Research: Where do JavaRush graduates work and how much do they earn?

Every day, CodeGym students receive dozens of questions about what awaits them after completing the course. How can a newbie with no experience get a job? How much time does it take? How much can you get at first? How many - in a year, two, three? .. Indirect answers can be found in various sources: for example, on DOU, HeadHunter, Glassdoor, in our success stories. But up to this point there was no comprehensive information specifically about CodeGym graduates. In the 6.5 years of our project's existence, thousands of students have completed the course and found jobs. Since our main goal is to give the knowledge and skills that are necessary to start working as a junior, it was also very interesting for us to ask former JR students about their career successes. In June, we conducted a survey among graduates, and we were pleased with the answers - so we can not help but share them with you. In this article we will tell:

1. How many CodeGym graduates have already reached the senior level
2. Which top companies do they work for and how much do they earn?
3. What do you like and dislike about your current job?
4. How many specialists dream of relocation
5. What experienced professionals advise newbies when looking for a job

1. Portrait of a Java specialist: general information, work experience and professional level

To begin with, we decided to create a portrait of CodeGym graduates - how old they are, in which cities they work, how many years of experience they have in the profession: these data directly affect both the salary level and the companies in which they build their careers. So, let's start :) Most of the respondents are specialists aged 26-35: Students of the "first waves" on CodeGym have already worked in their specialty for 2-5, 5+ years. However, the largest group - 41.5% - is just gaining momentum with 1-2 years of experience: These data show that the majority of respondents consciously came to learn Java at 25-30+ years. So it's never too late to learn, even if your student years are behind you and you have several years of work experience in other fields. In the “top” of the cities in which the largest number of graduates live are Moscow, Kyiv, St. Petersburg, in equal numbers - Odessa, Minsk, Nizhny Novgorod and Novosibirsk. Graduates also work in companies in Paris, London, Montevideo, Boca Raton (Florida) and Ho Chi Minh City :) Many had to leave their hometown for megacities, where there are more offers for juniors, and salaries are higher: The sooner you learn, the faster you “grow up ” ” . About a quarter of the respondents are still juniors, more than half of the specialists have reached the Middle level, the rest are already holding positions at the Senior or Lead level: When do CodeGym students start not only studying, but also looking for a job? This is what we decided to find out. It turned out that there are several stages that motivate for exploits - these are levels 30-31, 35 and, of course, 40+: After training and the first offer, the fairy tale does not end :) Somewhere behind the success stories of our students, everyday work begins. What - let's see.

2. Career: position, company, salary

For those who know how to program in Java, there are many ways to develop. Most of our graduates are building a career as a Java developer. The specialties of web and Android developers are gaining momentum, and, according to the results of the survey, many specialists want to upgrade to a Fullstack developer: etc. Well, let's move on to the most interesting - from "who" to "where": CodeGym graduates work in companies from various fields, including leaders in the banking industry, software development, telecom industry, cybersecurity:

1. Software development companies (international and local)

   The leader in terms of the number of employees who have previously trained on JavaGush is EPAM. Behind it are other international companies: Citrix, Luxoft; as well as local ones - IBS, First Line Software, ITB (Russia), Provectus, FDI (Ukraine), Intesoft (Belarus).

2. Companies providing various IT services

   T-Systems, Rostelecom Information Technologies, RingCentral, SKB KONTUR, Jet Infosystems, Allied Testing and others.

3. Banking companies

   Tinkoff, Privatbank, Sberbank, Raiffeisenbank.

4. System integrators

   Technoserv consulting, Satel Pro, Unitarius and others.

5. Companies offering a cybersecurity product

   Kaspersky Lab, Comodo.

6. Companies developing a product for the telecom industry, engineering, industry, etc.

   Eltex, Arlo, TPE, Eleron and others.

7. Companies developing their own online solutions (e-commerce, billing, entertainment)

   Nobly POS, AllPayments, RoboFinance, Weplay and others.

