You probably noticed that the more popular the IT field became over time, the more people moved into development from other professions. There are many reasons for this: high salaries, a good benefits package, the opportunity to work in interesting, modern companies, flexible schedules. And although competition in the IT market is high, you have a chance, with due diligence, to get a job as a developer. In this text, we will analyze whether it is worth going into Java development in 2021, what is the competition in the June market, and will give some tips on how to compete for your first job in IT.
How in demand is Java?
Java continues to be the most popular primary programming language in the world (37% of respondents named it as their primary language for development), according to a JetBrains study . It is used by about 5.2 million developers. Java's main competitor is Python. It has surpassed Java in the list of most used languages. Over the past 12 months, 30% of respondents have started or are continuing to learn Python, even more than last year (27%). But this does not mean that Java should be written off. The job search site Dice.com has compiled a ranking of seven programming languages whose specialists are in greatest demand among American employers. The Java language was in second place in the Dice ranking, losing the lead to SQL. According to the TIOBE index , which evaluates the popularity of programming languages, in December 2020, Java became the second most popular language in the world. The ratings explain the popularity of Java among employers by the large number of applications and services written in this language. In addition, the popularity of the language means that there is a lot of information about it on the Internet. Today, Java remains at an advantage over other languages due to the size of its ecosystem. Due to the number of developers using Java, it is often chosen for creating new projects. Thus, new developers are also involved in the process.
How much do Java developers earn?
The average salary of Java developers in Russia is about $1,500, and for experienced developers - about $3,000, according to a study by the resource Habr . Approximately the same data was found in a study conducted by JavaRush at the beginning of 2020. But this does not mean that the Javas cannot count on higher salaries. The employment service SuperJob conducted an analysis of the salaries of developers in Russia depending on the language in which they write. Judging by the analysis, Java developers can earn from 4 to 7 thousand dollars . In Ukraine, experienced Java developers can expect a salary of $3,500, a JavaRush study showed. In terms of salaries, Belarus comes after Ukraine and Russia - an experienced JW player in Minsk is offered $2,200. The median salary for juniors, even in Java, is not so high. For example, in 2020, the average salary of new developers in Ukraine was $800 , according to a study by the Dou portal. This applies to developers who write in Java, C and C++. And since this is the median, it is clear that at the start juniors can receive 400-500 dollars. In Moscow, the average salary for a beginner is $1,000, in St. Petersburg — $960, in Minsk — much less, about $500, according to a JavaRush study.
What is the situation on the June market?
It’s easier for June to find a job in a big city
Due to the lack of IT specialists in October 2020, the Ukrainian IT sector could have lost more than $12 million in export earnings, according to a study by GlobalLogic. But we are not talking about juniors: in most cases, Middle and Senior specialists are sought for open positions (37% and 33%, respectively), that is, with 2-5 years of experience. Only 17% of vacancies are available for specialists with up to a year of experience. The DOU portal published a study on how Ukrainian IT companies hired junior specialists in 2019. SoftServe hired the most juniors - 1003 people, EPAM Ukraine was in second place (928 people), ZONE3000 was in third place with 640 newcomers. About 75% of juniors from the surveyed companies found work in the top 3 cities: Kyiv, Kharkov and Lviv. At the same time, as the authors of the study note, it is easier for large companies to look for newcomers outside the capital, where competition for talent is lower. As for Russia, it is expected that June has the best chance of finding work in Moscow and St. Petersburg. For example, according to the Headz analytics bot , which analyzes vacancies and resumes from open sources, in Moscow there are 8 candidates for 1 vacancy, in St. Petersburg - 14 to 1. Large companies such as G5 Entertainment, Luxoft, EPAM, are the most friendly to newcomers. Emergn, Mail.Ru Group and ALM Works.
There are many Junes, but few good ones
Some experts say there is a glut in the June market. In particular, because of the so-called “white guys” - juniors who read books, took free courses and hope that they will get a well-paid job without commercial experience. But even with great competition, you can find a job, the main thing is motivation and the desire to learn. It is not necessary to obtain a higher education in development, but it is very important to devote time to self-education, not stopping at just a couple of books and tutorials from Youtube. Here is what Ivan Kleshnin, a web programmer with 12 years of experience who is involved in mentoring and business in the field of recruiting, writes :
“The modern “junior” wants to receive $1000 three months after starting training. His main educational asset is watching a course downloaded from torrents. “Everything should be free!” - June declares, prudently excluding her own activities from the category of “everything.” In particular, when he receives internship offers, he indignantly says that he will not work for pennies!
The opportunity to get a job in IT without experience or education is an exclusive privilege that exists here and now. Sooner or later this window of opportunity will close. You will not get a job as a lawyer or doctor without long, expensive training and practice...
Companies don't need juniors without experience. If they hire them, it is with an eye to the distant future, at their own peril and risk. Appreciating this step of the employer and being simply grateful is honesty with oneself. Unfortunately, we still view gratitude and honesty as signs of weakness.”
Holidays and coronavirus: why there are fewer vacancies for juniors
The number of June vacancies is affected by both the end of the year and the second wave of lockdown. “In December, as a rule, fewer developers are looking for, companies are preparing for the holidays. Plus the upcoming lockdown, when it is easier to hire experienced developers who will quickly join the process. In addition, in order to train a newcomer, the company must provide a mentor, and experienced developers are now busy with their projects,” says Anastasia Melnik, HR manager of a fintech product company.
What advice can you give to juniors looking for work?
Determine your motivation
If your only motivation is money, then you won’t be able to last long in IT. June must study a lot, learn new technologies and communicate with a mentor. It is best if your motivation is interest in a new job. The employer will appreciate this and may give preference to you when hiring.
