From barter wages to online interviews across the ocean. The evolution of Ukrainian independent IT hiring: seven stories from the 90s to the present

Next is a chronicle of IT hiring in independent Ukraine through the eyes of specialists from a company that has been hunting IT professionals for over 30 years to create products for the national banking and financial sector and beyond.

1991–2000. Barter, word of mouth, and spontaneous hiring

It is no secret that the first years of independence were a time when recruiting as a profession simply did not exist. Hiring was spontaneous, documentation was a formality, and the main personnel problem remained the emigration of specialists abroad and the general shortage of quality personnel. Word of mouth made it possible to hunt for familiar specialists, bringing your protégé into the business was the norm, a kind of guarantee of the quality of a new employee. And also — commodity salaries — an indispensable and unforgettable sign of that period.

«There was a time when money depreciated every day, and it was often better to get a box of grapes than a salary in coupons»

The team expansion then took place exclusively on personal recommendations. We brought in acquaintances, for whom one of our people had to vouch. An indispensable stage of hiring, as now, was an interview for professional suitability, and only then did we take the person. Sometimes we «lured» good specialists from customers, if this did not create conflicts. There was even a case when a guy just happened to come in, we talked — and took him. But almost no one got in without recommendations.

Sometimes candidates came in «parties» — from the weakest to the strongest, so that the last one would definitely make an impression. And once we hired a person simply at the request of an influential client. It was not the best experience.

There was a time when money depreciated every day, and it was often better to get a box of grapes than a salary in coupons. We paid with cognac from Tiraspol, down scarves, black caviar, grapes from Crimea, even computers. Once we brought tomatoes and grapes directly to the office on Malopodvalna and sold them right there.

It became easier when we finally severed economic ties with the republics of the former USSR and focused only on Ukrainian realities. Stable money appeared, and we could work without barter.

2001-2005. Human resource migration and the need for professional recruitment

In the early 2000s, the borders opened in 1991, but in fact it was a deep crisis, a new trend appeared: internal migration of personnel between companies. This forced business to think about the structure and systematic work with people for the first time. The recruitment market is emerging: the first recruitment agencies and portals appear. The story of hunting begins to become open, people with any education gradually begin to use the services of headhunters. Meanwhile, banks are increasingly investing in IT, and around the same time, competition in the automation of the financial sector is intensifying.

At that time, UNITY-BARS actually began building a system for hiring specialists from scratch.

«A colleague I knew from university said: 'Go to Bars, it will be interesting.' As a result, the transfer gave me about +50% to my salary.»

I was recommended UNITY-BARS by a familiar specialist who worked there. They needed people who understood application systems. I came for an interview — they knew exactly who they were looking for, asked me a few dozen questions, and my knowledge was suitable.

There was no resume as such — I was invited right away, on the authority of the person who recommended me. There were several meetings: first without the director, then with him for the final decision. They didn’t give me any test tasks, only professional questions in my field.

The salary was normal — banks paid a little more back then, but working there didn’t seem that interesting. A colleague I knew from university said, «Go to Bars, it’ll be interesting.» As a result, moving to a commercial company gave me about 50% more than I had at the Treasury.

The team quickly improved my skills. I wasn’t a «star» specialist, but I had enough applied knowledge to get a job. No one called soft skills that back then — but they, plus the authority of my recommender, helped me get into the company.

2006-2010. Betting on cyberneticists

Among the hundreds of lawyers, economists, and philologists of a company with a high-tech product in 2006–2010, one has to look for diamonds among graduates of technical specialties. During this period, says Kaduchenko, computer science, cybersecurity, and engineering were not as popular as management and law. That is why the bulk of the company’s specialists are graduates of the Faculty of Cybernetics of Kyiv Polytechnic Institute and Taras Shevchenko National University. Later, they also began to attract specialists from regional polytechnics (so as not to offend others, because the geography of universities is quite large).

«I didn’t have any professional experience, and that scared me: I had a technical background, but I didn’t know what accounting and banking processes were.»

Back then, it wasn’t so easy to check information about companies — everything was passed on by word of mouth. But the offer was much closer to my specialty than my job at the time. So I agreed to come to the interview without a resume, just to talk. The interview was conducted by Tetyana Aleksandrivna. I didn’t have any professional experience, and that scared me: I had a technical background, but I didn’t know what accounting and banking processes were.

I was given a small test task on SQL. I wrote it, we discussed it. Hard skills were not called that back then, but they checked whether I could quickly figure out something new, even if I didn’t know something specifically. Soft skills were not called that either, but people felt it intuitively.

During the interview, I admitted that I was a little scared by the lack of experience in banking. Tetyana Aleksandrivna replied: «You graduated from cybernetics with honors. There is nothing here that you cannot understand. A person after cybernetics will cope quickly.» And it came true: education provided a basis that allowed me not to be afraid and to figure things out.»

