Career in IT in Russia

By Natali on December 30, 2009 3:10 AM | No Comments

Recently in Novosibirsk there was a seminar, I really found thoughtful. The seminar was devoted to different choices in IT career in Russia. Leading specialists in IT sectors shared their visions on types of IT companies in Russia, and the most important personal characteristics, all IT companies are looking for in future employees.

Below there is analysis of different types of IT companies and their most common features, as they are seen by one of the seminar's author, Alexander Orlov. Of course, every IT company has its own unique features, and the below table shows only general trends with exceptions possible. But due to this expert's judgement, I believe, many young people will be better oriented in Russian IT world, and will find a desired job, relevant to their natures. And I hope this article will be useful for foreign companies, working with Russian partners or contractors, to clearly understand specific features of the last ones.

Types of IT companies in Russia

All IT companies where specialist might find relevant job, were analyzed with "TOP" career development model, where "talent" means factors influencing employee's skills development, "passion" - desire to work, and "organization" - potential for career growth.

Results are presented at the table below:

Types Factors to consider for potential employees
Subsidiaries of European and U.S. corporations Talent
  • well-established processes
  • internal educational system: trainings, skill-up, etc
  • many clever colleagues
  • low pressure from bosses
  • possibilities to work in R'n'D department
Organization
  • technical and career growth, but to a certain level, as 3-level and higher managers are abroad only
  • good salary and parachute
Passion
  • work on world-known products, although in most cases only low-priority tasks are given to subsidiaries
  • huge bureaucracy system
  • with time passion towards work decreases
Product companies Talent
  • experience of product's development from scratch
  • many clever colleagues
  • possibilities to work in R'n'D department
  • no internal educational system
Organization
  • technical growth
  • career growth not easily, but possible, top management is inside the country
  • salary depends often on one product's sales
Passion
  • one can see result's of work on local market
  • many support tasks
  • with time passion towards work decreases
Offshore development companies (stable) Talent
  • well-established processes
  • internal educational system: trainings, skill-up, etc
  • clear understanding how money can be earned or wasted
Organization
  • technical and career growth
  • competitive salary
  • salary growth might be limited by external rate
  • no or small parachutes
Passion
  • various projects, not stacked to one products for ages
  • indirect communication between developers and final customers/users
  • many support tasks
Offshore development companies (surviving) Talent
  • every project - new technologies
  • work in tough, frequently changing conditions
  • many unskilled colleagues
Organization
  • technical growth
  • good salary for project-managers
  • usually no career growth
  • rarely good salary for developers, no parachutes
  • no clear vision on future
Passion
  • rarely support tasks
  • indirect communication between developers and final customers/users
Internal IT department Talent
  • deep involvement into the whole business of the company
  • much communication with colleagues
  • users and "customer" rarely understand technical details and what exactly they want
Organization
  • usually there are two levels, and the second one is already occupied with IT-director
Passion
  • users are next to you
  • low priority of IT tasks in terms of the whole organization
  • a lot of intrigues
  • out-of-date technologies
Start-up Talent
  • work with clever, full of enthusiasm people
  • no internal educational system
  • no established processes
  • deep involvement into all aspects of business: technologies, finances, etc.
Organization
  • up to millionaire or unemployed, no career growth in general
  • no parachutes
  • no salary sometimes
Passion
  • enthusiasm towards project
  • fast feedback
  • work on yourself
  • no stability

I tried to analyze my company according to TOP model approach. Here are the results:

Fortess Talent
  • internal and external professional trainings, foreign language courses
  • many clever colleagues, tutorship system
  • established management and development processes
  • clear understanding how money can be earned or wasted
Organization
  • technical and career growth
  • competitive salary, often with bonuses system
Passion
  • various technical challenges
  • cutting-edge technologies
  • not stacked to one project for ages
  • support tasks possible

When recruiting people, I always say that Fortess is a stable IT company, and at the seminar I was pleased to hear external proof to my words, as according to Alexandr Orlov, Fortess is in "Offshore development companies (stable)" category. It has its pluses and possibly minuses. But what makes me happy, as a person involved into HR process, is one fact, presented by Alexandr. According to his analysis, in offshore companies (stable), unlike other types of companies, "with time passion towards work doesn't decrease", meaning that for most Russian people offshore IT companies will be the best choice of workplace.

Personal characteristics, Russian employers pay attention to

According to statistics, gathered by the author of the seminar, the most asked-for personal characteristics are as follows:

  • Result orientation
  • Ability to work on the final goal, not ones' personal tasks only
  • Communication skills: oral and written, public speeches; English is the "must" for most IT companies
  • Constant self-development

From my experience, these characteristics are very important for company. In Fortess, for example, we have a published list of values we want to see in our current and future employees. This list includes:

  • Responsibility
  • Initiative
  • Ability to work without constant monitoring, result orientation
  • Wiliness for professional growth
  • Positive way of thinking
  • Ability to work in team, team spirit
  • Communication skills

Practice shows that these characteristics have the same or even higher importance, then technical skills. And with brilliant team, which combines both technical skills and personal values desired, we can handle everything :)

And what does your company look like?

career_in_it_22.jpg

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