From theory to practice: five myths about starting a career in IT for a schoolchild

Let's look at the misconceptions that prevent you from building a successful career.

Myth 1. It’s too early for a student to think about a career

Let's simulate two scenarios for schoolchildren: one thinks about a career and practical skills early, and the second believes that this can be done at a university. Let's say our heroes' names are Nastya and Vanya, both are interested in programming.

Up to a certain point, their path is similar: they started with free online website builders, then enrolled in a programming club, where they studied theory. And then everyone chose their own route.

Nastya understands that she is interested in several areas: mobile applications, games with virtual reality technology and other technologies. Nastya’s parents helped her: together they figured out her interests and inclinations. What attracted her most was the development of complex systems: for example, she wants to program self-driving cars or create neural networks. To do this, you need to master AI technologies. This is how the educational route was built: you need to improve your math with a tutor and find free courses and a summer camp on AI, and then enroll in a certain university.

Vanya also followed his interests: he read books on programming, tried to code in different languages, but was in no hurry to decide. He also liked to watch movies about hackers, but he didn’t seriously think that he could go into the field of cybersecurity. After school, Vanya entered the university closest to his home for a program in applied mathematics and computer science. He thinks like this: I’ll study for a few years and then I’ll become a professional.

Despite the fact that they follow different paths, they both achieve what they want: they enter universities. In their second year, the guys wanted to find a part-time job. By that time, Nastya already knows exactly what she wants to do, what profession she will get and in which companies she can look for an internship. She already has several projects that can be shown to the employer: at a hackathon at a summer school, she wrote a program in Python, and in her first year she made a simple neural network. Most likely, she will find a job in her favorite field: this will increase her chances of becoming a good specialist.

Vanya, on the other hand, can do a little bit of everything, but has not yet completed a single project and has not yet decided in which specific area he is going to work. Most likely, by the end of his studies, Vanya will understand that it is not for nothing that he loves films about hackers and cyber cops so much - he needs to move into the field of information security and get additional education. But his path to his favorite business and good earnings will be longer than Nastya’s.

We can draw two conclusions:

1. 1
   It is useful to think about a future career already at school. The sooner a teenager decides where he wants to go, the greater the motivation and more accurate actions when choosing a university, courses and profession. We wrote earlier how to choose a specialty based on your interests.
2. 2Already at school you can prepare the ground for future work. To do this, you need to make projects that can be shown to the employer - we will tell you further about how to put together a good portfolio

Myth 2. Internships are only needed by employers themselves, it’s free work

An internship will help you choose a future specialty: for example, if a student is not sure what suits him best - working in IT or on the theater stage. A few days in a real work environment will tell you what your heart is in and in what direction you should continue your training.

Employers usually conduct internships to develop the next generation of employees and select the most promising guys so that they are not “taken away” by other companies after training. Schoolchildren and students are paid less than ordinary workers, but there is also less responsibility in such work.

What are there: internships are available in almost any IT area. They usually last 1–3 months, sometimes the guys are paid a salary or a stipend. The student goes to the office or works remotely on real company problems under the guidance of a mentor.

How to get:

• Monitor the websites and social networks of different companies in the chosen direction. Some create special websites about internships. You can also subscribe to Telegram channels for beginners.
• Participate in hackathons, olympiads and competitions where internships are awarded - we talked about them in detail earlier. It happens that not only the winners are invited for an internship, but also specific guys who are remembered by company representatives.
• • Express yourself in chats for users who create companies: for example, talk about bugs. You can also recommend improvements to projects posted for open development.

Myth 3. They won’t hire you to a serious company without a CV (resume).

It is important to understand the difference between a CV and a portfolio. A CV is a list of jobs and responsibilities that a person has performed, his achievements, key skills, information about education. A student who has not yet worked and has not received a diploma has nowhere to get one. But he may have a portfolio - projects and works that will show his level of proficiency in various skills.

Why is it important to have a portfolio

Let's remember our hero Vanya. Here's what his path might have looked like if he had a better idea of where he wanted to go:

• To begin with, he put all his knowledge into practice. For example, in a programming club, he wrote a simple game and posted it in the application store. He could also make a chat bot that looks for discounts in cafes near the school. The point is to immediately make a product that is useful to people.
• Realizing that he wanted to study cybersecurity, Vanya went to a thematic course or summer school. Then he took part in a hackathon, where he and his team wrote code for a large company. I posted it on GitHub, a site where developers store projects and collaborate on them. There Vanya received some advice from professionals and improved the code.
• With this experience, he was accepted for a summer internship at a company that deals with protecting web services, where he took part in solving several real-life problems.

At each stage, Vanya did work, the results of which can be added to his portfolio (and the internship to his resume). All these steps will help him find a part-time job during the summer holidays or during the first years of university.
It is the portfolio that should become the main result of the student’s entire learning process: in clubs, courses, Olympiads and internships. After all, the ultimate goal of studying is to find a good job. And employers are more willing to hire those who have something to show.

A portfolio is a convenient tool for both parties. For the candidate, it serves as confirmation of practical skills and proof of experience. With it, you can passively look for a job and answer some of the questions on test assignments. The employer sees that this is not just a theorist, but a person who knows something. That’s why the project form is popular in IT education: kids don’t just learn to program, but make a specific website, application or game, draw a cartoon or create a useful chatbot. If by the end of school a novice IT specialist has accumulated several such projects, it means that he spent his time productively.

Here's what you can include in your portfolio:

• • Publications on specialized platforms such as GitHub and Bitbucket. For each project, you need to add a description of the context - what the task was, how it was solved, and what happened.

