Most wanted employees: there are still not enough future specialists studying in universities

According to Marija Vaičiulytė-Balčė, HR Manager at credit risk assessment and information solutions company “TransUnion” (former “Callcredit”), the demand for these specialists continuously grow both in Lithuania and the whole world. “As we live in times of technologies, Lithuanian universities are not yet able to meet that demand and prepare sufficient number of specialists; besides, they do not have enough study programs to prepare specialists of some specific fields”, says she. Meanwhile, the number of IT companies and services centres gradually grow in Lithuania, and in turn more specialists are needed to work there.

Company’s culture is the best motivation

M. Vaičiulytė-Balčė says that the biggest challenge yet remains to attract specialists to particular company. “IT specialists market in Lithuania is quite limited which means that any IT company probably will face quite a challenge in finding exceptional specialists (e.g. QA testers) in the Lithuanian market”, the HR Manager says.

IT specialists who are to start their careers say that the main factors determining which employer to choose are a good working environment, salary and available opportunities of development as well as career opportunities in the company. Vytautas Jurkevičius, Programmer at Kaunas Division of “TransUnion”, tells that several years ago, when he decided to work in the IT sector, the main reason why he chose this position was the average salary of programmer. “Obviously, opportunities to develop my skills in the company, the technologies used there, company’s culture and friends’ recommendations were also important aspects determining my decision to work in this company”, says he.

Meanwhile, Rūta Pociūtė, working as a tester at “TransUnion”, tells a slightly different story. At first she worked in a different field, but having considered the opportunities offered in the IT field, she decided to change her profession. “Since school, I have always wanted to work in IT field, but eventually I chose a different path. However, it was not difficult to come back and fulfil my former dreams. I wanted to work in IT field, because I see so much potential there”, tells the tester.

Nevertheless, there are some things which can become either a challenge or an insoluble problem to a fresh IT specialist; the result depends on his personality, motivation, attitude to work and responsibility level. A student might find it challenging to combine work, studies and free time, whereas individualists will have to accept that most of the work in the IT field is done while working in a team. “I am rather an introvert person, so it was really difficult to get over myself and ask for advice from colleagues”, says V. Jurkevičius.

Potential employees are still attending school

According to Marija Vaičiulytė-Balčė, HR Manager at “TransUnion”, the business sector must take initiative and start active communication with universities, telling them about their needs, jointly preparing study programs and sharing their experience with students. “In order to meet business needs in the future, it is high time to start educating school pupils as well, provide them with knowledge and help them in choosing their future paths. As the IT sector is continuously growing, we started exploring other markets and specialists therein as well, and this tendency will certainly grow in the future”, says M. Vaičiulytė-Balčė.

In addition to being the IT and science centre of Lithuania, in recent years Kaunas is also becoming the perfect location for services centres, providing a base to lots of qualified IT specialists. Thus, those who dream of future career in the IT area, should have this place in mind.