In a transformative journey, Alina Makenova, the founder of Kyrgyz recruitment company Make Nova, defies industry norms with a success rate of 92% in talent acquisition. The EBRD and Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) joined forces to empower Make Nova, fostering international visibility and growth. This advisory project, executed from May to December 2020, with a total project cost of EUR 4950 and We-Fi funding of EUR 3717, highlights the commitment to advancing women’s entrepreneurship and financial sector reform.
Alina Makenova, Founder of Make Nova
Opening new horizons for the Kyrgyz recruitment agency
Alina Makenova founded the recruitment company Make Nova shortly after going on maternity leave in 2018, and it is now a market leader in the field of recruitment and talent acquisition with a success rate of 92 per cent. With the mission of helping people find their dream jobs, and without any prior experience or education in Human Resource management, Alina’s passion to support employment has made Make Nova a trusted resource for matching talents with vacancies. Today, Make Nova provides recruitment services to clients not only in the Kyrgyz Republic but Germany, Singapore, the UAE, the United Kingdom, the USA and elsewhere.
Make Nova Team
Perseverance and humility in the face of industry challenges
Although the recruitment industry in the Kyrgyz Republic is young, Make Nova managed to gain the trust of its clients and consistently matched qualified candidates with the correct vacancies. Alina developed her approach in a trial-and-error manner, continually refining it based on analysing results.
One notable challenge Make Nova faced was ensuring the cultural fit between the candidate and the vacancy, especially given the international scope of its operations. But Alina considers that this an opportunity to constantly learn and improve the matching process at Make Nova.
New branding and marketing strategy
She sought the support of the EBRD and the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) to promote her company and its work. The EBRD put the company in touch with a local consultant that helped it develop its unique brand and website. The increased visibility has led Make Nova to receive ever more recruitment requests and expand its client base.
Today, Alina’s vision is to make Kyrgyz citizens an internationally demanded talent and to connect her country to the rest of the world through talent matching.
The EBRD is one of the leading development finance institutions promoting women’s entrepreneurship and financial sector reform in the countries where it invests. In partnership with We-Fi, the EBRD proposes an innovative model of combining policy reform with private sector led-financial and non-financial support to women entrepreneurs to deliver systemic change toward women’s economic empowerment.
