hiring

Kyiv, Ukraine – Posters advertising “The Azov school of landscape design” can be seen inside subway cars and on billboards in Kyiv.

But instead of a smiling gardener surrounded by blossoming trees and flowers, the poster depicts a bearded, smiling soldier with the Azov Corps walking away from a howitzer that spews out a shell to “design” the landscape on the Russian side.

As Ukrainian soldiers keep getting killed and wounded along the crescent-shaped, 1,250-kilometre (777-mile) long front line, Kyiv faces a dire shortage of servicemen.

Individual military units compete for potential recruits and lure them with catchy slogans, witty campaigns, text messages and social media posts that promise thorough training that reduces the risk of getting killed or jobs behind the front line.

Many Ukrainian men of fighting age – 25 to 60 – who cannot refuse the draft choose to join them. Otherwise, they could be rounded up by “conscription patrols” and undergo perfunctory training to end up as storm-troopers – a role which comes with a high risk of death.

“There’s zero training. They don’t care that I won’t survive the very first attack,” Tymofey, a 36-year-old office worker who was forcibly conscripted last year but broke out of two training centres, told Al Jazeera.

Hundreds of thousands of men dodge the draft, pay bribes to flee abroad or illegally cross into European nations amid corruption and coercion on the part of conscription officers, as documented by government officials, media and rights groups.

In the first year after Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion, men of all ages volunteered in droves, standing for hours outside conscription offices and even travelling to other parts of Ukraine to find a less crowded conscription office that would enlist them.

“The first wave very massive, they were motivated,” a senior serviceman told Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity.

But volunteers are rare these days. The average age of conscripts has risen to above 40, and their fitness levels have dropped.

“We get what is left of what is left,” he said of the new recruits in his military unit – adding that infantrymen are “hardest to recruit”.

“They can and will be trained, but there’s a matter of condition. A man in his 50s with a white-collar job and several chronic diseases is not exactly fit,” he said.

Azov’s hiring spree

While recruitment campaigns are very visible, the hiring process is largely non-transparent.

Most of the applications should be filled online, and only prospective candidates are invited to recruitment offices whose locations are not disclosed because Russia targets them with drones, missiles or attacks by people recruited via messaging apps or the dark web.

And when it comes to picking the cream of the crop, Azov, now known as the First National Guard Corps, and its offshoot, The Third Storm Brigade, reign supreme.

Apart from the “school of landscape design,” Azov has billboards and online advertisements offering sarcastically named “courses” in “content making,” “event management” and “cross-fit”.

Azov has, for years, been one of Ukraine’s most outspoken military units, and its servicemen were dubbed “300 Spartans” for their months-long defence of the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol in early 2022 that ended only when top brass ordered them to surrender.

Some 700 of Azov fighters are still behind bars in Russia, facing torture and starvation, according to swapped servicemen and Ukrainian officials.

They have become the bogeymen of the Kremlin propaganda machine that calls them “neo-Nazis” and claims they “terrorise” civilians and stage their killings to blame Russian “liberators”.

Azov had far-right origins, but the current leadership claims to have cleaned up the brigade, denying any links with “extremist” groups. Al Jazeera is unable to independently verify these claims.

The publicity and halo of martyrdom have raised Azov’s domestic profile.

And what its recruiters offer is a “soldier-centred” approach that takes into account each potential serviceman’s background, shape, medical history and military experience – or lack thereof.

“We are building a system centred around a soldier, because a soldier is not a resource, it’s the basis of the whole system,” a senior Azov recruiter who identified himself by his call sign, Tara, told Al Jazeera in one of Azov’s open spaces in central Kyiv.

The open space is a far cry from average Ukrainian conscription centres usually located in gloom, claustrophobic Soviet-era buildings with drafty corridors and creaky floors.

It has a cafeteria with a menu most hipsters would find palatable, and a shop with trendy T-shirts, hoodies and souvenirs.

“A nation that doesn’t stand up for its heroes kneels before the enemy,” a handwritten sign on a wall reads.

Tara said that aspiring Azov servicemen undergo tests and interviews – and choose a job “with the highest efficiency

“We, for our part, guarantee that [the recruits] will serve in the exact position for which they have been approved.”

All of Azov’s recruiters are battle-tested servicemen, said Tara, who volunteered to join nascent Azov in 2014.

With a tidy moustache and at the towering height of six feet, five inches (1.95 metres) tall, he took part in Azov’s transformation from ragtag volunteer crews of football fans and nationalists who were instrumental in repelling the onslaught of Russia-backed separatists in southeastern Ukraine, into a primary military unit.

Meanwhile, smaller, less outspoken units can barely find enough recruits to replenish their losses.

“We ask around, we tell friends, we say that we can make sure they get trained properly, but it’s never enough,” Oleh, a senior officer with a military unit stationed in eastern Ukraine, told Al Jazeera.

And some are adamant that Ukraine should introduce a system of compulsory and universal military service.

“All privileges must be cancelled, all men of fighting age should undergo training and be ready for service. Otherwise, we’ll keep on losing ground,” retired Lieutenant-General Ihor Romanenko, former deputy head of Ukraine’s general staff of armed forces, told Al Jazeera.

Last year, LAPD leaders quietly brought on a temporary consultant to advise on how to give the department’s battered public image a spit shine.

In a proposal reviewed by The Times, the consultant wrote that the LAPD’s standing as “one of the most prominent and visible law enforcement agencies in the world” was on the line.

