A test in Baku before the permit: welders the plant saw at work while still at home

01 / The profile

A welder 'for all positions' is a task, not a line on a CV

The plant had won an order for warehouse complex frames, and its welding bays stood empty. Petro Ivanovych, the chief welder, gave us a short profile: MIG welding, all positions including overhead, reading drawings, experience on steel structures. For fitters: marking out and assembling joints from drawings. We wrote the profile into the request word for word, so there would be no argument later about what 'experience' means.

Almost every CV claims this profile. So Petro Ivanovych's first question was: how will I see that someone really welds like this before the plant pays for a permit? Otherwise the plant risks getting someone who has to be moved to another job or sent home, and the state permit fee isn't refunded.

Our answer is a practical test before the permit application. The plant's chief welder sets the task, and we organise everything else: the venue, equipment, materials, candidates, and photos and video of the results. How we recruit people by trade is described on our recruitment page.

Welders

10 people, MIG, all positions, reading drawings

Fitters

2 people, marking out and assembling joints from drawings

Who assesses

The plant's chief welder, using his own task

Country

Azerbaijan: experienced welders and visa-free entry

02 / The trap

Why you can't 'watch them in the shop for a week'

The plant's first idea was to bring candidates in visa-free, watch them on the line for a week, and get permits for the ones it liked. It's the most common mistake, and we stopped it at the request stage. A trial shift in real production is already work, and a foreign national working without a work permit means a fine for the employer for each person.

Visa-free entry gives the right to stay in Ukraine, not to work. So skills have to be tested where the person isn't yet working in Ukraine: in their own country, at a training centre or a local company. That way the plant sees the result and the law isn't broken for a single minute.

The plant hesitated at first: a test abroad seemed more expensive than a week in its own shop. We did the maths together: two days at a training centre and the chief welder's flight cost less than one permit for someone who turns out unsuitable, and far less than a fine. After that the decision took a day.

03 / The test

Two days at a training centre in Baku

Elchin, our manager for workers from Azerbaijan, arranged a partner training centre in Baku: welding bays, MIG machines, wire and plates to Petro Ivanovych's specification. We shortlisted candidates from forty CVs through phone interviews and invited twenty-six to the test.

Petro Ivanovych flew in for two days. Everyone got the same task: butt and fillet welds in different positions, including overhead, and reading a drawing of a truss joint. Every sample was cut and break-tested on the spot, and a photo of the cross-section with the candidate's number went into the table.

Fitters were given a joint drawing and a set of parts: mark out, assemble, tack. Elchin translated every question from the chief welder into Azerbaijani, so no candidate failed simply because he misunderstood the task.

The test was free for candidates: the project, not the people, paid for travel to Baku from the regions and lunch on test days. It's part of our rule: we never charge candidates for recruitment or testing. Petro Ivanovych briefly explained to those who didn't pass what went wrong, and two of them asked to be told about the next intake.

04 / Job titles

Elvin welds well, just not overhead

Ten candidates passed every position with no remarks. Elvin laid perfect flat and vertical welds, but his overhead sample broke. Petro Ivanovych said he wouldn't take him as an all-position welder, but would gladly take him as a fitter with that feel for metal, because Elvin read the drawing better than anyone.

For the documents this detail matters. A permit is issued for a specific job, and working on terms other than those in the permit is a violation for the employer. If Elvin were registered as a welder but worked as a fitter, his permit wouldn't match his work, and an update would have to be filed within 30 days. So we applied for his permit as a fitter from the start, agreeing the new pay and conditions with Elvin in the information sheet. Elvin agreed at once: travelling with people from home mattered more to him than the job title.

So the plant got ten welders and two fitters, the second fitter being the candidate who did best in the assembly test, while the third stayed in reserve. We matched the job titles to the plant's staffing schedule before filing, so the permit, contract and schedule all say the same thing.

1. 01

   Job in the permit

   The one the person will actually do, not the one they applied for.

2. 02

   Staffing schedule

   The job title matches the plant's schedule word for word.

3. 03

   Information sheet

   The candidate signs off the new job and pay before the permit application.

4. 04

   Updates

   If the job changes after the permit, we file an update within 30 days.

05 / Documents

Welding certificates the law doesn't require but the plant wants to see

For a permit the law requires an application, passport page copies with a certified translation, a photo, a draft employment contract and proof of payment. Asking for more is prohibited. But the plant wanted welders' certificates and vocational school diplomas in its personnel files to show its own clients.

We kept these two streams separate. The permit file went in minimal and complete so as not to delay issue. Elchin also checked the Latin spelling of names: for three candidates the surname on the diploma was spelled differently from the passport. Only the passport matters for the permit, but in the translations for the plant we added a note with both spellings so clients wouldn't have questions. Candidates brought their certificates and diplomas with them, and we ordered translations with a notarised translator's signature in parallel for the plant's HR archive. Working with foreign education documents is covered in more detail in the scenario about foreign documents at a machine-building plant.

The plant paid the permit fees from its own account against our invoices straight after the test. A decision on issue is made within seven working days, and we had all twelve permits by the end of the second week after Baku.

06 / The border

Visa-free entry with nothing to question

Citizens of Azerbaijan enter Ukraine without a visa, but visa-free doesn't mean no questions at the border. Someone who says they're coming to work should carry documents that confirm it. Otherwise the conversation with a border officer can drag on.

We put together the same set for each of the twelve and explained what to show when asked about the purpose of travel. The group was split across two flights of six, and Elchin stayed in touch until both groups had cleared control. More on this route on our visa-free entry page.

We checked passports before the permit applications. One welder's passport expired four months before the end of his one-year contract. The permit was filed on the current passport, and we entered a control date in the register: a new passport, then a permit update within 30 days of receiving it.

• a passport valid with a margin for the whole contract;
• a copy of the work permit;
• the plant's invitation with address and contact;
• proof of housing for the period of work;
• Elchin's phone number, answered around the clock.

07 / Handover

From the airport to the welding bay with documents in order

1. Week 1

   Test in Baku, chief welder's approval, signed information sheets.

2. Week 2

   Permit applications with correct job titles, fee invoices.

3. Week 3

   Permits issued, tickets, document set for the border.

4. Week 4

   Entry in two groups, contracts in the first days, copies within 10 days.

5. Week 5

   Tax numbers, bank accounts, residence permit applications. Start in the shop.

We tracked the visa-free period of stay in the register from day one: temporary residence permit applications were scheduled well before the 90 days ran out, and the plant provided housing documents for registration before arrival. The plant rented housing for the group in a neighbouring village, and we checked the lease as we would any address: the owner agrees to register twelve people, and the lease term covers the contracts. From here we handle the group's documents through migration support, and the plant's own obligations are described on the employer duties page.

08 / Outcome

Twelve permits, each for someone seen at work

Test

26 candidates in Baku, 12 approved by the chief welder

The law

Not a single shift in the shop before the permit

Job titles

Elvin registered as a fitter from the start, no updates after the permit

The border

Two groups with full document sets, no delays

Timeline

5 weeks from test to starting in the shop

There's nothing in recruiting skilled people that WORKIN can't solve: we show the company the skills before it spends money, record the job as the person will actually do it, and prepare entry so the border has no questions. The WORKIN replacement guarantee lasts at least 6 months from the worker's first shift, provided the agreed working, pay and housing conditions are kept. How skills are tested before a permit in another trade is covered in the scenario about seamstresses with a video test, and the whole path from request to shift on how it works. More on such projects on our pages about technical trades and workers from Azerbaijan.

09 / FAQ

Questions and answers