22 April 2016

On April 18-22, the Hi-Tech Park welcomed high school students interested in information technology. Students had the opportunity to visit HTP resident-companies, meet IT professionals and learn about IT career prospects and key how to succeed in the IT sphere.

The initiative was supported by the HTP companies Viber Media, EIS Group, CactusSoft, ScienceSoft, Relsoft, SamSolutions, SoftClub, CTDev and Numerical Methods in Minsk as well as IntexSoft in Grodno and Awem in Mogilev.

In SamSolutions, students could talk with engineers and Managing Director Marat Ebzeev, ask questions and learn what to consider when choosing a university, what subjects to study harder and what to strive for to become successful.

Dmitry Liadziayeu, PR-manager at SamSolutions: "One of slides of our presentation says that the main asset of any company is people. This is particularly evident in the IT sphere as most achievements depend on the intellectual potential of the employees. I believe such meetings are useful to students, and hopefully they will study harder, improve their knowledge and skills and fulfill their intellectual potential."

Grodno students visited IntexSoft to learn how to build a career in the IT sphere, what is crucial for that and what to expect. HR-Manager Eleonora Ruksha showed the students how engineers work and rest, spoke about benefits most IT companies provide to employees, and emphasized that knowledge of English is essential. Students also learnt about internship and training programs they can and should attend while studying at university. The students also watched the process of mobile development demonstrated by Sergey Olikhver, Head of Android Department, and play games developed by IntexSoft programmers.

Studenets who visited ScienceSoft learnt about many interesting IT professions in addition to well-known programmer and tester. HR-Manager Anna Kosobutskaya taught the guests how to compose an attractive CV. Business Analyst Dmitry Viazmin explained what outsourcing is, waht a business analyst do and how to become a successful IT professional. Eugene Levonchuk shared his experience in IT and proved that a graduate in arts can be a good scrum master.

Professionals in Numerical Methods offered the students to compete for prizes. With tea and chocolate, the students talked with the experts and got a fiirst-hand experience of working in the IT sphere.

In SoftClub, a team welcomed the students, including Head of Human Resources Department Kseniya Kruchinina, Brand Manager Dmitry Voloshchik, Software Engineer Andrey Weygandt, Business Analyst Uliana Mediantseva, Tester Julia Rybalko and Team Lead Dmitry Brukhanchik. The studnets learnt about the essence of studying at university, the process of product development and the role in a development team. After that, they got an opportunity to participate in a mini-hackathon.

The students formed several project teams of 3-4 people and were to think over a mobile app to solve a certain practical issue. Each team member has a role: a business analyst studied the market and instructed a programmer on the features of a future application; a tester assessed the idea and advised how to improve it; then a team lead presented the project to judges. Winners received a certificate to visit one of the best quest rooms in Minsk – like real hackathon winners!

Dmitry Voloshchik: "IT is very popular among university students. High admission scores and an increasing number of students doing their best to enter technical universities in Belarus prove the trend. And this is reasonable as the Belarusian IT industry is actually an internationally acknowledged brand. We hope that the enthusiasm we have seen today in the eyes of the SoftClub's young guests will not cease and their future will be bright and impressive."

Viber Media employees welcomed high school students in a friendly home-like atmosphere. Recruiting Jedi Marina Khomich and several team leads told the students about their work in the company and explained how important it is to choose a profession you would really enjoy and how to gain practical experience yet being a university student.

HR Director at CactusSoft Iryna Parkhomenko noted that Open Days are of great significance for school students and can influnce their choice of a future profession: "Many students have started to think about changing their mind and asked about opportunities to become a programmer which is inspiring."

In CTDev, Open Days were an exciting event not only for students but to employees as well, and they are willing to meet with school students again.

Presentation of Andrei Ralko, Managing Director at Insurance Solutions, and stories of his colleagues were informative and thought-provoking and prompted students to ask a lot of serious and interesting questions.

Due to the friendliness and hospitality of the HTP residents, high school students could see how the work process is organized in IT companies and evaluate the career prospects in the IT industry. They received useful information which hopefully will help them to choose a profession.

We thank all the HTP companies that opened their offices to students!