In spite of a severe economic downturn, information technology companies continue to grow, and are investing in the most valuable asset they have – people.
Employers are offering their own educational programs and paid internships, providing on-the-job training to prepare professionals to join their teams.
“The IT companies who have steady operations and growth always lack professionals,” Tetiana Hryb, the global supervisor of the corporate junior program at software developer Luxoft, told the Kyiv Post.
As of July, EPAM, SoftServe and Luxoft were the country’s top three IT employers, with over 3,700 employees each. According to Ukrainian software developer community DOU.ua, EPAM and SoftServe also topped the list of companies in terms of new hires this year so far, at 350 and 277, respectively.
“It (the lack of professionals) is not only caused by the market, but also…rapidly changing needs…Our higher educational establishments do their best to provide students with solid basic knowledge, but they can’t predict for sure the narrow specializations each IT company has,” Hryb said.
ZEO Alliance, a smaller software developer than Luxoft, offers free in-house courses in sales, product management and programming.
“At the moment, the (labor) market lacks specialists with experience in big projects oriented towards Western markets,” said Tetiana Khmurkovska, ZEO University’s coordinator. It aims to “select the best of the best, potential talents that will grow inside the company,” she said.
Analytical skills, a good level of English, and being result-oriented are among the company’s main selection criteria.
Mykhaylo Temper, currently a marketing specialist, met all the criteria. He is one of the 16 graduates of a product management course at ZEO Alliance. They were selected from 800 applicants.
“I understood that everything is moving in that direction (of information technologies), and as a marketing specialist I couldn’t ignore that,” Temper told the Kyiv Post.
As so-called offline businesses start moving towards providing more online services, being able to use the technologies and understanding how they work is important, Temper said.
ZEO Alliance is now reviewing the profiles of recent graduates, including Temper’s, and might make job offers soon.
According to Khmurkovska, 22 graduates of previous programs currently work for the company. Selecting employees from their pool of graduates allows the firm to also test their motivation and values.
Luxoft’s internship program is offered to senior students, and to recent graduates of engineering, computer science, applied mathematics and related subjects. “Shifters” who want to switch career paths can also apply. The program started in 2013 and has already produced more than 500 graduates.
Luxoft searches for interns in key technical Ukrainian universities and selects them rigorously on the basis of their resumes, entry tests in English, and theoretical basics, along with a several-stage interview process. It also includes an interview with an actual customer if required.
After working on real projects, successful program graduates become “Juniors” – an entry-level tech specialist. And only after the successful completion of a probation period are trainees officially employed.
The rigorous selection process, with its considerable investments of both time and money, is worth it to form a top-notch team, Hryb said.
“All the investments in our potential and current employees are absolutely justified – no matter how much it takes to reap a harvest,” she added.
Kyiv Post staff writer Olena Gordiienko can be reached at [email protected] . Kyiv Post staff writer Bozhena Sheremeta contributed to this report. The Kyiv Post’s IT coverage is sponsored by AVentures Capital, Ciklum, FISON and SoftServe.
