IT Graduates' Need For Real World Experience
Few large-scale IT firms are ready to tackle what is still lacking in the city's technical education and integrate today's students into the "real world" of industry.
Dec 20, 2005
While Russia still offers excellent outsourcing opportunities for software development, few large-scale IT firms are ready to tackle what is still lacking in the city's technical education and integrate today's students into the "real world" of industry.
"Educational institutions specialized in computer science are not equipped to deliver what's needed in terms of qualified resources. They have obsolete programs and elderly staff who are not involved in everyday software development on modern platforms," said Valentin Makarov, President of the RUSSOFT Association.
These days it seems that it has become the task of IT firms to assist students in building up their careers. This is because Russian universities have failed in their basic responsibility of providing career guidance for students.
"It is essential for higher education institutions to participate in student's employment," says Yevgenya Delnova, Branch Manager of Kelly Engineering Resources & Kelly IT Resources.
"It can be achieved only if there is mutual effort for cooperation between IT companies and the education system," she said.
Companies do not usually take the risk of employing a person with no practical experience, which means students who graduate with degrees in computer technology often earn their first salaries by working as a waiter or bartender. This is paradoxical, considering the fact that programmers and developers are among the most sought-after specialists in the IT market.
"This is unacceptable," said Andrei Terekhov, head of the Software Engineering Department of St. Petersburg University and Director of the large-scale IT company, Lanit-Tercom.
"In order to receive their diplomas, students at Singapore Technical University are obliged to work part-time for a commercial IT company that has an agreement with the university. Why not follow this example?"
Another way to establish cooperation is for IT firms to participate in the development of IT techno-parks, which are based in Russia's most famous technical universities. In the US, Asia and Europe IT-parks provide start-ups and mid-scale companies with a low-cost infrastructure and talented university graduates.
Following this global trend, the Russian Government has initiated its IT-park development program. As a part of this ambitious project, IT-parks will be created in four regions — St. Petersburg, Moscow, Novosibirsk and Nizhny Novgorod. Nevertheless, despite this step towards cooperation, serious gaps still exist.
One of these problems is that at the present time, there isn't a system of mentors, who can play a key role in a student's career. A common practice in leading US technical universities, this individualized approach links each student with a tutor who supervises all aspects of his or her academic career. In Russia IT companies tend to put students in small groups, which are supervised by company specialists. These small groups run projects with real budgets, learn teamwork, management skills and relevant programming skills.
Another issue is the complaint from Western IT firms that, after they have invested in a student's education, he or she may "jump ship" and find work in another company after graduation.
"If Lanit-Tercom invests in a student's education, where's the guarantee that he won't choose another company to work for after graduation? There should be a law that covers this," Terekhov suggested.
Nevertheless, St. Petersburg may be the first city to go the right way. Right now major Western IT firms like Intel, Nokia, and Motorola already invest in student education in St. Petersburg, but there remains a need for feed-back from the State.
"15 years of crisis got some of us really confused and frustrated. Adequate social policy and stability that's all we want from federal State" said Ludmila Nesterenko of Intel Labs.
"Educational institutions specialized in computer science are not equipped to deliver what's needed in terms of qualified resources. They have obsolete programs and elderly staff who are not involved in everyday software development on modern platforms," said Valentin Makarov, President of the RUSSOFT Association.
These days it seems that it has become the task of IT firms to assist students in building up their careers. This is because Russian universities have failed in their basic responsibility of providing career guidance for students.
"It is essential for higher education institutions to participate in student's employment," says Yevgenya Delnova, Branch Manager of Kelly Engineering Resources & Kelly IT Resources.
"It can be achieved only if there is mutual effort for cooperation between IT companies and the education system," she said.
Companies do not usually take the risk of employing a person with no practical experience, which means students who graduate with degrees in computer technology often earn their first salaries by working as a waiter or bartender. This is paradoxical, considering the fact that programmers and developers are among the most sought-after specialists in the IT market.
"This is unacceptable," said Andrei Terekhov, head of the Software Engineering Department of St. Petersburg University and Director of the large-scale IT company, Lanit-Tercom.
"In order to receive their diplomas, students at Singapore Technical University are obliged to work part-time for a commercial IT company that has an agreement with the university. Why not follow this example?"
Another way to establish cooperation is for IT firms to participate in the development of IT techno-parks, which are based in Russia's most famous technical universities. In the US, Asia and Europe IT-parks provide start-ups and mid-scale companies with a low-cost infrastructure and talented university graduates.
Following this global trend, the Russian Government has initiated its IT-park development program. As a part of this ambitious project, IT-parks will be created in four regions — St. Petersburg, Moscow, Novosibirsk and Nizhny Novgorod. Nevertheless, despite this step towards cooperation, serious gaps still exist.
One of these problems is that at the present time, there isn't a system of mentors, who can play a key role in a student's career. A common practice in leading US technical universities, this individualized approach links each student with a tutor who supervises all aspects of his or her academic career. In Russia IT companies tend to put students in small groups, which are supervised by company specialists. These small groups run projects with real budgets, learn teamwork, management skills and relevant programming skills.
Another issue is the complaint from Western IT firms that, after they have invested in a student's education, he or she may "jump ship" and find work in another company after graduation.
"If Lanit-Tercom invests in a student's education, where's the guarantee that he won't choose another company to work for after graduation? There should be a law that covers this," Terekhov suggested.
Nevertheless, St. Petersburg may be the first city to go the right way. Right now major Western IT firms like Intel, Nokia, and Motorola already invest in student education in St. Petersburg, but there remains a need for feed-back from the State.
"15 years of crisis got some of us really confused and frustrated. Adequate social policy and stability that's all we want from federal State" said Ludmila Nesterenko of Intel Labs.