In 2024, 1,122 graduates of Mate academy, an online IT academy, took their first step in their careers by starting to work in junior positions. Here are the key figures and insights to show how their story before the offer unfolded compared to last year .
In 2024, 1,122 graduates of Mate academy, an online IT academy, took their first step in their careers by starting to work in junior positions. Here are the key figures and insights to show how their story before the offer unfolded compared to last year .
The two largest age groups choosing IT are 16–24 years old (50%) and 25–34 years old (39%). But it is also possible to start the path to an IT profession at 35+: 35–45 years old — 10%, 46+ — 1%. It is these groups that have experienced a partial increase compared to 2023.
Men still predominate among graduates, their share is 67%, while women make up 33%.
The time to get a job has increased to three months, but this now requires fewer submissions — 220 instead of 270 last year. On average, every 11th review leads to a test task. Typically, graduates complete 20 tests, after which they undergo final interviews at 5 companies.
Compared to the previous year, Python graduates received the largest increase in their starting salary. Their starting compensation now averages $757, which is 34% more than last year. The following situation is observed in other specialties: Java — $658, Frontend — $591, QA — $581, UI/UX — $573.
The choice of specialists still gravitates towards remote vacancies — among graduates, 69% work remotely, and 31% from the office.
82% of graduates found work in Ukraine, with the top three cities being Kyiv (24%), Lviv (12%), and Kharkiv (6%). Despite the difficult situation in the city due to frequent massive shelling by the aggressor country, the Kharkiv IT center is being replenished with new specialists.
Among the main reasons cited by Mate academy students as incentives for studying for IT professions, the opportunity to work online is the leading one (48%). This is also reflected in the fact that the number of accepted offers for remote work has also increased this year (+8%). In second and third place, respectively, are financial stability (32%) and self-development (20%).
English language proficiency remains an important advantage for building a career in IT. This year, the percentage of graduates with higher levels increased — Upper-Intermediate 19,1% (+8%), Advanced (+0.9%). The group with the Intermediate level is still the largest — 49,1%.
