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Job Questions: Imaginary Stability, False Devotion and Positioning

" Index HeadHunter » published statistics for March. It shows a decrease in the number of vacancies in IT - minus 5%, compared with the previous month (in which there was an increase). At the same time, in March 7% more resumes appeared. This, in general, is consistent with data from Senior Software Vlogger, a blogger who talks about life in IT. He made a website with statistics on the impact of coronavirus on QA, developers, products, Data Scientists. Collects information by a survey in which 3200 people took part (in mid-April). According to him, in 20% of people in IT in Russia, things got worse, and 4% lost their jobs. Perhaps it was their resume that appeared on hh.ru.



5% - relatively small consequences compared to tourism, air services or services. But the situation is still unpredictable, so at Headz we opened a “hot line” to help IT professionals. There are a lot of questions and we attract experts and conduct broadcasts with answers on Fridays. At one of the last broadcasts, Elena Fedenkova - Ex HRD YouDo, 9 years of experience in IT recruiting and HR, 5 years in management, and Svyatoslav Zadorozhny - CTO of Headz company helped us. We discussed the situation in government agencies, imaginary loyalty, a remote worker, how to look for work in the light of the crisis and whether it is worth changing it now. What came of it - in the article. It will be useful for those who have a situation similar to those 20% of Senior Software Vlogger statistics.

Led the broadcastSvetlana Petrovicheva is the founder of Headz and GetIT.

About work in state-owned companies


Should developers now switch to work in a state-owned company? Perhaps now they feel more stable?

Elena . There is a perception error in the assessment of government agencies. They seem to be stable and unshakable. But this imaginary stability, because it is the same everywhere. Private companies live on their own money, and state-owned companies depend on budget funding. No one guarantees that at some point (especially now) funding will not be turned off. If state-owned companies were as stable as they are believed, then so many IT-specialists would not go abroad. 

It is possible that in the current economic situation, regular salary payments, even if it is lower than in the private one, seem to be stable. But before you leave, look at the level of the proposed salary - how much it corresponds to the qualifications, regardless of what is happening on the market.

Work in government structures differs from food companies and commercial structures in processes and corporate culture . In state-owned companies, all processes are going on tightly, predictably and for a long time. They are debugged: coordination, paper, bureaucracy. This is very different from working in startups with fast chaotic processes, where you can take full responsibility for the result. Due to unjustified expectations, disappointment may await.

A project that is being worked on at a state-owned company may never be implemented. For example, a competitive company will buy the implementation of the project at a tender for minimal money. If your company buys (for the same minimum money), then the financing will be scanty, and the requirements will be maximum. 

It is worth moving to a state-owned company from risky industries : tourism, restaurant business, air transportation. It is not clear when recovery will occur there, so the transition to work in a state-owned company is a sensible decision.

About job search without experience


Is it realistic to find a remote job or a minimum paid internship with less than a year of experience and knowledge of the basics of HTML, CSS, JavaScript?

Svyatoslav . With less than a year of experience, there is a working algorithm. The first is to pass certification , public courses from Yandex.Practicum or Mail.ru. The certificate after the course is a confirmation of skills that is still relevant. As a bonus, you can learn something new: language, develop mobile applications, switch from JavaScript to TypeScript.

The second is  to make a pet project : website or mobile application. This is an alternative to commercial development experience, it takes one to two months. Make, publish it in the public domain and publish the code on GitHub. This is a plus for the employer.

Third -massively send resumes on vacancies for juniors. True, there are not so many of them. But you can apply for freelance or remote project development in order to get good experience and indicate this in the resume. Making a resume is also important, but this is a separate issue.

How to search for remote work team lead Senior PHP Developer?

Elena . Many businesses are moving to a remote place, not only because of the coronavirus, but because it is not necessary to drag developers into the office. PHP timlid can find remote work not only in Russia. 

The higher the candidate’s level, the more he doubts himself. (Note: Dunning-Krueger effect) and this affects the job search - they simply miss good jobs. Practice interviewing (online is easier).

But training is important not only for technical skills. The requirements for their soft skills are applied to team leaders, and it is on them that they fall over.

Note . We opened the Headz platform for all employers - it is free for them. Therefore, soon we will have all employers, see vacancies, post a questionnaire. But at the same time, do not lose the opportunity to post your resume everywhere, not only on headz.io.

Svetlana . We (at Headz) monitor the market and develop a bot analytics in Telegram @GetIT_Expert_bot. It provides information for IT professionals and HR. For the first bot shows a salary fork for different specialties and levels depending on the city. For the second - the salary expectations of candidates. The bot provides information on vacancies in 10 cities and 6 specializations: development, DevOps, analysis, management, administration and testing.

According to our data, there is no drop in salaries, but there are fewer vacancies . This may be due to the fact that companies “freeze” hiring and refuse the services of recruiting agencies. You can’t say exactly how far the market dipped - only negative trends are visible. It will be possible to evaluate in May, when statistics accumulate.

There are more offers for remote specialists. But there is a nuance: most companiesafter quarantine will be asked to go to the office . I draw such a conclusion on salaries. While a specialist in Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod is not the same. Salaries vary (as before), which means employers expect the employee to work in the office after quarantine.

