In Ukraine there seemed to have been one of the biggest 'IT success waves' in postmodern history.
This meant that the country has become a safe harbour for numerous digital projects and used to be (in some regions it still stays) a perfect, nearly heavenly place to start a career in IT, be it office software/gaming design or development of mobile apps.
Once and for a long time (at least for 5 years) the atmosphere was really favourable towards several companies of an international origin but...
Some companies had a really narrow pool of real candidates.
The others would build up their success on the failures of the others.
The third category was one of the most mundanely passively aggressive: in these companies you had to attend the widest range of corporate events in order to get promoted or even promised to get promoted.
This technique, applied to people, could result into workaholism, burnout and workplace dissatisfation which was temporary or even stable, lasting from 3 to 9 months.
For numerous reasons, such as natural ambition and honesty, people would opt for IT jobs in Ukraine since they offer a flexible timetable and a good company to work and hang out with. however there might be an idelogical debate within the company concerning the national identity and self-representation.
Non-conventional CEOs, each of whom looks glossy and charismatic on stage during a conference and stays bossy during the work week, would be the main 'tourist attraction' in this case but...
Cultural assimilation was still not enough in numerous cases.
For instance, it's quite hard to convince the HR to put you into a managerial position if you do any kind of art but for the web design, because
this might mean you would be labeled as 'way too independent' or 'overly sensitive' or 'disorganized'.
You are being double/triple/dozen- checked in terms of your background, and if this (according to some corporate protocols) included people working for plants/factories, you could be waiting for an onboarding moment for months, your humble CV lying deep inside a pack of documents, with your personal decisions being partially paralyzed.
Luckily, if you have a strong ambition to work in the IT field and become part (or, eventually, a leader) of a team which is successful, you should be not only aware of the local corporate culture, but also look out for hints of 'social racism' , which is a sad part of the reality in Ukraine.
If you are a true genius, you will probably have less background checks than someone who appears to be average, and if you come from a low-income family background or an industrial region/city, it might take you up to 40-70-120 interviews to finally land the job of your dreams.
What can cultural assimilation of modern European values do for you?
This might mean you'll be able to do translation/copywriting/all sorts of simple yet rewarding intellectual tasks while waiting for your dream position.
© Maryna Tchianova, 2018