Project school has ended: what’s next?

Hello, dear Future Makers: Junior Cup participants!

Project School has officially come to an end. Today, let’s sum up the skills you’ve gained through this training — and explore where you can go next.

First of all, remember: you didn’t just complete a project. You went through a comprehensive learning journey that helped you develop a wide range of competencies.

Let’s call it your Competency Map — a clear picture of the skills and personal qualities you’ve been building:

• Hard skills — practical abilities and knowledge
• Soft skills — how you work with tasks and people
• Personal qualities — your inner strengths and mindset

Hard Skills

These are the skills you can now confidently apply in practice:
data analysis and analytics, project thinking, engineering design, urban analysis, economic evaluation, presentation skills, and the use of IT tools.

Soft Skills

You’ve learned to think critically, be creative, approach tasks systematically, and manage your time effectively.
Those of you who worked in teams also strengthened your ability to distribute roles and responsibilities, communicate productively, and discuss ideas constructively with teammates.

Personal Qualities

You’ve undoubtedly increased your sense of responsibility and inner confidence, become more proactive, persistent, open to learning, and goal-oriented.
These qualities helped you complete the challenging journey of turning an idea into a finished project.

The competencies you’ve gained will definitely help you succeed in the real professional world.

For example:

• Analytics is a core skill for roles such as engineering analyst or data specialist.
• Presentation skills are essential for designers and project managers — and indispensable for modern architects, designers, and quality specialists.
• Teamwork is a key asset for roles involving process management or cross-functional collaboration: site supervisor, foreman, power engineer, project manager.

All of these skills are your personal capital. Be sure to continue developing and strengthening them in your studies and future work.

What’s Next?

Let’s talk about opportunities at EuroChem Mining Company (GRC EuroChem) and EuroChem PMU.

These companies offer a Young Specialist Program: graduates are hired in their field, assigned a mentor for three years, mentors receive compensation, and participants receive a scholarship.

Both GRC and PMU also offer student internships — with or without a formal contract. During the internship, each student is assigned a mentor.
They also provide traineeships, which prepare employees (with mentor support) to pass an internal exam and qualify for independent work.

SUEK (Siberian Coal Energy Company) and Siberian Generating Company (SGK) are also major industrial partners of the Melnichenko Foundation.

At SUEK and SGK, mentorship programs pair young specialists with experienced employees to help newcomers adapt faster and grow professionally.

University and vocational students are accepted for internships, with or without short-term contracts, and are also assigned mentors.
Traineeships are available when transitioning to a new position and serve as internal preparation for a new role.

Targeted Education Programs

These companies also offer targeted education programs, where a contract is signed between the applicant or student, the university, and the employer.

This provides:

• a company-funded scholarship;
• paid industrial internships;
• mentorship;
• guaranteed employment after graduation.

We’ve taken a detailed look at the competencies developed through Future Makers: Junior Cup, and we’re truly proud of everyone who chose to take part in this challenging and inspiring project.

Reminder:
The final deadline for submitting competition applications is February 1, 2026, by 12:00 PM (Moscow time).
The list of finalists will be published on our website on March 4, 2026.

See you at the finals in Moscow!