When I arrived, I saw the team — young people my age, there were seven or eight of us — all with a sparkle in their eyes, active, and charged. The older ones, like Tetyana Aleksandrivna, were also completely unlike their «senior colleagues» from other places of work. The atmosphere was so driving and lively that when they came to the topic of money, I didn’t even ask how much I would be paid.

2011-2015. The birth of professional HR

In 2013, the first full-time position of a recruiter appeared at UNITY-BARS. «I was probably the first person who took on the task of not just processing documents, but looking for people,» says Yaroslava Kaduchenko, now the company’s COO. In parallel, communication channels were being built and Western standards were being implemented. These new changes were facilitated by the new owner with experience working at British Airways, Valery Kondakov. «He brought to Ukraine approaches that seemed like outer space at the time — transparent processes, competency assessment, systematicity, and working for results,» notes Yaroslava.

If the UNITY-BARS company started with 40 people, then in the period 2011–2019 the staff has already grown to 150 people. The company emphasizes: there is no specialist at UNITY-BARS who is accidental, everyone undergoes both software interviews and technical interviews at a high level.

«I was probably the first one to bring a printed resume. We didn’t discuss the salary at all: I only found out about it when I received the first advance.»

I may have been the first to bring a printed resume. I’m not sure if anyone read it, but there were 3-4 managers from different departments at the interview. Questions flew from all sides. Even preparation didn’t save me: there were questions I didn’t know the answer to, and I had to dodge. But the atmosphere was so pleasant that after the interview I realized that this is where I wanted to work. What I remember most from the first interview was the question: «Why is the manhole round?» We didn’t discuss the salary at all: I only found out about it when I received the first advance payment.

Tatyana Aleksandrivna then said: «Don’t look at the starting salary. Tomorrow it will be more. It all depends on your diligence and growth.» And it really worked. I have been working in the company for 14 years. Of course, sometimes thoughts arose: what’s there, behind the «fence»? But there was always an interesting project that dragged on and didn’t let go.

2016–2018. IT hype and new HR approaches

This is the time when a real IT hype has begun in Ukraine. Everyone wants to be in IT: IT giants are already working in the industry, a wave of unjustified «migration» of employees is beginning. Each company is trying to find a specialist who would have both leadership qualities and technical knowledge to not only perform tasks, but also manage teams.

At this time, new clients are being added, with whom you need to speak not only the language of IT, but also a language that they understand — and at the same time be able to translate their needs to developers.

This period is a time of crazy staff turnover. Job sites, LinkedIn are working, contracts are being concluded with universities to attract graduates. But the best have already been «taken» by large and well-known players, and international companies are flooding candidates with «buns» and high dollar rates. This heats up the market and in the long run has a negative effect.

«Although I received offers from startups with technologies closer to my stack and similar salaries, I chose UNITY-BARS»

In 2015–2017, the IT field was becoming more and more popular, and I decided to try my hand at it. In 2017, I signed up for IT courses at DAN-IT, which, by the way, were held on the floor above my then office. These were courses in full-stack development — frontend and backend. The training lasted 10–12 months, and my goal was to become a developer.

After the courses, I started actively looking for a job, went to many interviews, including at UNITY-BARS, which cooperated with DAN.IT. At the first interview at UNITY-BARS, I was tested on technical questions, but I could not answer most of them. Firstly, I had no commercial experience, and secondly, the technologies I studied were significantly different from those used in the company.

I was offered a position as a junior development engineer at UNITY-BARS. Although I received offers from startups with technologies closer to my stack and similar salaries, I chose UNITY-BARS. I was attracted by the scale of the company and its field — fintech, which I had always been interested in since the time I chose my major at university, when I considered banking. It was a perfect match between my aspirations and opportunities.

After accepting the offer, it turned out that my role was different from what I had stated. Instead of development, I started working on other tasks, and later moved to an administrative position. Now I am the head of a department in a certain direction at UNITY-BARS.

UNITY-BARS was already looking for specific people for specific roles, using all possible search methods: from job boards and LinkedIn to posting ads at bus stops. International practices are being implemented — competency models, grades and OKRs. Competition for specialists with international IT companies is fierce. And that’s when a professional recruiting department is formed at UNITY-BARS, which is engaged in the selection and onboarding of qualified specialists according to requests for specific projects, technology stacks, and roles.

«I came for an introductory meeting with the RM to „hand over“ things even before official employment»

The communication between the managers was constructive, and I remember that they asked me a lot of technical questions. After a short pause, so that both I and the employer could think about whether we wanted to cooperate, we discussed the terms of cooperation in detail — the release date, the amount of remuneration, the format of the work, KPIs, etc. I came to an introductory meeting with the RM to «hand over the cases» even before the official employment. I plunged into the work literally from the first days. At first, the team helped a lot to ensure that the operational tasks for CorpLight did not stop.

Then he began to adjust and change work processes on his own initiative.