  There are similar services for IT specialists of various specialties. For example, Steam or Desura for game developers, Behance and Dribbble for designers. A separate advantage of such platforms is that you can get feedback from professionals there.

• Works done as part of competitions, hackathons, and Olympiads. As well as our own projects: websites, chat bots, games, applications and more.

• When the active stage of job search began, another source was test tasks. A good test one can be posted on GitHub or your website.
  

When you have several projects, you can make a business card website. You don’t have to spend a lot of effort and money on this: a page made in the design service will suffice. The main thing is that it is neat and understandable.

There is no need to post unfinished projects, code with unnecessary comments (they need to be cleaned), or other people’s work. The principle “half is more than the whole” works here. For example, a short and simple computer science homework completed in half an hour does not need to be included.

Among equal candidates, the employer more often chooses the one who has a portfolio. If both candidates have a portfolio, evaluates the quality of projects.

Tips from an IT recruiter for beginners

Where to look for work:

• Job sites: HH, Superjob and others. There you can select the criteria “no experience” or “part-time”.
• On Telegram you can find channels whose authors collect vacancies in the digital field. Some are dedicated to IT entirely, others to a specific specialty, such as product analytics or Ruby programming. They can be found by searching using keywords. In addition to channels, Telegram has chats for professional interests. There they discuss industry news, share interesting projects, and look for like-minded people - including future colleagues. You can propose your candidacy or ask if anyone has any vacancies.
• Conferences/summer camps/hackathons - all this brings useful contacts. Anything can happen: the teacher will tell you where to send your resume, and in a couple of years your teammate will invite you to join your startup.
• Websites and social networks of large companies. A teenager can study the needs of companies where he dreams of working: perhaps a suitable vacancy or internship will be found.
• Foreign job search sites are for those who speak English.

You should not apply to all vacancies in a row; you should choose those in which the child’s desire and ability coincide with the company’s objectives. An ideal resume is when the candidate has relevant experience in all aspects of the vacancy. But this is not always the case; you can write about your skills and shortcomings in a cover letter.

How to write a cover letter:

There is no universal template. But one of the main mistakes is to send a pre-written identical letter to all vacancies, listing all your skills and hobbies.

Each vacancy has specific requirements: for example, knowledge of Java, ability to work in a team and English at least Intermediate. Therefore, before applying, it is better to remove from the resume information that was not asked about and add what is written about in the specific vacancy.

In our example: a student should attach examples of his Java code and a description of the problem solved, talk about participation in the team competition, his role and results, mention his level of English and attach a certificate. You will receive an individual resume for a specific task.

How to prepare for an interview

The most logical thing is to find out more about the company. View the website, social networks, employee reviews. Some companies have information on their website for applicants and advice on what to prepare for.

In large organizations, interviews often take place in several stages:

1. 1 An interview with a recruiter who asks basic questions - how communicative the candidate is, what salary he expects, why he chose this particular company and position.
2. 2
   Technical interview - to test knowledge of theory, practice and ability to think in non-standard situations. It is appreciated when the candidate gives clear answers and adds examples or personal cases to them.
   
   Recruiter Yazilya Nasibullina gives the following formula for the ideal answer to any technical question: tell me what it is and where it is used → where you used it and why → what difficulties or limitations you encountered → how you got out of the situation.
3. 3 A conversation with a manager or even a team.
4. 4 Offer approval. The employer offers conditions, discusses and agrees with the candidate.

Sometimes all this happens mixed up, depending on the processes in a particular company.

Myth 4. A student does not have enough skills to work in an “adult” job

Since IT companies are short-handed, they are used to working with newbies. As a rule, this area has a democratic atmosphere and constructive leadership: newcomers are helped to understand everything, and mistakes are responded to calmly.

If a student has attended clubs, participated in competitions, and especially been on an internship, he knows how to behave among like-minded people. And if you don’t have such experience, you should look for opportunities to make your first projects, even for little money - at least for a portfolio.

Of course, don’t forget about the basic rules that are useful in any job:

1. 1 Punctuality. Don't be late, it's better to arrive 10-15 minutes before. If there is a risk of being late, you need to warn and apologize in advance.
2. 2 Politeness. No one will want to deal with even a very talented and competent rude person.
3. 3 Delicacy. It's best not to speak negatively about former teachers or employers.
4. 4 Neatness. Clean clothes are better than dirty ones, and ironed clothes are better than wrinkled ones.
5. 5 The employer will appreciate it if the employee asks in advance what needs to be studied for the job. For example, in digital they use special services to communicate with colleagues: Slack, Jira, Trello and others. It is useful to study them in advance; this will make it easier for the student to work with the team.

Myth 5. If you choose a profession, you cannot change it.

We wrote about how to help a teenager choose a field in IT that suits their liking. But you can always correct it. Let us recall the advice of the head of a large IT company: the trend in the world is towards lifelong education; in order to be in demand, you need to constantly adjust your route. Often, in order to find the best option, you need to try several options and compare them - education and profession are no exception.

What to remember:

1. 1 It is worth thinking about your future career already at school. This will help to more accurately build an educational route and prepare the ground for work.
2. 2 A student has many opportunities to gain practical experience: free online courses, competitions, open projects, internships.
3. 3 A portfolio of projects that can be shown to an employer is an important outcome of any training. It increases your chances of getting an internship and finding a job.
4. 4 Don't be afraid of your first job: IT is used to newbies. Mistakes are considered part of the process and help to develop. The main thing is to try.
5. 5 Over time, your child may change the direction of his studies and career. This is fine. Working in IT is a continuous development.