The name of the person offering to help chart the path forward was not mentioned when the contract went before the Police Commission for approval. Nor did it come up Feb 3. when, after a heated debate, the City Council approved the creation of a new LAPD communications strategist role with an annual salary of $191,000.

LAPD Deputy Chief Jonathan Pinto, head of the Human Resources Bureau, acknowledged under questioning from council members that the department already had someone in mind for the role — but declined to say who.

Numerous department sources, who were not authorized to speak publicly about the confidential personnel matter, identified the candidate as the consultant: Robert Port, a filmmaker, writer and director who has worked for decades in Hollywood.

Port declined to comment, as did an LAPD spokesperson.

Winner of a 2003 Academy Award for his documentary short “Twin Towers,” about a pair of brothers — a policeman and a fireman — who responded to the World Trade Center on 9/11, Port has served as an executive producer or written for shows ranging from Amazon Prime’s “Jack Ryan” to “Numb3rs” on CBS.

A biography attached to his consulting proposal says he has been a reserve Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy for the last decade. His ties to LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell and the city’s former top cop, William Bratton, date back years through shared East Coast roots.

In his consulting proposal, Port said he would “outline a forward-looking plan that strengthens messaging, builds trust, supports officer morale, and protects the LAPD’s image as the most professional and polished agency in the country.”

“In other words, let’s bring some luster back to the badge!” he wrote.

But the secrecy around Port’s hiring has already triggered fresh criticism, along with questions about whether the LAPD — which already has multiple officers working in its press shop — really needs more help communicating.

During the City Council hearing last week, Pinto said the department’s press shop would continue focusing on dealing with outside media inquiries, but that the new civil service-exempt role would draft “comprehensive integrated communication plans.”

Reporting directly to McDonnell, the position would allow the department to present a clear, unified message to the agency’s 8,700-some officers, said Pinto, while building “brand awareness” and boosting recruitment.

Several council members questioned how the new position might influence the LAPD’s messaging, noting that McDonnell has been out of lockstep with city leaders on issues such as the response to federal immigration enforcement and the use of force against protesters.

Others on the council pressed Pinto about what they saw as a lack of clarity on the job description.

“If we’ve got nothing to hide, then we shouldn’t be acting like we have something to hide,” said Councilmember Monica Rodriguez, adding that she was uncomfortable approving such a high salary given the city’s financial straits and the possibility of other civilian employees being furloughed.

The council eventually voted 10 to 5 to approve the position.

Port has kept a relatively low public profile since he started his consulting work last fall, mostly operating behind the scenes. Images posted on social media showed him walking around the crime scene at the Brentwood home of Rob Reiner, where authorities say the filmmaker and his wife were murdered by their son in December.

In his consulting proposal, Port cited conversations with McDonnell, Assistant Chief Dominic Choi and other department leaders in which they “emphasized the need for outside expertise in shaping the department’s image, both within the organization and to the public in all aspects of communication, video, and media.”

Among his proposals was to create a more “centralized” social media strategy rather than continuing to let the LAPD’s 21 stations spread across the city each handle their own online accounts.

“The goal is to maintain strong community engagement while also giving the LAPD a single, recognizable voice across all platforms and portraying its positive messaging to fellow Angelians.”

For decades, Hollywood helped sell the LAPD’s nationwide image as the epitome of professional law enforcement with shows such as “Dragnet,” “Adam-12” and “T.J. Hooker.” Today, Port said, that relationship was “less structured.” Using his industry background, he said, he could help the department better vet proposals, including a recent pitch from a major production company for a “ride-along”-style reality series.

He also suggested that he could advise a public relations firm previously hired by the LAPD to overhaul its marketing strategy. “Port’s experience in storytelling and award-winning creative expertise in advertising enable him to review these materials with a critical eye,” the proposal said.

Port’s four-month media consulting contract was paid for by a $20,000 donation from the Police Foundation, a nonprofit group that raises funds for LAPD equipment and offers other forms of support. The paperwork around the donation did not include Port’s name but said that the money would go to pay for a consultant “to develop forward-looking, integrated communications plan that strengthens messaging, builds trust, and supports officer morale.”

Then-Commissioner Erroll Southers voted against the contract, saying at the time he was uncomfortable with the department’s unwillingness to share details about the position — even with its civilian bosses.

The decision to try to bring on Port marks the latest shakeup of the department’s press office. The unit has had four different police captains in as many years, and the chief civilian spokesperson job has been vacant since the abrupt resignation of Jennifer Forkish last October.

Feb. 5 (Asia Today) — South Korean fashion platform Musinsa said Thursday that more than 2,000 people applied during the document submission stage of its open recruitment for “AI-native” entry-level developers.

Musinsa said the hiring drive, launched last month, will move into its full selection process this month. The company plans to introduce an AI-based evaluation method in second-round interviews, where practical skills are a key focus.

Musinsa said the process will use technology from global artificial intelligence company OpenAI to assess applicants’ problem-solving ability. Candidates who advance to interviews will be provided access to the AI coding agent Codex and asked to complete assignments designed to simulate real working conditions.

Applicants will be allowed to use a range of tools, including AI, rather than being restricted to specific software, Musinsa said. The company said it aims to evaluate “AI-native” capabilities, defined as the ability to integrate AI into practical work, not just coding proficiency.

Musinsa said the evaluation will run through its in-house AI assessment system and will focus on fairness and objectivity. The company said it is also considering expanding the use of OpenAI technology across its operations after the recruitment process.

A Musinsa official said the number of applicants reflects strong market interest in AI-native developers and that evaluating problem-solving with AI tools will be central to identifying the talent the company is seeking.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

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Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260205010002239