Yana Dmitrieva and Tatyana Provorova of recruitment company Antal International walk The Leader through the wild, wired world of Russian information technology — and explain what aspiring job applicants can do to get plugged into it.

The Leader: What is the current situation in the IT and telecoms recruitment market in Moscow?

Antal International: Orders from the IT and telecom sectors accounted for 30 percent of Antal International’s workload in Moscow in the year 2000, and this speaks for itself.

The situation in the sector’s labor market has not changed: CEOs, commercial directors, account managers, channel managers and sales agents remain in demand, which exceeds supply in the applied spheres (Web developers, Web designers, programmers, etc.). Meanwhile, IT and telecom companies have begun to pay increasing attention to marketing, even though professionals in this sphere are scarce. This problem can be partially solved by luring marketing specialists from adjacent sectors.

Similarly, contracting has only just starting to develop in Russia, whereas it is very popular in Europe and North America. We have a group of people out on contracting jobs; they travel a lot. Many spend a total of seven to eight months away from home a year.

The Leader: Do you expect some problems in the IT sector related to the fall of the NASDAQ?

Antal International: The fall of the NASDAQ is having some influence, but it would be hard to predict an actual crash. Although, many of our clients are international companies and some of them have shed a great number of people on an international level.

Despite the disappointments in e-commerce felt in Russia, as in Europe and America, the number of e-commerce specialists working here has increased in comparison to last year, when they were in short supply. Interesting and sophisticated projects have been launched that have stimulated the professional growth of these specialists.

The Leader: Are there many more men than women in the business?

Antal International:
Women, however, even those with a technical education, work mainly in sales or marketing positions and very few have climbed to the top positions. With some exception there are practically no women among technical specialists.

Of course, there are reasons for men being favored. For example, the position of business-development manager/director involves frequent trips. The work also involves long hours of traveling. Women are likely to find this hard to juggle with family responsibilities, whereas we have several unmarried men who travel a lot and they love it.

The Leader: Are people who work in IT often stereotyped as nerds?

Antal International: The image of an IT employee as a "four-eyes in jeans and a sweater" has long since become a thing of the past. The IT and telecoms sector are prestigious areas of work, where skilled and smart specialists are needed. Such specialists are well-paid, especially in foreign companies — and this, of course, influences how they dress.

The Leader: What kind of difficulties do you encounter in recruiting IT specialists?

Antal International: There may be some specific problems, such as people’s inability to speak English, which is a common weak point among technical specialists. A lot of professionals are over 30 and when they were studying at the institute, it wasn’t common for them to learn English to a high level. They know the professional computer languages in English, but they can’t communicate.

The Leader: What are the vacancies that you fill most often?

Antal International: Those for account, sales and project managers. We don’t deal with entry-level positions, only with middle- and top-level ones. We deal with positions such as: account managers, solution consultants, and implementation and application consultants.

The Leader: What is the most difficult vacancy to fill?

Antal International: Recruitment for Internet specialists is difficult because there is no specific Internet training in Russia. Those with the best experience get it abroad. It is also difficult because Internet startups are not prepared to pay good money. Recruitment for Internet specialists is also difficult because it is tough to evaluate the success of someone’s track record, given that it’s such a new industry.

The Leader: When did recruitment in the IT industry really kick-off in Russia?

Antal International: The biggest growth in the IT job market occurred around 1997 and 1998, just before the [1998 financial] crisis. Afterwards, a lot of IT specialists relocated to Europe and North America, where there was a lot of demand for them. We placed some with jobs ourselves.

The Leader: What kind of background would you recommend for someone going into IT?

Antal International: An undergraduate degree in computer science from an establishment such as the Bauman Technical University, or the Moscow Institute of Physics and Engineering (MFTI) would be helpful. MGU is especially good for cybernetics.

But other than that, the kind of certificates needed depends upon the specialization. The big five audit firms offer good training, both here and abroad. So do many large IT firms. For instance, IBM and Microsoft provide good training. Of course, the specific kinds of training depend upon whether the person wants to be a consultant, or a systems administrator, for example.

English is a must in IT in a foreign company; consultants also need to have the right attitude. They need to be able to communicate easily (especially when dealing with clients) and have a willingness to help and teach.