Хочете будувати кар’єру в Data Science та AI? Vodafone Big Data Lab відкриває новий набір —>
Марія БровінськаУвійти в ІТ
19 August 2026, 09:18
2026-08-19
A schoolgirl wants to work in IT, but doesn't know what to become. Recruiters and engineers advise on which profession to choose: a discussion on LinkedIn
A serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Igor Vsyachenkov, asked the IT community to advise him on which major and university to choose for his daughter, who is deciding on her future profession this year. She has a B2 in English, an art school, QA Engineer courses, and an interest in IT. In a few hours, the post collected dozens of comments from recruiters, engineers, and managers. What do you advise?
A serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Igor Vsyachenkov, asked the IT community to advise him on which major and university to choose for his daughter, who is deciding on her future profession this year. She has a B2 in English, an art school, QA Engineer courses, and an interest in IT. In a few hours, the post collected dozens of comments from recruiters, engineers, and managers. What do you advise?
Vsyachenkov noted that he does not want to reduce the choice to the formula «IT = programming.» Among the options, the family is considering Lviv Polytechnic, specialties related to IT, UX/UI and QA, as well as studying abroad. And mathematics is not the girl’s strong point, the military man admitted.
«It’s interesting to hear real-life experiences: what really helped you in your career, and what turned out to be just a diploma for the sake of a diploma? The opinion of people who hire junior specialists is especially interesting,» he wrote.
One of the first responses was advice to look at the Internet of Things at Lviv Polytechnic. CTO and Engineering Manager Petro Sasnyk called this specialty one of the best in Ukrainian IT and noted that it once became a model for updating other programs.
At the same time, he noted that the GoIT courses the girl took were unlikely to be of significant importance for admission or future employment.
IT recruiter Viktoriya Kaminska suggested not focusing on QA and UI/UX. «As a recruiter, I wouldn’t recommend QA or UI/UX, there’s a lot of competition there now,» she wrote. Instead, she advised paying attention to Data Engineering. According to her, the field is promising, and the competition among good specialists there is lower. She called cybersecurity another option, especially if the girl is interested in Linux, networks, cloud, and Kubernetes.
Other panelists also suggested Project Management, Product Management, and Business Analysis.
HR manager Natalia Kovalchyn noted that mathematics is not the main requirement for PM. Instead, English is critical, which opens up the opportunity to work with foreign clients. In her opinion, starting in PM, in particular in an agency, can give a broad horizon: in a few years, a specialist works with different clients, niches and types of projects and can understand which direction suits him best.
The comments repeatedly expressed the opinion that schoolgirls do not have to immediately choose a specific profession.
Business Analyst Yulia Garachankova advised considering Business Analysis and simultaneously experimenting with artificial intelligence — from working with prompts to creating your own applications and AI agents.
Other experts advised first trying different areas in practice: programming, QA, design, analytics, and other specialties, before spending several years studying one of them.
Commentators in particular drew attention toEnglish. B2 with a C1 perspective was considered a serious advantage by the participants in the discussion, regardless of the specific IT field.
Opinions on the value of a diploma were divided. Some experts believe that in IT, employers primarily look at practical skills, experience and projects, and not at the name of the university. One commentator gave the example of a student who left university and found his first job through independent study. At the same time, others emphasized that university is not just a diploma. It can provide a mathematical and engineering base, an environment, professional contacts and the opportunity to find your first mentors.
Among the specific options, in addition to Lviv Polytechnic, the discussion mentioned the Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics of the Kyiv National University, as well as universities in Slovakia, in particular in Košice. The author of the post himself noted that the family is already considering Slovakia as one of the options.
One of the developers advised the schoolgirl not to focus on a specific programming language, but to develop an engineering mindset and immediately learn to work with AI tools. Other participants in the discussion emphasized the importance of fundamental knowledge — mathematics, algorithms, programming, and understanding how technologies work «under the hood.»