2019-2020. Inclusion and the fight against ageism

During this period, the company also began to actively work with candidates with disabilities, inspired by the initiative of the current NBU Chairman Andriy Pyshny.

«We decided then that there was no reason why a person with disabilities couldn’t be part of our team,» says Yaroslava.

The launch of programs for people 50+ was another step — in partnership with the Zhittelyub Foundation, the company began to return experienced specialists to the market.

2019–2022. Speed ​​and technology

Covid turned the job market upside down in 2020. Interviews, onboarding, and meetings moved to Microsoft Teams. UNITY-BARS, which already had several remote employees, quickly adapted to online recruiting, although recruiters were not yet ready for mass remote work.

Covid has added a new role to recruiters — psychologists. In addition to assessing skills, they have begun to support candidates in stressful situations. UNITY-BARS had to expand its HR staff to cope with conversations about mental health and adaptation to remote work. Covid has reminded us that lack of movement and isolation are harmful to health. IT companies have begun to pay more attention to mental support.

This period for the company is a time of experimentation with the selection format. Already, group interviews in an overheated market were gathering 100 candidates, who underwent both technical selection and blitz interviews for soft skills in one day.

At the same time, UNITY-BARS began testing AI in recruiting, but cautiously: «Artificial intelligence quickly creates a template, and we work with people, not templates.»

Meanwhile, the company faced another problem. Before the war, the average age of PL/SQL developers exceeded 47 years — and this became a risk. So UNITY-BARS launched internal educational programs. Over time, educational programs became the norm for IT companies.

«We focused on growing our students and bringing them to the right level within the company,» explains Yaroslava.

However, the situation was significantly complicated by the full-scale invasion. «The beginning of the full-scale war was a blow to the team — some of the key specialists went to the front voluntarily. This is the elite that has no right to die, because everything depends on them,» Yaroslava admits. One of the mobilized even answered a call from colleagues on the project with the words: «I’ll shoot now and call back.»

«It seemed like I was constantly saying, 'I don’t know,' or giving superficial answers. I left feeling like I had failed everything.»

At the end of the courses, we did a technical assignment — it was actually a technical interview with our teacher. Out of 60 people, only about 40 completed the assignment, and I wanted to stand out. Then I was invited to a soft skills interview.

I was preparing for the «classic» questions about my strengths, but I got a few from a domain area that I wasn’t very familiar with. It seemed like I was constantly saying, «I don’t know,» or answering superficially. I left thinking I had failed everything. But a few days later I received a message: the company wants to continue the journey with me. And now I’ve been here for a year and two months.

2023-2025. What is the company doing now?

The company currently has an HR department of 7 specialists.

The company now has the status of a critical enterprise and, in accordance with the law, reserves 50% of its employees. «This has become the key to maintaining the stability of work,» Kaduchenko admits.

During the first two years of the war, UNITY-BARS advocated maximum flexibility and a mixed work format. But now the company is returning the emphasis to the office. «Creating banking and financial systems during wartime is not just a technological task. It is a matter of national stability, responsibility and trust. Every engineer today works with the awareness that not only the result for the customer, but also the ability of the Ukrainian financial system to withstand pressure depends on his decision. In conditions of constant risks and challenges, we cannot afford to be relaxed or disjointed. That is why we are returning the emphasis to office work: it provides speed of synchronization, mobility in decision-making and collective responsibility for the result,» says Kaduchenko.

According to her, the company works as a single mechanism that minimizes risks and guarantees stability, because in the world of finance, trust is built over years, but can be lost in seconds. «And during war, this trust becomes a strategic value that we have no right to let down,» notes Yaroslava.

The company is also moving towards achieving gender balance — currently the team is 60% men and 40% women.

According to her, UNITY-BARS, which previously, like many other companies, had a taboo against hiring those who had resigned, now gladly accepts them — with new experience and a new vision. In turn, Yaroslava Kaduchenko does not hide that she goes to interviews to see what the market is like.

In general, the company has dozens of specialists who, having gone to «see a different life,» returned with new knowledge and stayed. And this is, of course, a great strength of the company.

For those who want to join the Leopards team

UNITY-BARS has created a competency map for specialists so that everyone who plans to apply here understands what technologies they will have to work with.

And here, they ask each candidate a non-trivial question during the interview. The answer to this question allows recruiters to obtain information about the candidate not only as a technical specialist, but also as a person.

IT professionals are used to the idea that the main thing is to write code well. But in the world of banking technologies, this is not enough. To gain a foothold in this area, you will have to go beyond the boundaries of classic IT: figure out how banking works, study the legislation, understand the logic of financial institutions. Because here, every mistake is not a bug in a demo, but a risk to money, reputation, and the future of entire companies.

For an IT professional, this is a challenge: to improve yourself so that your code doesn’t just work, but also retains the trust of millions of users. Therefore, those who work in this field are not just virgins, but a mix of programmers, financiers, and lawyers in one person.

Do you dream of working at UNITY-BARS? You’re here