Representatives of MTS, ICL, Cognitive Technologies, Open Mobile Platform, Etton Group, Units and Workcell met with Master's degree students of Innopolis University and outlined the qualities their future employees should have.

Self-reliance

Ilia Fedorov, Head of Business Services Division at the Research and Technical Centre of ICL System Technologies: “We are not interested in individuals who will exploit the lead expert and "suck out" his brains. We need people who can handle all tasks on their own and pose the right questions to their colleagues”.

Alia Murtazina, Head of a branch of Cognitive Technologies: “We are looking for managers who are able to work independently, set the tasks and be responsible for their actions. Ideally, a graduate employed for half a year shall understand the company’s scope of business and become a team lead”.

Teamwork skills

Arthur Gainullin, Executive Director of Units: “It is important to develop teamwork skills. A good team member instantly drops into the workflow, meetings and business communication. In this perspective, internships are quite effective if students are involved in a real job instead of doing useless tasks”.

Alexey Piyanin, Head of Software Development at Open Mobile Platform: “A graduate shall be both a good team member and a leader. We are interested in community-minded individuals because introverts are unlikely to handle this task”.

Evgeny Kravtsunov, Deputy Head of the Department of Special Purpose Operating System at Workcell: “The work brings together different people who have their own habits and characters. Adjusting to each other is vital”.

Learning skills

Alexandra Onokhova, HR Manager at MTS: “A perfect candidate for us is a flexible person and a quick learner. The company deals with different projects and employees should not focus on the only one. They need to adapt quickly. Newcomers should not be afraid to ask questions and show some gaps in their knowledge. Desire to learn and study unknown issues is a good sign”.

Alexey Piyanin, Head of Software Development at Open Mobile Platform: “A student shall learn independently instead of waiting for a mentor to teach him/her”.

Ural Davletshin, Head of Software Development Group at Cognitive Technologies: “Teaching is not our task. Our ideal candidate has at least a basic level of training, understands his/her tasks and suggests better solutions”.

Experience

Veronika Chupova, Business Automation Division at MTS: “We pay attention to those candidates who have participated in hackathons, even if they are not prize-winners. As a rule, students who took part in IT competitions are enthusiastic and willing to make interesting projects”. 

Maria Lisafina, HR Manager at Etton Group: “Even at the stage of interview with students, we consider experience in the industry because it reflects their capabilities. Besides, we pay attention to projects they worked on during the studies. Even failed projects are taken into account because each of them is a source of experience”.

Initiative

Alexey Piyanin, Head of Software Development at Open Mobile Platform: “When a company develops a new product it needs motivated employees who can be fully involved in the project. This quality helps an individual to design different products and follow the path of horizontal career growth”.

Maria Lisafina, HR Manager at Etton Group: “We expect our candidates to be initiative because new employees always suggest interesting ideas for the company projects”.

Basic skills

Ilia Fedorov, Head of Business Services Division at the Research and Technical Centre of ICL System Technologies: “Candidates must have a fundamental background. For instance, an engineer needs to have a good knowledge of basic administration, be able to run Active Directory and tell the difference between Esquire and Postgres. Basic skills of a developer include software development, HTML, CSS, and Bootstrap. We cannot hire a candidate who has not heard of Agile, Scrum, Waterfall, etc.”

Maria Lisafina, HR Manager at Etton Group: “We expect our prospective employees to know Python and have mobile development skills with a focus on iOS”.

Alexey Piyanin, Head of Software Development at Open Mobile Platform: “Prior to be enrolled at the university a perfect graduate shall already have all necessary skills and fill the gaps in computer science, development of operating systems and software infrastructure during the studies”.

Ural Davletshin, Head of Software Development Group at Cognitive Technology: “IT tendencies are changing rapidly. An expert shall have a full vision for high technology development to choose the right area to follow”.

Personal qualities

Ilia Fedorov, Head of Business Services Division at the Research and Technical Centre of ICL System Technologies: “Candidates shall seek for an adequate salary. A candidate who has graduated from a high profile university but has no real industrial experience cannot claim a 1.5 salary of a lead specialist”.

Svetlana Ershova, Head of HR Department at ICL: “We treat students lacking industrial experience as interns who need to be trained by a team lead. Training takes much efforts and time. Thus, it makes no sense to pay the salary of a skilled expert to a person who undergoes training”.

Personal qualities

Alia Murtazina, Head of a branch of Cognitive Technologies: “We pay attention to individuals who are ready to relocate and push their personal issues on the back burner”.

Alexey Piyanin, Head of Software Development at Open Mobile Platform: “The company needs non-conflict people in its team”.

Ilia Fedorov, Head of Business Services Division at the Research and Technical Centre of ICL System Technologies: “We have standard requirements. I know some companies that avoid hiring vegans, but we do not have such policy. Meanwhile, we are careful about the so-called "stars" because over-ambitious attitude often leads to mutual disappointment. The "stars" are usually less in-demand than hard workers are. Make a “star” do what an average worker does and you will see its enthusiasm fading away”.

Evgeny Kravtsunov, Deputy Head of the Department of Special Purpose Operating System at Workcell: “We want our candidates to have adventurous spirit — be ready to take the risk but do it deliberately and justify if necessary. The company needs hardworking people who are not afraid of inevitable challenges. We are careful about recruitment of female candidates in the men's team because it affects the work procedure and the atmosphere in general. But we will make an exception if she meets all the criteria, proves her confidence and displays backbone in facing challenges”.

According to Maxim Gashkov, Head of Industry Relations Office at Innopolis University, regular meetings between companies and students help to understand what kind of experts are in-demand among IT companies and modify the educational process in terms of the market needs: “During 2 days, 14 companies held 132 interviews. Each of 46 Master's degree students had 2 - 5 interviews. Results of this evaluation will help to develop individual educational paths for each student, add new disciplines in the program, and take in account recommendations of the companies during the next selection of students”, — commented Maxim Gashkov.