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

Every day, JavaRush students receive dozens of questions about what awaits them after completing the course. How can a newcomer without experience get a job? How long does it take? How much can you earn at first? How much - in a year, two, three?.. Indirect answers can be found in various sources: for example, on DOU, HeadHunter, Glassdoor, in our success stories. But until now there was no comprehensive information specifically about JavaRush graduates. Over 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 provide the knowledge and skills necessary to start working as a junior, we were also very interested in asking 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’t help but share them with you. In this article we will tell you:

1. How many JavaRush graduates have already reached senior level
2. What top companies do they work for and how much do they earn?
3. What you like and don’t like about your current job
4. How many specialists dream of relocating?
5. What experienced professionals advise newcomers 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 JavaRush graduates - how old they are, in which cities they work, how many years of experience they have in the profession: this data directly affects both the salary level and the companies in which they build a career. So, let's begin :) Most of the respondents are specialists 26-35 years old: Students of the “first waves” at JavaRush have already managed to work in their specialty for 2-5, 5+ years. However, the most significant group - 41.5% - is just gaining momentum with 1-2 years of experience: These data show that the majority of respondents consciously came to study Java at 25-30+ years of age . 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 behind you. The “top” cities with the largest number of graduates are Moscow, Kyiv, St. Petersburg, and in equal numbers are 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 big cities, where there are more offers for juniors and higher salaries: 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 occupying Senior or Lead level positions: When do JavaRush students start not only studying, but also looking for work? We also decided to find out this. It turned out that there are several stages that motivate heroic deeds - 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. Which ones - let's see.

2. Career: position, company, salary

Those who know how to program in Java have many paths to development. Most of our graduates build a career as a Java developer. The specialties of web and Android developers are gaining momentum, and, according to the survey results, many specialists want to upgrade to Fullstack developers: Other specializations that our graduates have chosen include programming in Kotlin, C# and PHP, as well as work in analytics, information security and etc. Well, let's move on to the most interesting - from “who” to “where”: JavaRush graduates work in companies from different fields, including leaders in the banking industry, software development, telecom industry, cybersecurity:

1. Software development companies (international and local)

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

2. Companies providing various IT services

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

3. Companies from the banking sector

   Tinkoff, Privatbank, Sberbank, Raiffeisenbank.

4. System integrators

   Technoserv consulting, Satel Pro, Unitarius and others.

5. Companies offering cybersecurity products

   Kaspersky Lab, Comodo.

6. Companies developing products for the telecom sector, engineering, industry, etc.

   Eltex, Arlo, TPE, Aileron and others.

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

   Nobly POS, VsePlatezhi, RoboFinance, Weplay and others.

Almost half of the respondents are still at the start of their careers, with their first job in IT specialization. For more than a third, their current job is their second. There is a small percentage of those who changed jobs more than 5 times: Of course, everyone knows about the direct correlation between years of programming experience and salary levels, but this is not an ironclad rule. The majority of respondents were specialists with 1-2 years of experience, respectively, the highest percentage of answers was earnings in the range of 1-2 thousand dollars per month. Specialists with at least two years of experience can raise their salary expectations from 2 to 3 thousand. There is also a selection of specialists with up to 6 months of experience 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 main areas:

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

And here are the results: More than a third of those surveyed primarily like their work precisely because of the work itself :) Separately, they note: the opportunity to do what they love - programming, love for Java, interesting projects and working on a good product, diversity of tasks and modern technologies . In second place are working conditions . I like: flexible schedule, the ability to work remotely (or in a comfortable office), stability, good attitude towards a specialist. Salary is 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 be included in the top three. Well, let's look at what you don't like about 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 the support of legacy code, poorly debugged work processes and tight deadlines, frequent switching between tasks or their insufficient complexity/interest. The disadvantages in the area of ​​working conditions include overtime, night work, stress and dislike for daily stand-ups, which “kill the desire to work.” The salary issue closes the top three . Interestingly, among the factors they don’t like about work, the lack of learning opportunities upsets respondents more than “unfriendly” colleagues. From the good:

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

What JavaRush graduates say about their work - briefly:

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

4. Prospects for the development of Java specialists

It will not be possible to learn once and for all - you need to look for promising areas for development, master new technologies in order to get interesting projects. There are many development options. We suggested choosing 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 do you plan to develop? The following development paths emerged from the answers (in order from the most common answers to the least):

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

Many noted their interest in cloud technologies, Big Data, and working with microservices. There is a small percentage of professionals who are thinking about learning a second programming language. Kotlin is in the lead, 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. Relocate: “yes” or “never”? Almost two-thirds of professionals have 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 the result: tips for beginners on successful employment

Experienced programmers have divided opinions on the search approach. 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 responses 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 interest of the projects, but it is better to evaluate the company comprehensively by checking the key “pain points”:

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

Which company should you 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 among businesses
• alternative opinion - choose a startup/small company where there will be a lot of work (useful for development) and little legacy

What to do at an 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 and development opportunities. From the survey responses: “Pay attention to the team lead who will interview you. If he looks tired, then this is an alarming sign)” Some call the first job a lottery, others advise tossing a coin. In any case, it won’t be boring :) The editors of JavaRush would like to thank everyone who took part in the survey this time - we are glad that you remain part of our community!