The beginning of the year is traditionally marked with a number of reports dedicated to IT trends and expectations. According to a recent study by bulldogjobs.pl, nearly 40% of specialists working in the industry have completed second-degree studies, which indicates that employees value a good foundation that prepares them for work. Does this mean that the doors to IT open only after obtaining a diploma? We believe this is not the case.

At Godel Technologies, we are open to students and those who have decided to switch careers. Our team is happy to share their knowledge and help guide younger professionals during mentoring programs called Godel Mastery. We have spoken to the TA Specialist Volha Tarasenka to learn the advantages of the studies process, level of knowledge interns dive into, and if successful graduation equals a ticket to the first job in IT as a junior engineer.

What is Godel Mastery in one sentence?

This is an internship program at Godel designed for people, mostly students or career-switchers, who want to enter the IT industry and have a certain knowledge base, but no commercial experience.

And by ‘certain knowledge base’ you mean?

Minimal skills are required to enter the program, like English language at B1 level or above, both written and spoken, and good communication skills. The thing is that all our clients are British companies, and we mainly work in augmented teams, which are mixed teams from Godel’s and the client’s sides. So, as you can imagine there is a lot of communication in English. The rest of the requirements are technical and depend on the division. For example, for a .NET internship you need to know .NET, exception handling and how to work with the file system, and for JS – along with HTML, CSS, JavaScript, you need to have basic knowledge of Git, and basics of React/NodeJS would definitely be a plus.

Let’s imagine you’ve recruited successful candidates. Do they attend classes as in school?

The studying process is specific for each division that runs the program, and quite often varies from stream to stream. Take Quality Management for example: an internship for a manual tester lasts for 1.5-2 months, and for an automated tester – 2-3 months, both in the form of one-on-one training with a mentor. At the same time, the Data division internship lasts for 4-5 months as group studies, with mentors changing depending on the topic. Some divisions build their program from short topical units with follow-up practice, while others design solutions (not commercial) that start from scratch and turn into big and interesting projects at the end. Knowledge can be checked in the form of a dialogue with a mentor or assessed by a test – every division chooses what’s most efficient, applicable and convenient for them.

From the first day of the internship, you will be officially employed by the company and should be ready for flexible availability during work hours.

Is there a tuition fee?

No.

Can an intern get expelled?

Yes.

Oof…

Yeah, no games at Godel (laughs). We can terminate a contract if an intern fails to keep up with the curriculum, misses deadlines, doesn’t bother to show up for meetings, or struggles to match our culture. But it doesn’t often happen.

What happens upon graduation?

Our Mastery Program is meant to be a long-term collaboration, so we always hope that after the studies are over, the intern will move on to a junior position with us at Godel. There are a number of success stories in the company, featuring former interns who have made it to highly professional developers. Of course, there are things we cannot predict or control, like the world economy or geo-politics that inevitably affect the IT market, but the industry seems to be getting back on track, and several divisions at Godel have already launched their first programs in 2024.

How is Godel Mastery different from other tech courses in the market?

I think what makes us truly special is the approach to studies. Individual mentorship has proven to be really efficient, and if there are groups, they are small enough to care, every intern gets the most attention and support. Training on learning projects instead of commercial ones gives less stress and more flexibility, however, we still immerse interns into our work processes, e.g. we introduce Agile and its ceremonies, do code reviews, etc. A feel-good bonus would be the financial support from the company for the duration of the training. It’s a small amount, but we believe that this so-called training grant add-ups nicely to the overall motivation to become an IT professional.

OK, I’m totally in. Where do I sign?

(Laughs) A number of interns are now studying or just about to start their own Mastery, as we actively hired for the Program in winter. But you can always check our website for new recruitment announcements or simply fill out the application form for future streams. In case of active recruitment for Mastery there appears a “Mastery Courses” tab with more details on the terms and requirements.

After you’ve applied, you will be contacted by our Talent Acquisition team to go through the main organizational aspects and communicate in English. This is followed by a testing stage – again in a written test, or completing a task, online or offline, depending on the division. Upon successful test results, you’re invited to a short interview in English with a technical specialist where we will get to know each other a bit more, check your technical knowledge, and answer your questions.

And the journey begins.

Godel Careers: https://www.godeltech.com/careers/all-careers/