Burger Kings: Students offered chance to manage McDonald’s in Armenia
By Arpi Harutyunyan
ArmeniaNow Reporter
5 Feb 2005
It has restaurants in more than 100 countries and soon the Golden Arches of
McDonald’s may be a common sight in Armenia.
With McDonald’s already operating in Georgia and Azerbaijan, Armenia is the
last country in the South Caucasian country without the world famous
hamburgers. Although the first restaurant appears to be a few years away,
selection of its future managers is already going on.
Some of these applications will take students to England
Thirty six students at the Yerevan State University are being offered the
opportunity to get McDonald’s management training in England. They will have
practical training and employment in McDonald’s outlets for two to three
years.
The idea of opening McDonald’s in Armenia belongs to Armenian Britain
businessman Mike Ghazaryan. Last summer Ghazaryan visited Armenia to meet
students at YSU. The company also held a seminar with students to make them
acquainted with the plans for the Armenian market.
“The first McDonald’s complex is expected to open in Yerevan within two to
three years,” says Arsen Karamyan, the president of the YSU graduates union.
“The company informed us that it is planning to open more complexes in
Armenia within five to six years.”
According to arrangements between the YSU and McDonald’s, the graduates
union will present applications from 130-150 senior undergraduate and
graduate students. 36 of them will be selected by test examination and leave
for England this summer.
After training in England, the students will sign contracts and be offered
work either in the Armenian company or in other McDonald’s networks in other
countries.
In three months, the future employees of McDonald’s will be known. Though it
is still unknown whether consumers in Yerevan will like the McDonald’s food,
it is clear that many people would love to become managers for the company.
The average salary in the Armenian network will be over $1000.
“Since I can’t provide for my family with my journalistic work I made up my
mind to apply. Journalism can provide me with only enough for transport and
a packet of cigarettes a day. Of course, I have not dreamed of working for
McDonald’s all my life, but this will give me an opportunity for a good life
in the future,” says Armen Avetisyan, a graduate student at the YSU’s
Department of Journalism.
McDonald’s offer of employment to students at YSU is the first large-scale
contract between Armenian students and a well-known international brand.
Students from all departments are eligible to apply, apart from male
students who have not yet completed their military service. So far, 78
applications have been submitted, mainly from students in the Economy,
Romance-Germanic Philology, Information, and International Relations
Departments.
Applicants must have excellent knowledge of English, computer literacy, an
ability to work in teams and to absorb information quickly, be hard working,
honest and loyal.
“The McDonald’s Company also contacted the Linguistic University after
Brusov but then realized that knowledge of languages alone was not enough.
Students of YSU are noted for intellectual and other abilities, and they
concluded that graduates of the State University can stand working in an
international market,” says Karamyan.
Each year, the YSU has over 2,000 graduates and many remain unable to find a
job in their specialty field.