Companies Zyro talent search specialist Inga Abrutytė shares his insights on IT market trends and opportunities for retrained employees: "At Zyro, we have success stories where retraining professionals come with their previous experience and bring great insights and ideas from past work experiences that are not even related to IT, but when those ideas are applied, innovative processes or projects are initiated".
What is the current situation of the IT market? What is the ratio of supply and demand for programmers? Has the market situation changed during the pandemic?
From the general pulse of the market, it is felt that the market is out of balance due to remote work, which has opened opportunities to find work on a global scale, so demand is greater than supply. Experienced "senior" programmers and other specialists have not been looking for work independently for a long time. There are more novice specialists, but not all of them manage to reveal themselves during the selections.
At the beginning of the pandemic, some candidates were afraid to change jobs, due to the uncertainty of how the situation will develop further. However, it opened up more opportunities to experiment with the work format - that's why we at Zyro offer the remote first option - to work from wherever you want, guided by the values of freedom and responsibility, and to plan your working day/week in the most convenient way.
We also notice that it is worth investing in graduates of such schools as "Vilnius Coding school", because we can develop excellent A-players in their field from beginners who have passed the training with their enthusiasm, motivation and skills at Zyro. We even have several success stories, so we are not afraid to help professionals grow.
Is a university degree important when working as a programmer? Some big IT companies ask for a diploma, how is it valued in your company?
They don't matter. We value the person and the skills he/she has acquired in courses/independently. Good practices are more valued. Higher education is an excellent theoretical basis on which it is much easier to grow as a practitioner, but for us it is not a necessity, motivation, the desire to learn and deepen, personal projects, success and failure stories, how those projects were successfully implemented, how strong is more important"learn and be curious value. We also apply a task stage (live coding session, practical work done at home) during the selection process, which helps to assess thinking, decision-making skills and other necessary qualities for the positions to which you are applying.
Why did you agree to cooperate with Vilnius Coding School? What opportunities did you see?
Cooperation opens the way for all parties - this way we can more easily and quickly discover talents who later develop with us in their professional path. You not only provide opportunities to learn, but also help the graduate to enter the labor market. Meanwhile, those retraining have a better chance of getting noticed after completing the courses offered by your school.
Sometimes employers are hesitant about retraining specialists and their opportunities to join a new field, what is your attitude towards retraining people?
A person who retrains is a person who takes life into their own hands and makes decisions that will make them happy. The most important thing is probably to answer to yourself "Why am I changing my field?", "What motivates me in that field?" and this is to improve oneself in it, and later to find a company that is suitable in terms of value. At Zyro, we have success stories when retraining specialists come with their previous experience and bring great insights and ideas from past work experiences that are not even related to IT, but when those ideas are applied, innovative processes or projects are initiated.
What positions can beginners in your company usually apply for?
Beginners can apply for positions that are closest to their heart and where they want to test their skills, overcome challenges, create and experiment. If it happens that, for the sake of the balance of the team, we cannot supplement it with an entry/junior specialist at that time, we reserve the opportunity to contact the applicant later, if such a need arises. Currently, we even have a separate position "Join Zyro!” on your career page, where you can apply if you can't find a suitable position for you.
How do you assess this project now that the person who has completed the training is already working in your company?
We rate it very well because our QA specialist Greta is one of the most exceptional retrained specialists in our team. Her previous work experience and knowledge of testing acquired at Vilnius Coding School, personal qualities and motivation to grow help not only her to fulfill her potential, but also Zyro as a company to improve its environment for retraining specialists.
Also, after joint events, we receive applications from beginners who want to try their hand.
Finally, I want to add - don't be afraid to pursue your dreams. And so that the employer can help you achieve them and express yourself through personal projects, tests and experiments, no matter if you program, test or analyze data. This will not only help you to better understand whether you like what you do and what you have learned, but also help the employer to feel your skills and motivation.
