Attracting young talent today is about much more than promoting open roles. It means creating meaningful opportunities for people to gain practical experience, connect with the business and understand where their potential could take them.
This was one of the key topics presented by Boyana Petkova, Talent Acquisition Manager at Amusnet, during the Forbes HR & Employer Branding Forum, where she shared how the company approaches the attraction and development of young professionals through a connected portfolio of initiatives.
The event also brought important recognition for Amusnet, with the company receiving second place in the Talent Acquisition and Attraction category at the Forbes HR & Employer Branding Awards.
Amusnet works with young people at different stages of their education and early careers, creating opportunities for them to gain practical experience and connect directly with the business. The company runs paid internship and academy programmes in areas including Java, JavaScript, QA and DevOps, alongside partnerships with Technical University of Sofia, ARC Academy and Telerik Academy.
Amusnet specialists are actively involved as lecturers, mentors and industry experts, helping bring practical knowledge and real business experience closer to students and young professionals. The approach also includes scholarships, mentoring and practical formats such as the Amusnet Hackathon, where participants work alongside company experts and can demonstrate their skills in an environment much closer to real teamwork than a traditional recruitment process.
As Boyana explains:
“Hybrid roles combining software and hardware expertise are shaping our industry’s future and increasing demand for niche skills. With specialists often in short supply, targeted mentoring and training offer an effective way to develop this expertise internally.”
For Amusnet, this means building relationships early and giving young people more ways to learn, explore possible career paths and experience the technology industry first-hand.
Some participants from previous programmes have already continued their journey as Amusnet colleagues, while others who initially joined through company academies have later returned as mentors for the next generation. This creates a natural cycle in which knowledge and experience continue to be passed forward.
Receiving second place in the Talent Acquisition and Attraction category at the Forbes HR & Employer Branding Awards is a valuable recognition of the long-term work behind these initiatives.
For Amusnet, talent attraction is not a standalone recruitment activity. It is part of a broader commitment to creating opportunities, developing future skills and building meaningful connections with the next generation of professionals.