Almost half of the respondents are still at the start of their career, with their first IT job. For more than a third, the current work is the second in a row. There is a small percentage of those who have changed jobs more than 5 times: Of course, everyone knows about the direct relationship between years of programming experience and salary levels, but this is not an ironclad rule. Most of the respondents are specialists with 1-2 years of experience, respectively, the highest percentage of answers is earnings in the range of 1-2 thousand dollars per month. Specialists with at least two years of experience can raise the bar of their salary expectations from 2 to 3 thousand. There is also a selection of specialists with experience up to 6 months who have already crossed the $1000 mark:

3. Everyday work: pros and cons

We asked what you like and dislike most about your current job. We identified positive and negative reviews and divided both of them into the main areas:

• The content of the work, projects (programming, workload, interesting tasks, technologies used)
• Working conditions (work schedule, social package, office)
• Salary (if you know what we mean:)
• Team, team (how comfortable is the atmosphere)
• Development (opportunities for training, pumping skills)

And here are the results: More than a third of the respondents like their work primarily because of the work itself :) Separately, they note: the opportunity to do what they love - programming, love for Java, interesting projects and work on a good product, the diversity of tasks and modern technologies . In second place - working conditions . Likes: free schedule, the ability to work remotely (or in a comfortable office), stability, good attitude towards a specialist. Salaryis the third most important satisfaction factor. Many noted the pleasant atmosphere in the team, the joy of working in a cool team, great opportunities for learning and development, but these factors do not have enough weight to get into the top three. Well, let's look at what you DON'T like about the work: The content of the work is also in the lead here , but with a much greater advantage. 63% of respondents spoke about shortcomings. The most unpleasant thing for specialists is support for legacy code, ill-adjusted workflows and tight deadlines, frequent switching between tasks or their lack of complexity/interest. In the minuses in the field of working conditions , they talk about overtime, working at night, stress and dislike for daily stand-ups that “kill the desire to work.” Closes the top threesalary issue . Interestingly, among the factors disliked at work, the lack of training opportunities frustrates interviewees more than “unfriendly” colleagues. From the good:

1. 14% of all respondents answered that they like everything in their work.
2. There are several times more positive answers than negative ones.

What CodeGym graduates say about their work - briefly:

• “I like everything, I don’t like everything”
• “Interesting and gemorno”
• “Everything is great! Compared to my previous work at Russian Railways, it’s a fire!”

4. Prospects for the development of Java specialists

Learning once and for all will not work - you need to look for promising areas for development, master new technologies in order to get interesting projects. There are many development options. We offered to choose one or more: 70.2% of respondents constantly read specialized literature, almost half (48.9%) take specialized online courses, more than a third attend useful events (36.2%). Only 9.6% of respondents do not yet have time for self-education. In what direction are they planning to develop? From the answers, the following development paths have developed (in order from the most common answers to the least):

• learn in depth Java and related technologies for software development
• develop in mobile development
• develop in web development

Many noted an interest in cloud technologies, Big Data, and work with microservices. There is a small percentage of professionals who are thinking about learning a second programming language. Kotlin is leading, followed by Go, C#, PHP. Speaking about functional responsibilities, many spoke about the desire to upgrade to a Fullstack developer. A small percentage of specialists see themselves as a team or tech lead. Relocation: “yes” or “never”? Almost two-thirds of the specialists thought about moving. Every fifth person has already decided that there is no need to go anywhere: The answers included countries from the EU, North America, and Asia. In addition to the leader, Germany, the preferred countries for moving to Europe are Italy, Great Britain, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, and Poland. In Asia - Japan, China, Singapore.

5. Instead of a summary: tips for newbies on successful employment

The opinions of experienced programmers on the approach to search are divided. Some believe that beginners need to agree to any suitable offer (one or the best of several) in order to gain at least a year of useful experience. From the answers to the survey: “Whoever took it is the good one: you don’t have to choose a junior” Others advise relying on the recommendations of friends, reviews on forums, the age of the company and the technology stack. The most important thing is the interestingness of the projects, but it is better to evaluate the company comprehensively by checking the key “pain points”:

• compliance with the terms of the contract promises
• salary level and the dynamics of its revision
• the degree of bureaucratization of the company
• work schedule flexibility
• tools for work
• willingness to invest in your development
• emotional climate
• employee reviews about the company

Which company to choose? Advise:

• avoid state-owned companies and those who provide services to state-owned companies
• choose a large product company whose solution is in demand by the business
• an alternative opinion is to choose a startup/small company where there will be a lot of work (useful for development) and little legacy

What to do at the interview? Ask the right questions to understand that there are no discrepancies between the job description and the actual state of affairs, that there are clear instructions, development opportunities. From the answers to the survey: “Pay attention to the team leader who will interview you. If he looks tired, then this is an alarming sign) ” Someone calls the first job a lottery, someone advises throwing a coin. In any case, it will not be boring :) The CodeGym editorial staff thanks everyone who participated in the survey this time - we are glad that you remain part of our community!