IT courses: how do employers perceive IT courses?
The pandemic’s sharp increase in IT salaries has made workers in other sectors think about retraining. Sales managers, customer service specialists, lawyers and other professionals have started to take an interest in the IT sector. The usual route, an IT bachelor’s degree at university, seemed rather obscure – many non-IT professionals could not even get into such a course, and once enrolled, they were faced with an intense four years. As the need for IT courses emerged, many IT course companies started to operate.
For those who wanted to retrain, a six-month IT academy or an intensive four-month IT course proved to be the shortest and fastest route to a higher salary as a programmer, tester or analyst. However, like most shortcuts, cutting corners comes with a downside. We talk to Karolis Blaževičius, Managing Partner of staffing firm Indigroup, about these pros and cons.
How do employers perceive a candidate who has completed an IT course?
“It depends on the competition in the IT job market. In 2023 and early 2024, the IT job market in Lithuania was still quite hot. The demand for programmers, testers or analysts was higher than the supply of candidates. In this case, employers had to ask themselves: is it better to stay without an additional programmer or to hire a junior IT graduate and try to grow him or her? This situation has meant that some of the candidates who graduated from IT courses and IT academies have indeed joined well-respected IT employers.” When asked what he envisages for 2025 for IT graduates, K. Blaževičius replies: “IT courses alone will no longer be enough.”
“The second half of 2024 and 2025 have certainly shown and will continue to show that the job market for IT professionals, like all other markets, is not infinite. As investment in IT, especially in start-ups, has shrunk, the number of job vacancies has fallen. This has meant that employers now have more choice when looking for candidates, and an IT graduate from a university or college has an advantage over a candidate with no experience from an IT course or IT academy.”
K. Blaževičius asked whether it is worth retraining in IT at all. “As I am responsible for both professional and managerial recruitment projects, I have a lot of contact with candidates who are looking to move into IT without any experience. The problem is that people have this vision that IT courses offer some kind of guarantee. If in 2023 they did give, say, a 50% chance of getting a job in IT, then in 2024 and, in my prediction, 2025, I would put the chance at at least double that. In any case, even this is not bad, given that a person has studied for half a year and has a real chance of becoming an IT professional”, said Karolis Blaževičius.
Is it worth starting an IT course in 2025 then?
“If you manage to adjust your expectations, then it is worth it. My recommendation: if you can, combine the IT course with your current job and try to find a job as a programmer, tester or other job while working in the same position you had before you started the IT course. This route, although very time-consuming, guarantees that you will have a steady source of income from a field you know, while at the same time being able to try your hand at IT. Unfortunately, we find that some people dive headfirst into IT courses and quit their current job, which they know well. Then, after not finding a new job in IT for a few months, they start to feel anxious and stressed. This only further complicates employability – in recruitment years, desperation in a candidate’s actions will be noticed and such candidates will be more carefully evaluated. So, I suggest not to take risks and always have a back-up option.”
Which IT course to choose?
K. Blaževičius mentioned that he hears this question from candidates almost every day, so he has a clear advice. First of all, many beginners get stuck into programming and specifically IT programming courses, which is not easy – it requires a lot of work and knowledge. Most good programmers started programming at 14 or even earlier, so understand and assess your competitive position in such a job market. There are also many IT positions where you don’t need to be a programmer or where there is little programming. These roles include, for example, manual QA, graphic design, IT incident management, IT analytics, etc. I’m not saying that I want to discourage everyone from becoming a programmer, but a broader view of IT will help you to make a better choice of IT courses.”
What is the difference between IT courses, coding training, IT academies and traditional computer science studies?
“There is a big difference, it’s hard to know where to start. First of all, the various IT training courses, coding courses, etc. usually do not require an exam to start learning. Therefore, the level of IT knowledge of peers in the various IT academies is below that of regular IT studies at universities. Second is the duration of the training. Whereas, for example, a computer science degree at a VU lasts 4 years, IT training often lasts up to half a year or a year at most. The third point is the difference between practice and theory. As recruiters, we notice a lack of theoretical knowledge in the performance of candidates who have completed IT courses. This is because in that short period of time they try to pass on as much practical IT knowledge as possible, and there is not much time for theory. Personally, I suggest taking a broader view of IT courses – they really help you to understand whether you see yourself as a programmer, tester, IT analyst, or any other position. If you do – great! Then you can continue with the course or even go to university later on. These courses are definitely a good start for entering the IT waters and a good self-test”, said Karolis Blaževičius, Partner at Indigroup.