When an employee sits in the region and works for Moscow, there is no need to rent a large office and pay a Moscow salary, which includes the cost of rent and living in Moscow. If companies in Moscow would like to completely switch to a remote location, then salaries would decrease to values ​​close to regional ones. 

To leave or not to leave?


What should I do if the developer thinks he will be fired, but it’s scary to leave himself because of fear that they might not be hired for a new job after a trial period? The question is often encountered in consultations.

Elena . It seems that it’s scary to stay and it’s scary to leave for a new place: “Suddenly I won’t pass the probationary period?” But here the question is not about finding a job, but where does the confidence come from that they will “ask” from the current company?

Often fears are unfounded. They are now additionally fueled by instability, contraction and general nervousness. In this case, I recommend talking to the manager directly if he really has plans for dismissal. You can rush about as much as you like, but to make a decision, you need to ask directly. If not, there is nothing to worry about. If so, you will have to look for work in any case.

Is there a risk of not passing the trial period? Of course, everyone always has it , regardless of level. On a trial period (IP), an understandable plan for adapting to a company, reference points for passing IP, a one-on-one interview with a new leader and feedback can help. Ask questions about the probationary period at the interview: whether he is, what KPI passings, final criteria.

My advice is simple - stop rushing around . This leads to conditions when a person simply cannot go for interviews, which reduces the chances of success. If there is no such proposal to which the heart lies, choose from what is. Looking for a job when you already have employment is more comfortable than in an unemployed state. When you work and are looking for work, you are worth more .
. 
Second tip - be sure to respond to vacancies. We saw a vacancy, responded, went, met. Speak directly that you are not looking for work, but are checking the market in a passive mode. Specify that the company is interesting and you want to get an interview with HR, CTO and the technical interview “for the future”. If something happens, you will quickly get to work, because all the steps have already been completed.

Many companies and owners usually declare that it is dishonest and dishonorable to monitor the market and go for interviews when an employee has a job.

“Only scoundrels do this!” Any honest person should first come to the leader and say that he is unsatisfied and looking for work! 


I do not advise doing this. After you tell the employer about your plans to see the market, he will look for a replacement for you (what do you think?). There is no secret in this - many employers do this and do not talk about it. It is likely that a replacement will be found faster than your job. A job search can drag on for a month, six months or even a year.

This is a two-way game. We have such a market that the pompous moral principles that the employer declares do not work. First of all, they do not work for the employers themselves. Therefore, do not be fooled by manipulations when you are pressed on conscience.

Loyalty to the company is important and correct, but this is not your business, you are not friends or relatives. This is a working relationship - you sell your time and qualifications and get paid for it. If something does not suit you and you cannot change anything, then look for alternative options.

Note . Employers often monitor the profiles of their employees on hh.ru and when it becomes active, questions arise. You can monitor and respond to vacancies in stealth mode on headz.io. All profiles are depersonalized and do not contain personal data, and vacancies are relevant to your experience and requirements.

Svetlana . There were "deferred" offery. Many large companies in Russia began to offer the candidate a job without an exact date. "Feature" is associated with a shortage of specialists in IT. In the field, the smallest losses in the current situation. At the same time, during the quarantine, a large increase in new specialists is not expected, especially highly qualified ones. Consequently, after quarantine, the market will have the same deficit.

Companies that stop hiring run the risk of being out of work. The “delayed” offer allows you not to lose potential employees. This is a competent decision - after quarantine they will already have ready candidates. Therefore, I also recommend monitoring the market, getting to know companies and getting a “delayed” offer.

Monitor companies in the gaming industry and delivery services. In these areas there is a substantial increase in vacancies. This is logical, because they quarantine more and order food.

Correct positioning


A novice Python developer (+ Django) contacted the consultation. Prior to that, 10 years he worked in the field of information security. The resume on hh.ru does not interest employers, and even the crisis. How to look for work?

Svyatoslav . Here are a few mistakes. A person claims to be a Python developer, and write about the experience of an information security engineer. Therefore, the recruiter evaluates him as a safety engineer.

How to fix a resume?

  • Adapt to a vacancy - at least remove information about information security.
  • . , : , Python, , . . 

With current experience, you can claim to be a junior. The middle is also possible, but you will have to work ( Note: see above for how ) and correctly wrap up the experience: describe the latest projects, focusing on them. In the cover letter, clearly state what you are looking for in Python and Django projects. 

There is a positive in any crisis - you can consider all of Russia, Belarus and other countries. With quarantine, there are fewer relocation vacancies and now it is impossible to move to another country. But with knowledge of English, foreign projects are available on the remote and outsourced. Companies are ready to communicate with specialists for the future or transfer to a remote site. This is the advantage of the crisis - there will be more work in the international market.

This was a small part of the questions we receive. This Friday we will organize a broadcast - a round table with team leaders of the IT company. We will discuss what is happening in the IT companies now, what should or should not be expected in the near future, what will happen with the June, what skills to upgrade and we will answer questions on the air again. Subscribe to the channel in Telegram , where you will learn how to register on the air and ask a question for analysis.

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