1 August 2014

The participants of the contest I am Choosing a Profession in ITwho were awarded a special prize – A Day in IT – have visited HTP resident-companies.

Future programmers Anna Polovkova, Kirill Nehvyadovich, Danila Bozhko, Victoria Bukato, Anton Osipov and Evgeny Melyuk (the projectProgrammers) visitedSystem Technologies where they listened to an interesting presentation and were shown around the offices of the company.

Darya Makalkina, HR manager at System Technologies: "The project developed by the students is the first step towards their future careers. Due to the participation in the contest and the visit to our company the students could take a look at the IT world. Each of them has a lot of new and interesting facts to learn about this world."

The future programmers learned the software development process, how and what System Technologies’ employees work at and what roles exist within the project. A Day in IT ended with a small competition and nice presents.

Natalya Kizeeva (the project IT Evangelist), Christina Kushnerova (the project System Administrator) and Nikolay Zheshko (the project Entrepreneur in IT) visited one of the leading mobile development companies –Apalon Technologies.

Christina Kushnerova: "The contest helped me learn about new IT professions. I liked the profession of system administrator most, so I chose it for my project. The visit to Apalon was great – a warm welcome and a meeting with a system administrator, with people who love their job and are good at it! I received answers to all my questions."

Nikolay Zheshko: "I was happy to visit an IT company and see how experts work, because I am planning to get into this sphere in the future. I am grateful to the people who organized the visit for us! They also told me that I can come again and this is great!"

Irina Vishnevskaya, HR manager at Apalon Technologies: "Our company was a sponsor and a part of the jury of the contest I am choosing a profession in IT. It was a new, interesting and valuable experience of participation for us. We believe that the activities aimed at promotion of technical education among school students are important and useful."

Qulix Systems invited the youngest winner – Valentin Dutin (the project Programmer). The company organized the visit of the winner very thoroughly. The finalist could see what conditions are created for the company’s employees and what a programmer does in the workplace. Valentin learned how a project is developed and what other professionals are involved in its development.

Valentin Dutin: "I liked everything very much. They told me in detail about IT professions, then showed how programmers work and advised me where it is better to study. They also gave me a present!"

For Oleg Zdanevich (the project Project Manager in IT) a visit to CTDev was organized. Andrey Gavrilenko, CTO at CTDev: "We invited Oleg to visit our company and showed him how we work on various projects; he also learned advantages and difficulties of the profession of project manager. I believe that the participation in the contest helped Oleg get answers to many questions and gain more confidence in his choice. I want to express gratitude to the HTP administration for organizing and conducting the contest at a high level."

 Evgeny Mescheryakov (the project 3D-Animator) had an opportunity to visit Inventain– a company which specializes in gaming applications. Evgeny independently created his first 3D animated film for the contest and the company could not but praise that.

Vladimir Savchak, Managing Director at Inventain: "We organize such events with due responsibility. It is important for us that any person, whether a new employee or a winner of a student contest, feels comfortable in the team of professionals. So we tried to create a most comfortable and close to reality environment for our finalist. In the end, we together with Evgeny analyzed the results of his work, commented on them and wished him success when choosing and developing a future career."

After a walk around the offices, Evgeny proceeded to a real working place with a modern computer and installed software for creating graphics. Inventain’s professionals told Evgeny how a mobile game is developed, what is the role of managers, developers, designers and animators in this process. Under the guidance of an experienced designer the future animator had the opportunity to work on his own part of animation which later became a part of a real game! Evgeny could see the results of his work and get feedback from the team.

Lyubov Kozus (the project IT Analyst), Daniil Brychikov (the projectSoftware Engineer) and Ilya Lyutarevich (the project Game Designer) were invited toSynesis, Playtika Bel and CIE RMG Bel.

The students talked with leading developers of the world’s most popular social network game – Slotomania. Lyubov Kozus became a temporary member of the team of business analysts and marketers of Synesis’ game project. Experts of the company spoke about the project and showed what a working day of the business analyst is like. Then the students took part in a survey as future software users.

Ekaterina Lusto, HR manager at Synesis: "Our meeting was fun and informative. Our experts tried to answer all questions, gave good advice on the choice of a university and departments. We believe that after the today’s visit the students will have a better understanding of the selected occupations and hope that they will continue to go deeper into this topic. We wish them good luck!"

A Day in IT became a memorable event for Evgeny Ryabchenko (the project My Profession is a Profession of the Future), Dmitry Kuzmich (the project Application Programmer), Dmitry Umetsky (the project I Want to Become a Programmer!) – they visitedItransition.

During a walk through the offices the students saw how employees work and relax. A special excursion was organized for them into the heart of the company – the server room, where Evgeny Novik, a specialist of the Information Systems Maintenance and Development Department, explained "how it all works." The students held their breath listening and then asked Evgeny innumerable questions.

Evgeny Ryabchenko: "The meeting in Itransition exceeded all my expectations! I was very delighted with the warm, friendly atmosphere that prevails from the doorway in each room. It was evident that people are working in a close-knit team and are good at what they do. I learned a lot, got answers to my questions, saw how IT professionals work. Thanks to everyone who took the time and told us about all the intricacies of working in the IT sphere."

There were also a lot of questions to Ivan Antipov, Senior Web Developer. Ivan told the students about his work in the company and gave practical advice on how and what to focus on at the beginning of the career in IT to become successful professionals.

Ivan Antipov: "It is good that the students are already thinking about choosing an engineering profession: the earlier a person comes to this conclusion, the greater are the prospects for self-development. Obviously, it was interesting for the students to visit the company and see the real work from the inside, learn how we work in teams, what roles exist within projects, what our infrastructure is like. I hope our advice will help them distribute energy more intelligently and efficiently when studying at high school and university. Our guests are very motivated, I think they all will succeed and we may well expect to see them as interns in our company in a few years!"

This is how the first contest I am Choosing a Profession in IT concluded. The Hi-Tech Park administration expresses gratitude to all the participants, partners and HTP resident-companies for taking part in organizing the contest and conducting the visits!