Guest: Fater Akuhwa (Project Manager at Yandex Go | Founder at Guidetryb)
We recently had a live webinar on our Telegram Community for foreigners living in Russia— ‘How to land a good job in tech in Russia’.
Here are our top picks from that discussion:
1. Tech is a language everyone should be able to speak: Many people today want to break into tech for different reasons and rightly so, because it represents what is possible in the future.
While anybody can get into tech these days, there are several roles and skills to consider— from programming, data science and management roles to design and marketing. To choose a skill, you need to do a lot of research and start trying them out as soon as possible. Ask yourself two questions:
Will this help me to learn? Will this help me to earn?
2. Look for internship roles: Once you’re ready to start working, start by exploring opportunities to learn. There are several Hackathons (tech-focused workshops) you can take each year to get familiar with some of the roles and take training that will be useful once you’re ready to find a job.
And if you get an official paid internship in any company, you need to work really hard and clear their doubts about you. Once you get into the role, decide to make a mark and go above and beyond. Learn to take initiative and bring new ideas to the table.
3. Go job hunting: Use a platform like hh.ru. Create a profile and add in English and Russian versions so that you increase your chances of visibility. Tweak your resume for each job you’re applying for.
To write a good resume, use Google Search to find out how a resume for that specific role should look like. Highlight your skills and all the job requirements you can meet up with e.g the languages you speak.
4. Start as early as possible: Especially if you’re still a student, you can devote several hours a week to learning for free on different platforms or even invest in paid classes/mentorship sessions to get more clarity.
You also need to know how to manage your time effectively so you can meet up with demands while doing quality work and doing well in school. Use a productivity system like Notion to track your tasks.
5. Focus to make sure you can do high-quality work and deliver: Even if the work is challenging, it is an opportunity for growth and for you to expand your experience. You don’t need to know Russian to find jobs but it can be a big advantage when you have to interact with people.
Give as much time as possible to make sure you give the best impression on any job in the shortest time possible. Focus on personal upskilling and build your knowledge on different fields so you can remain relevant.
6. You can get online jobs if you don’t have the opportunity to work in-person: Even though most employers will prefer you to come into the office for the first two months to show commitment, there are still many opportunities to work online.
For example, companies in Western Europe are always looking for talent in this side of the world, especially if you speak good English. Here’s the list of those online platforms where you can upload your resume and get those opportunities.
There are more opportunities to get into tech roles in Russia right now so take advantage of those.
7. Find a mentor: Fater Akuhwa says: “I decided to start Guidetryb in 2020 when I was doing my masters and I discovered how many people really need guidance to make serious career decisions.
I and a few friends decided to invite some mentors from different careers to talk about diverse topics. Everything was online and we just had those webinars then. The world was changing and we needed to be prepared for it.
GuideTryb is an extension of what we came up with then— where top performers and world-class mentors teach practical and relevant cohort-based courses.”
Are you looking for guidance? GuideTryb allows you to interact with world-class instructors in cohorts and get practical answers to your most difficult career questions. You get to network with them and see where that takes you in your career.
You can also book a personal consultation session if you’re still unsure. The prices are very cheap so everyone can still make the most of that opportunity.
Have any more questions?
Join our Telegram Community for foreigners in Russia to listen to the full webinar recording and access other materials shared by our speakers.