Study a lot on your own
Not only at work, but also at home. When you have the necessary base, move on to knowledge in your niche, be it gambling, games, fintech or something else.
Listen to the mentor
Simple but useful advice. With a good mentor, you will get used to the project much faster.
Outsource or product?
The easiest way for a junior is to get a job in a large outsourcing company, where there will be systematic work and many projects. This means that there will be many ways of development. You can get a job in a product and improve your skills in one industry. This path is suitable for those who have decided on an area of development that they like.
How to prepare for a job search?
Conduct a test interview, study the company you want to work for, monitor basic market requirements - we have collected useful tips on preparing for a job search in the large text “Fear of an Interview: How to Stop Being Afraid and Start Going to Interviews . ”
What are the prospects for Java?
We've collected the opinions of two Java experts who have been following its development for many years.
Maxim Kmets, senior Java developer
The number of devices running Java does not change. This means that other languages have emerged that are taking over Java's share. Android applications have historically been written in Java: this strengthens the position of Java, but cross-platform solutions for iOS/Android platforms are also emerging. That is, you wrote it once and you launch the application everywhere. For example, Flutter (an open-source SDK for creating mobile applications from Google. It is used to develop applications for Android and iOS - ed.), which uses the Dart language. But it is not all that bad. I love how quickly new versions of Java are released. Just 3-4 years ago there was Java 8. Before that, years ago there was Java 7. Now we have the 16th on the way. New versions port the best ideas from other paradigms and languages. Many frameworks are written in Java every day. There are large microservice projects in this language, and there are small, but sincere ones. As for me, it’s easier for juniors to find work now than it was for me six years ago. Yes, no one wants to hire people without commercial experience. Often people start with internships or testing. What do companies need? It is necessary that a person can simply write a form for a website and the user can save the entered information through the form. If you know how to write this from scratch, then you are almost guaranteed to be a junior (all that remains is to learn the template interview questions). For me, Java now looks like a golden place among all possible growth options, both for the market and for specialists.
Vasily Malik, team leader of the JavaRush content team
Java will be in demand for a very long time, because a lot of code is written in it, and any written code must be supported. For example, I have a friend who writes in Fortran - this is a language that was used in the banking industry, it died back in the 80s of the last century. There are still vacancies for it, and developers earn several times more than Javaists, because there are very few of them. Now Java is updated twice a year, previously Java was updated once every two to three years. Frequent updates to Java are made to add newfangled features that are found in other languages. Java is used where interaction between different services is needed and large computing power is needed. Java has an important feature: any new version is fully compatible with the old one. What are the trends in Java development? I think everything is moving towards containerization. Let's imagine, for example, our JavaRush server: many lines of code, many classes, all this is difficult to test. I made, for example, changes in one place, it can affect anything else in another place. This is a disadvantage of large mobile applications. Applications are now trying to be made as small as possible and with fixed interactions between individual parts. That is, instead of one monolith, there can be 10 microservices that can work with each other. Microservices are very easy to write and test. There are situations when a microservice is not fixed, but is written again if a problematic microservice appears. This makes it even faster. Java has many frameworks that allow you to work with microservices. Java's competitor, Python, is developing because Big data is developing and several successful libraries have been written for Python that are used in Big data. Sooner or later, someone will write a successful library for another language, and Python will become less popular.
conclusions
We hope this text has eased your fears of being a newbie. After all, new things are always scary. But there are advantages:
• Jobs for juniors can always be found in big cities, because the offices of large outsourcing companies are located there, which are always in need of “young blood”.
• A starting salary of $800 is a good start.
• Among juniors there are many candidates with superficial knowledge of Java. If you study hard and understand exactly why you want to be a developer, you will get noticed in interviews.
Yes, the lockdown and the end of 2020 made adjustments to the situation on the labor market: there are fewer vacancies for juniors, but the holidays will pass and companies will hire newcomers again.
But this does not mean that the Javas cannot count on higher salaries. The employment service SuperJob conducted an analysis of the salaries of developers in Russia depending on the language in which they write. Judging by the analysis, Java developers can earn from 4 to 7 thousand dollars . In Ukraine, experienced Java developers can expect a salary of $3,500, a JavaRush study showed. 
In terms of salaries, Belarus comes after Ukraine and Russia - an experienced JW player in Minsk is offered $2,200. 
The median salary for juniors, even in Java, is not so high. For example, in 2020, the average salary of new developers in Ukraine was $800 , according to a study by the Dou portal. This applies to developers who write in Java, C and C++. And since this is the median, it is clear that at the start juniors can receive 400-500 dollars. In Moscow, the average salary for a beginner is $1,000, in St. Petersburg — $960, in Minsk — much less, about $500, according to a JavaRush study.
About 75% of juniors from the surveyed companies found work in the top 3 cities: Kyiv, Kharkov and Lviv. At the same time, as the authors of the study note, it is easier for large companies to look for newcomers outside the capital, where competition for talent is lower. As for Russia, it is expected that June has the best chance of finding work in Moscow and St. Petersburg. For example, according to the Headz analytics bot , which analyzes vacancies and resumes from open sources, in Moscow there are 8 candidates for 1 vacancy, in St. Petersburg - 14 to 1. Large companies such as G5 Entertainment, Luxoft, EPAM, are the most friendly to newcomers. Emergn, Mail.Ru Group and ALM Works.
The number of June vacancies is affected by both the end of the year and the second wave of lockdown. “In December, as a rule, fewer developers are looking for, companies are preparing for the holidays. Plus the upcoming lockdown, when it is easier to hire experienced developers who will quickly join the process. In addition, in order to train a newcomer, the company must provide a mentor, and experienced developers are now busy with their projects,” says Anastasia Melnik, HR manager of a fintech product company.
