the company as a brand expert, later moved to the key account department, and then to the field sales team in Kyiv to better understand how regional teams work and how the interaction with the market takes place.
Last year, Vladyslav applied for Europe Graduate, a new European career program from Philip Morris International.
According to Vladyslav, the proposed format of the program was one of the main reasons for joining: «For me, it is an opportunity to structure my search for myself. Not just changing roles chaotically, but in a short time to gain different experience and understand how the business as a whole works. It is intense and difficult, because in each role we are expected to deliver results. But at the same time, you understand that you are gaining experience that in a normal career scenario could take much longer.»
«Europe Graduate is our unique format, unlike an internship or a classic job within a department. For two years, participants work in the company’s staff and undergo three rotations in different business functions, each lasting approximately eight months. This makes it possible to create a new generation of company leaders who deeply understand business. The program was created in 2025, and today 45 participants from over 20 countries are successfully moving along an accelerated career path. The plan for this year is to hire 150 program participants in Europe,» says Larisa Nakonechna, Head of People and Culture at Philip Morris in Ukraine and Moldova.
«I’m quite far from analytics and never considered myself a person who could work with numbers. But now my work is largely related to analytics, and this has become a pleasant growth area for me,» says Maria Mezentseva, who works in the Customer Experience department.
She joined the company in 2024 through an internship for Inkompass students, and is currently a participant in the Europe Graduate program.
In the program, Maria was interested in the opportunity to work with international teams.
«I’ve always been interested in working with people from other countries. Because the greatest development happens not when you work only in your own bubble, but when you see how other teams in different countries think and work differently.»
According to her, there is even more international interaction in the program than she expected.
Graduate participants from different countries regularly work together in teams, undergo joint training and work on real business tasks. One such project is a hackathon in Milan, which Maria is currently preparing for together with colleagues from other European markets.
«We were given three big topics — these are real business cases that companies are currently facing in the world. And our task is to offer a solution as if we were a startup looking at the problem from the outside. This forces us to think more broadly and take responsibility for ideas.»
The participants work on the project as a team of participants from different countries, making daily calls and discussing ideas. The final presentations will be held before the top management of the European region.
«And what’s coolest for me is that our ideas are actually wanted to be heard. We’ll be presenting them to the company’s European leaders, who will then discuss implementing these ideas in their strategy session.»
That is why Maria believes that you should not be afraid of new directions, even those that initially seem difficult and «not yours»: «Fear of the new is normal. But if you constantly stay in the zone where you are comfortable, there will be no development. It is precisely those roles that give you the most, in which you are not confident at first.»
For Gennady Shpuryk, the Europe Graduate program became a way to quickly gain experience that would have taken much longer at a normal career pace.
Before the program, he had already worked in several teams in finance — from financial controlling to project management and financial planning.
This is his first rotation within Europe Graduate in business planning. But, according to Gennady, the main thing about the program for him is not any specific role, but rather the sense of movement and scale.
«To be honest, I was interested in the possibility of getting a higher position sooner after completing the program. But over time, I realized that the main thing is not the position itself, but the amount of experience that can be gained in a short time.»
One of the brightest moments for him was the welcome week in Switzerland, where the program participants saw the company’s head office, the Cube R&D center, and were able to literally experience the global scale of the business on the spot.
After this business trip, says Gennady, there was a strong feeling that you work in an environment where you can learn from people who have already come a long way. As part of the program, participants regularly participate in trainings and meetings with top managers of the European level — specialists who not only have strong professional expertise, but can also share leadership lessons from their own experience.
«It’s very valuable when they don’t just read you a formal presentation, but tell you how they got there, watch how these people think and make decisions. Without this program, I probably wouldn’t have had such international experience.»
Another thing that motivates Gennady is that after completing the program, there are several possible career scenarios. One of them involves an invitation to work abroad for a year and a half in one of the company’s European branches.
Therefore, Gennady’s advice to those who are currently taking their first professional steps is this: you should pay attention not only to the role itself, but also to the opportunities it opens up around you. Sometimes the most valuable thing is where this experience can lead you next.
This year’s Europe Graduate program is open until April 17, and you can register via the link.
