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Anastasia Balezdrova 

In times of severe financial and debt crisis, unemployment in Greece is racing at breakneck speed, especially among young people. According to recent data the percentage of youths under the age 30, who cannot find a job, is almost 29 per cent. 

More and more of them, especially educated young people who see that professional opportunities in their country are evaporating by the day, decide to take the big move to seek work abroad. 

23-year-old George Karnas, who has graduated Informatics at the University of Piraeus and then has earned his Masters from Cambridge University, is one of them. In only few weeks he is leaving for the U.S., where he will work at the largest social networking site, Facebook. 

"When I returned to Greece after earning my Masters from Cambridge University, I started looking for a job. I sent my CV to many companies here, but at one point I realized that it is better to send it also to some companies abroad. I sent it to several English companies, and to Facebook. I had read that they are good employers, so I decided to try it, although the company is located in the U.S.. A month later I received an email which announced their intention to conduct an interview with me, because there is a prospect for cooperation." 

As George told the readers of GRReporter, the first Skype call went well and his interviewers were very friendly. They informed him that he will have to go through several such interviews and if he is approved, they will provide air tickets and his stay in the U.S. in order to become acquainted with him live. 

"The questions they asked were similar to an oral examination. They are related to the candidate's technical knowledge, his way of thinking, how he would solve a given problem, etc.". 

George still does not know exactly what would be his duties on Facebook. "I will deal with programming and as they told me I will be able to choose what to do. Furthermore, I will not have trouble if I decide to change my position." 

He also satisfied my curiosity on the work environment where all those involved in servicing the most popular and multi-virtual company work. "Working conditions are very good. The premises which they have now are excellent, but they will soon move to much better ones. These are two floors. The ground floor is taken by the staff and the second belongs to the management of the company." What impressed George during his visit there? "The restaurant, which serves delicious food." 

His annual salary will be one hundred thousand Euros, but according to him this is not the most important thing."All programmers in the company receive that much." 

George believes that the job offer from Facebook will give him great opportunities for professional development that he would have never had in Greece. 

Just like every young man he also has friends he will miss. "But the people from Facebook were so friendly that I do not think that I will have difficulties to make friends with some of them.” When asked how it feels like to leave a country that is in such bad situation, George answered: "My feeling is that I am leaving at the right moment, because life here will become more difficult and unemployment will increase." 

He also shared his bitter experience of seeking for a job in Greece. "Out of the many CVs I sent I was invited only to one job interview and nothing came out of it. Nobody called me from the other companies, as if I had not applied at all. But several British companies called me which shows how different things are in other countries."