Major League: do I need a diploma to work in IT

Almost two-thirds of Russians (64%) do not work in a specialty they received at a college or university. Most of the modern artificial intelligence (AI) specialists in the world are self-taught and did not graduate from the relevant faculties in universities. At the same time, according to the study , only 14% of the students surveyed are satisfied with university programs in this area and are sure that the information they receive on the development of AI is quite enough to successfully pass interviews, and almost 40% of respondents believe that irrelevant information is given in universities. It would seem that all these facts indicate that a higher education diploma in the field of information technology is turning into an unnecessary artifact. But not everything is so clear.

Indeed, the very fact of having a higher education does not determine the professionalism of an IT specialist. However, it has serious advantages. Programs in IT departments at universities provide students with fundamental basic knowledge. It is on the basis of such a strong academic base that high-class specialists grow up, who are valued all over the world. Also, studying at a university in itself contributes to the development of a person’s culture and systemic thinking, which is important in the field of IT.

University students have the opportunity to take part in IT competitions organized by companies (olympiads, championships and hackathons), which can be the first step in a career in IT. For example, it is not uncommon for students who are winners and prize-winners of IT championships on the All Cups platform to receive offers from employers.

Also at the university you can directly and for free study with a future employer. For students, specialized educational courses, programs and even entire faculties from companies – market leaders are created.

Getting additional education in the IT field today is already almost a basic need. At the same time, here, as in Lewis Carroll’s Wonderland, “you need to run as fast just to stay in place, and to get somewhere, you need to run at least twice as fast.” The standard scenario of life, when you first get a secondary education, then a higher education, after receiving a diploma you get a good job and forget about studying until your children go to school, it has not been working here for a long time.

The reality is that, on average, all universities produce specialists that meet the average level of professional requirements of the entire market, including non-core organizations that also need IT specialists. With such a background and lack of real practice, it is quite difficult to apply for a job in a large well-known corporation immediately after graduation.

In addition, many of the knowledge gained at a university becomes obsolete rather quickly – educational standards simply do not keep up with the rapidly changing IT industry.

Therefore, in parallel with studying at a university, students should deepen their knowledge and improve their skills on their own, incl. in additional courses – for example, on online platforms or at employers of which they want to become a part in the future. Business, including us, offers a lot of opportunities for this – both offline and online.

You still have to study additionally if a person wants the best for himself – to get into the best company, get the best job, have the best conditions for this job. If you start while still in your junior years at a university, you can not only save a lot of time, but also go to defend your diploma with a permanent job.

Moreover, not only beginners, but also already established specialists with extensive experience need to continuously improve their knowledge in the field of IT. “Run at least twice as fast” will always be necessary.

There are both long-term programs on the market that involve training for several months or even years, as well as intensive programs that allow you to get the most useful information and refresh your knowledge in just a few weeks or days. But the latter have a drawback: students do not have time to deeply comprehend the information and formulate questions. In longer courses, teachers can answer additional questions if something is not clear, give feedback and evaluate student progress, for example, through homework and final work.

When an IT company launches an educational program at a university and starts training specialists of a certain profile, it first of all solves its business problem: at a given moment in time, it needs such professionals.

However, students of such courses also benefit from such initiatives – they have serious chances to get a job in a company after graduation, and universities – their graduates become more in demand and achieve high results in their careers, thereby glorifying their alma mater and often returning to it for new graduates to solve their own problems, and the rest of the market: firstly, it receives new qualified specialists, and secondly, it rarely happens that the demand for a particular profession grows sharply only in one individual company – usually it either already correlates with the needs of other companies, or the company creates a new trend in the market, which will soon be followed by others.

For the company, an important factor is the fact that as a result it receives not only professional, but also loyal employees. Even if after completing the courses they choose another employer, it is highly likely that after a while they will return to the company even more qualified and in demand, while being aware of its role in their career at the start.

The very presence of a company in a leading university is not only an opportunity to widely present its employer-brand (translated from English as “employer brand”)and get access to the best students. This allows, first of all, to support and influence education, develop research areas and transfer knowledge to future generations. Who, how and what teaches at the university today depends on what country and with whom we will live tomorrow. The university has always been one of the most sustainable social institutions, and therefore any business that is looking to the future will always need support and synergies with universities.