Your trusted source

While working for the past five years at ING and Prudential companies in their finance departments, Paul Vartan Sookiasian wasn’t quite sure when if ever he would get the opportunity to spend quality time in Armenia for anything longer than a week or two of accumulated vacation days. He was 27 years old, already on a career path, and taking a break from that, in a recession no less, didn’t seem very realistic. Until, that is, he came face-to-face with a layoff from his firm in the spring of 2012 that totally changed the course of his life.  

Paul was no stranger to the idea of volunteering in Armenia. He was a donor to Birthright Armenia, received its regular mailers and social media stories, and attended its presentations and recruiting events. He also had several close friends in Philadelphia, PA, who had already participated in Birthright Armenia over the years. So it was a fairly easy decision to walk through the open door in front of him, and turn the pink slip into an invitation to experience the Homeland. On August 28, 2012, Paul was Armenia bound and hasn’t looked back since!

“I had never lived away from home before, let alone in a distant country where I didn’t have a firm grasp of the language, so I wasn’t sure what to expect,” he explains. “I knew I wanted to do Birthright Armenia, however, so I signed up for the minimum length of service so I could qualify for a travel stipend just in case I had a difficult time adjusting, though I always knew in the back of my mind that I’d probably extend my stay.”

So although his original application envisioned only a two month stay, Paul volunteered for six months, straight through the February presidential elections, at VivaCell-MTS, Ayb School and CivilNet, the latter placement especially allowing him to keep himself and his colleagues focused on all the news leading up to, during and after the race. And then came a very interesting offer for a USAID contract, which would allow him to get his hands wet in the fields of entrepreneurship and market development. His friends and family back home in Philadelphia, however, are anxious to have him return and try hard to understand what might be the main reasons supporting his decision to continually extend his stay in Armenia. Paul does his best to explain.

“First of all, I don’t know if I would have been able to come here on my own financially without the travel reimbursement and homestay living with a family here that Birthright Armenia makes available through its sponsorship. Both make having this experience very affordable. Prior to Birthright I had no friends who lived in Armenia, so I would have had nowhere to stay and thus it’d be impossible to imagine Armenia as anything more than a vacation destination,” he continues.

“Secondly, one of the things which surprised me most about Armenia is that I found it to really be a land of opportunity. Armenia is a very interesting place to work and do business. I feel like back in the diaspora we only get a one-sided picture of a place which is desperately poor. This isn’t to say there aren’t serious economic problems, but within the past few years the living standards within the center of Yerevan have made huge strides. It is far from the place devoid of running water or heat that many diasporans imagine when they think of Armenia. I think the fact I can walk down the street to my local supermarket and get a box of Lucky Charms cereal says everything. Yerevan is developing fast and within a few years it will have just about all the comforts of home.

“I was surprised that there were so many opportunities for people with western knowledge. Just think of it, Armenia is a developing economy where numerous things which are common and popular elsewhere are totally unknown. For example, this past summer the first truly western-style coffee house opened in Yerevan. They came in with an approach that might be common in the US but totally unknown in Armenia, including some almost unthinkable things like a smoke-free requirement. Many scoffed at such a plan, saying it would never work in Armenia, but after just a few months they are doing far better than anyone anticipated, with other establishments taking notice and trying to adapt to the new standard. A high quality meat shop, burger and hot dog joints, alternative nightlife establishments which go beyond the typical formula, these are just a few of the recent additions successfully finding their place in Yerevan. There are literally thousands of unfilled niches in Armenia just waiting for someone with the drive and determination to fill them here. Beyond this, there is always a use for native English speakers here. At the very least, Hayastansis are eager to improve their language skills and so tutors are always in demand, but that’s just the start of it. Being a native English speaker makes one part of a relatively small group whose skills are required by numerous corporations and NGOs here, automatically making you highly qualified for many potential jobs and positions. This is not to gloss over the obvious economic and employment problems faced by Armenia, or to say that just by coming here you will be handed a job, but it’s hard to overestimate the usefulness of a native English speaker here. This is especially true for recent college graduates just starting out their career. Considering the US’s current economic crisis, the glut of highly qualified and experienced workers who had lost their jobs, and the resulting highly competitive and difficult situation fresh graduates find themselves in, Armenia becomes an ideal place to consider starting a career and gain the vital experience now needed to aspire to anything above the permanent entry-level job status most new graduates find themselves in if they are lucky enough to even find a job.”