There’s a big share of intemperate youth maximalism, or even some manipulations with facts in those statements. Opinions differ in this regard as everybody has their own experience. Even the role of universities can be interpreted differently. Some even think they must be business incubators.
We’ve contacted spokespersons for various Russian companies and asked them to share their vision of what’s happening with Russia’s IT education, and whether it meets today’s market requirements. We also found out who they prefer to hire, and some other things.
Is it important to you that an IT specialist has relevant higher education? Are those requirements different for programmers of different areas, system administrators, and other kinds of developers?
Vladimir Simonov, Head of 1C and BOSS-Kadrovik Department at BDO Unicon Outsourcing:
I may say we hire programmers from different universities. Their certificates don’t have to read ‘programmer’ or ‘department of automatics and computer technologies.’ It’s better to distinguish certificates and skills. What’s important to us is availability of some knowledge package in math, IT system architecture, while programmers need have skills in object-oriented programming. Higher education, of course, is very desired. In perfect world, a student learns not so much a particular knowledge as a skill to learn individually, be in a continuous search for new information, non-template solutions, critical thinking. Unfortunately, it’s not always so, though that is why a specialist with a higher education is valuable. Requirements for coders and system administrators are, of course, different, but not that much. However, speaking of business analysts and project managers, IT education isn’t that necessary. I know several brilliant specialists of economic or financial background who got their IT expertise from professional courses.
In your opinion, does the average quality of IT education in Russia meet contemporary demands of the local market?
Vladimir Simonov, Head of 1C and BOSS-Kadrovik Department at BDO Unicon Outsourcing:
Not quite. They often teach basic stuff and technologies that quickly become outdated these days. That’s not because the universities are bad, but because the industry is developing too fast, and technologies may dramatically change over five years of learining. Companies usually have to organize additional training, or hire such specialists as apprentices.
Do ‘serious’ companies like hiring self-taught specialists to work in good positions?
Vladimir Simonov, Head of 1C and BOSS-Kadrovik Department at BDO Unicon Outsourcing:
To answer that, we have to define ‘self-taught.’ If it’s someone lacking relevant education and knowing everything from their personal experience, they won’t get hired for a serious job in a major company. There are, of course, some unique instances, yet they are so rare there’s no sense in going deeper. Relevant education gives not just grasp of technologies but also understanding of what business in general is, how it works, and general scholarship. If we mean that the self-taught person is someone graduated from non-related technical university, interested in coding, and training individually, that’s the specialist they value the most. That’s because a diploma doesn’t guarantee knowledge and skills required in practice, not in theory. An IT specialist has to be ready to learn all the time.
What other effective options could you recommend? What is the education that ‘coders’ perfectly fitting your company (possibly not related to the IT) should have?
Vladimir Simonov, Head of 1C and BOSS-Kadrovik Department at BDO Unicon Outsourcing:
I’d recommend to consider market demands. Our company outsources business processes, like accountancy, HR, and payroll calcualtion. Therefore, we’ll be happy to hire a specialist who had already got some knowledge and, even better, some experience in programming for 1C or ABAP. There are numerous training facilities and open study programs supported by 1C, Microsoft, Yandex, and so on. You may get the training in the privacy of your home. A candidate’s opportunities are limited only by their desire and aspiration.
In your opinion, how personal features like upbringing or temper influence a young person’s education and further employment, aside from those obtained by learning?
Vladimir Simonov, Head of 1C and BOSS-Kadrovik Department at BDO Unicon Outsourcing:
You need a desire to learn all the time, try yourself out in something new, and get better in it. It’s important for any programmer to be focused and stress-resistant. Say, if you’re responsible for support of a system that controls production, and a conveyor belt stops because of a bug, you need to have guts to avoid panicking, and to find and eliminate the bug. You also would require systemic thinking. And, of course, in order to grow and become a manager, a coder needs to have communication skills, and ability to obtain information and manage projects.
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