In 2023, we have 15 Сompetence Сenters, which help our colleagues master new tools and methodologies, gain a qualification and acquire certificates, sign new contracts, and widen partnerships in existing accounts.
This article will give you an idea of how this system works using the example of the Data Сompetence Сenter.
What Does a Competence Center Do?
Initially, any Сompetence Сenter builds up around collaboration with clients. Architects, expert-level developers, and project managers join their effort with sales, engagement, and account management teams on R&D, presale, solution design, and proposal preparation. As always, the general target of such a unit is understanding clients' business goals and tailoring specific technical solutions for their problems.
Another field covered by competence centers is education and knowledge sharing, which also presumes to raise technical communities. DataArt always regarded exchanging experience and assistance from senior colleagues as one of its core benefits. But at the time of rapid growth, we felt the need to institutionalize the process and plan the development of our specialists together with them. The Competence Center is where we can adjust and reconcile our colleagues’ and clients’ needs, and we see it as the natural aim for any IT consultancy offering offshore software development.
Meri Sargsyan, Marketing Coordinator in Data Competence Center:
"We dedicate to developing and enhancing our employees' skills, knowledge, and abilities. This approach ensures every employee has the necessary skills and expertise to meet the organization's and its clients' needs. Such units also do internal promotions, webinars, and other activities to ensure that employees have the opportunity to develop their skills and advance their careers within the company."
The Data Сompetence Сenter brings together over 30 active participants, i.e., speakers, lecturers and authors, advisors and consultants, mentors, and recruiters. Of course, most work part-time, as they are involved in projects with clients.
What Can I Get from a Competence Center?
We have around 200 Data specialists in DataArt, and any of them can use the advantages of our Competence service. Some of the latter are also available for people interested in switching to Data or acquiring additional knowledge about it when demanded in their projects (for example, we have recent cases of people switching to Data Engineers from Python development).
1. Learn with Mentorship Program or Become a Mentor
We started a special Data mentorship program only five months ago, but about 80 specialists have already passed through it. It helps employees study trending technologies in their free time or when they are on the bench. Any colleague can join the program as a mentee; it is enough to have a stable interest in Data technologies. Depending on a mentee's goals, the program can have various shapes and call for different immersion depths.
Ilya Moshkov, Senior Data Engineer, Technical Architect, Data Competence mentor, and lecturer:
If colleagues want to plan and boost self-development, we can choose the "Career Advice" session. When they need to work on knowledge structure and gaps, we recommend a full mentorship program. It contains lectures, exercises, one-on-one sessions, and a final assessment. We also usually stick to this format with people upskilling their qualifications while waiting for a project."
DataArt's 'People first' principle works perfectly well with our mentorship program, and we tailor the schedule to distribute the educational load and not ruin the work-life balance.
When choosing particular technologies and tools, we look at those applicable to current projects in DataArt (usually, they align with the mainstream stack most popular in the labor market). Then we estimate the learning effort, compare it to the possible value this newly acquired knowledge can provide, and make up a list of things to learn. First, we pick up the most promising and accessible items, i.e., those around which we have more materials and bigger communities.
However, we had cases when a mentee (usually a well-experienced engineer) wanted to learn a specific technology different from the most popular ones. We still help when we have a suitable mentor, and we believe it will pay back one day.
Mentors receive financial bonuses from the Competence, but other participation reasons seem more appealing for devoted engineers. Besides the teaching and consultancy experience, mentoring allows for revising accumulated knowledge and finding some bottlenecks.
Ilya Moshkov, Data Competence mentor and lecturer, "When you try to explain something to another specialist, you structure your experience much better. Sometimes mentees can ask tricky questions that you cannot answer at once. You have to look it up; thus, education works both ways."
2. Exchange Knowledge at DnA Talks
DnA Talks are webinars our data specialists give to their colleagues. This way of knowledge sharing is a large part of the Competence job, which helps build a technical community. Now we have one such presentation per week on average.
Ilya Moshkov, Data Competence mentor and lecturer:
"We have a presentation first and a discussion afterward. Details vary and depend much on the topic. We usually go through features, cases, issues, and workarounds if it is deeply technical. We have more of the lecturing part and some implementation samples if it deals with methodology or approach."
The audience also varies, but the average number of attendants is 25–30 people. Some topics can attract, for example, developers working with clouds alongside data engineers. Such meetings create space for communication between colleagues of different levels and backgrounds, significantly benefiting Junior and Middle listeners. But it also makes sense for the specialists who prepare the talks, helping them systemize their experience.
Often a presentation can give a smooth start to an article. With the help of the Data Competence and DataArt marketing team, speakers can experiment with content production, promoting the company's expertise, strengthening their personal reputation, and improving karma by spreading knowledge all over the web.
3. Upskill or Change Qualification in Idle
DataArt hires people for the company instead of projects and cares a lot about people in Idle. Those not working on a project have vast opportunities for learning new technologies, improving their English, preparing for an interview with a client, etc.
When Data Engineers get to the Idle, they will have a call with a career adviser to analyze their skills and discuss career paths. As the company aims to help our colleagues find a new project, we usually recommend learning technologies in high demand in the market. In 2023, for Middle+ specialists, it could be Snowflake or something connected to the cloud, whether AWS, GCP, or Azure. However, we stick to our principle of trust and do not interfere if a colleague chooses a different tool to study. Then we rely on this personal choice, as both sides share the same interest in the engineer’s professional success.
DataArt pays for cloud certifications and professional courses. Our Learning & Development department launched the Learn Café program that guarantees access to LinkedIn Learning and allows reimbursement for relevant classes. Employees can learn about different technologies or even switch to another area if they want.
We also have a devoted team that prepares colleagues for client interviews (sometimes, they do that for external candidates upon projects’ requests). They assist in coping with excitement, guide through typical questions and tasks, and suggest wording to describe one’s experience. Sometimes these efforts can bring a well-trained specialist lacking confidence to a new level.
4. Grow to Become an Architect or Manager
Deep and essential client interaction makes Data Competence Center a natural career opportunity for Senior+ specialists. Experts who see their future as architects can join our presales to upgrade their soft skills and develop their ability to build technical solutions for business problems. Intermediation between the business and the software development is also the focus of all IT managers, from project to account and delivery.
From time to time, we check which data specialists are ready to participate in sales activities. Around 10 Senior engineers are on such a list now; when we have a relevant presale project, we will match them with experienced architects to complete it together.
The Final Goal
Centers of Competence help our colleagues of any grade choose the proper focus for their development. Dedicated groups built around particular technologies can always provide the most up-to-date and reliable advice. These spaces give more choices and guarantee that no one is left alone when seeking new opportunities or trying to relaunch their career.
Everyday activities of Data Competence align with our basic principles: we are helping people to do what they want. Our colleagues can always get assistance in learning new technologies or spreading knowledge, boosting their careers or maintaining a comfortable path.
