“They revealed a big secret to me that in IT you can do more than just code...

rabiarahi

– Today, you can see a trend that many people are moving to the IT sphere from completely opposite fields. Tell us, what did you do before the courses?

– I have never had a work record. After graduating from Moscow State Linguistic University, I began teaching English, but these were always private initiatives: courses, tutoring, etc. At the same time, I worked at the National School of Beauty, taught fashion shows. After, in the same position, I moved to work at a private school. There were children's groups there. It was difficult, I will not hide it. Later, a group for adults opened, but only in a different school. It was a joy for the soul. Classes were not held often, but when we came there, we merged into one big clot of energy, and it brought pleasure.

The pandemic period really hit the recruitment of groups, they became less in demand. Everything began to move online. Some were happy with this, but others were not. At some point, earnings began to go to the minimum level.

I guess I was lucky. At that time, my colleague opened her own private school for corporate English teaching, where she invited me. Since I lived in another city, I had to get up at 4:50 every time to come to the office. But the groups I worked with were so cool and motivated that it outweighed all the negativity.


– Why did you change your career so drastically?

– I agree. Teaching and IT are parallel fields. One of the factors that influenced my career change was psychological. At some point, I realized that I no longer had the resources. I worked quite hard, I only had one day off, which was not enough to rest, switch off, and devote time to myself and my family.

Since I did not work under the employment contract, I did not have a vacation. And if I do not work, then, accordingly, I do not earn anything. It also happened that my husband did not work for a long time. We had one source of income - my teaching.

When I decided to change something, I did not have a clear plan. My friend suggested the idea of ​​IT courses to me. I had a lot of doubts, because this is a completely different world in which I do not social media marketing service understand anything. At that time, she revealed a big secret that in IT you can not only code, there are many other areas in which you can prove yourself. That's how I found out about HR. About a year passed from the moment of the conversation to the moment of making the final decision.

– Before taking the courses, did you encounter any stereotypes about HR?

– Yes, I encountered the opinion that HR does not require any courses. Many were even surprised that it is necessary to study for this. They told me: “You have a foreign language degree. Go to an interview, they will hire you right away.” Then I decided to open vacancies and see what requirements the employer has for candidates. And I realized that I do not understand anything and I cannot do without courses. I trusted the advice of a developer friend and took courses at TeachMeSkills.


– Tell me, how did the training go?

– I was very happy when I saw that there are online courses. This format was the most convenient and acceptable for me.

At first we had a course on recruiting, and then there was a part on PR. I did not know anything about this area, I was surprised that even within HR there is a large field for development and choice. The information was presented to us in a very accessible way, in our language, without any memorized terminology. Everything was so accessible and comfortable that the three hours of classes passed in one breath. It was not monotonous, only modern, interesting and understandable. And when we were told how to figure out the candidate's email when it is not listed on GitHub, my classmates and I felt a little like hackers.


- At the end of each course, our students defend their diploma projects. What were the expectations? And what turned out to be in reality?

- And I immediately had flashbacks from university. I thought that it would be the same here: a committee, a bunch of incomprehensible text and scary questions. But everything was absolutely not like that.

The diploma project consisted of two parts, since the course itself was divided into two parts - the first on recruiting, the second on PR. Doing homework as it came, we put together a part of our diploma project on PR. There was a role-playing game on recruiting at the end of the course. We were divided into pairs, where one was a recruiter and the other was a candidate. The task was to play out the entire interview process. We also made a presentation. We were given a type of development, and we had to figure out which candidate would suit this or that task.


– Probably the most painful issue for students is finding a job. What was the most difficult for you personally?

–My job search started during the courses. I started responding to vacancies and found out that without experience, no one needs you. It was emotionally difficult to receive rejections. But this is natural, so do not despair. Even in the negative, you can find advantages and gain some knowledge. For example, I realized how not to work as a recruiter. So, many left their applications unanswered after they learned about my background, which I did not yet have at that time. There was also such a situation that the interview, which took place online, was so oppressive and uncomfortable that after it was over, I wanted to get a rejection more than an invitation to work.