With diverse backgrounds and a commitment to continuous learning, their stories provide valuable insights into the benefits of upskilling and entering the dynamic field of product management.
Read the storyExplore the experiences of recent Upskill React graduates and see for yourself why joining the program is a smart investment in your future.
Read the storyWe met with Borislava Georgieva, HR Manager to learn more about our graduates' performance, career growth and contribution to the company.
Read the storyAn alumnus of the Harvard University and the German Film Academy in Berlin, Ivan Ivanov had a film directing career. When he decided to come back to Bulgaria, however, he realized he needed to pursue a more steady occupation. With previous experience in tech but no real-world programming skills, Ivan joined Telerik Academy Alpha to bring his personal story to a happy end.
Our partners from Leanplum more than doubled their Bulgarian team last year and plan on keeping the growth for 2019. To learn more about the company, its goals and culture, we sat and talked with Vassil Yordanov, Senior Product Designer at Leanplum.
Georgi Georgiev was studying Informatics and Cybersecurity in Saarbrücken, Germany, when he first heard of the then brand new 6-month program for a successful career start in IT - Telerik Academy Alpha. Eager to pursue a career in Bulgaria – it didn’t take long for Georgi to put his academic studies on hold, came back to Bulgaria and apply to Telerik Academy Alpha. Immediately after graduating it, he landed his dream job at Tick42.
According to the latest BASSCOM annual study of the Bulgarian software industry, the number of employees in it has increased with 15% compared to last year. This makes for a staggering 3,563 new jobs in the hottest sector in the country. At the same time, just 12,9% of all students are pursuing STEАM degrees. Does this mean the gap between companies’ needs and professionals available on the market will keep widening even further? It doesn’t have to.
Rusi Rusev graduated from Telerik Academy Alpha with JavaScript in May and shortly after that kickstarted his first IT career as Junior Front-End Developer at Gtmhub. His university education and professional experience, however, were in an entirely different field. Rusi has a master’s degree in “Structural Engineering” and worked in the construction industry for a while. When he felt the need for a change, he turned to Telerik Academy to successfully switch careers.
It took Georgi Manchev just 2 weeks to land his dream job in IT after graduating from Telerik Academy Alpha. But he hasn’t always been on the right track to a promising tech career. Prior to joining the program, Georgi worked as a waiter and bartender and had no coding experience at all. During the intensive 6-month training, he was equipped with the knowledge and skills companies look for and joined Experian as a Junior Software Engineer.
Since Telerik Academy’s launch eight years ago to-date around 12,000 people have been trained onsite. More than 45,000 have used the Academy’s online resources (including 3,800 video lessons with close to 6 million views). Telerik Academy’s results are impressive.
After leaving Progress in the end of 2016, Telerik’s four founders – Boyko Iaramov, Vassil Terziev, Svetozar Georgiev and Hristo Kosev, spun off the tech-ed organization they created in 2009 – Telerik Academy – into an independent company. Their idea is to transform the project into a self-sustaining business, grooming talent for all companies in the IT ecosystem, as well as to continue to train children and high school students for free. These plans include the current building.
Three years after Telerik co-founders Svetozar Georgiev and Vassil Terziev graced the cover of Forbes Magazine Bulgaria for the first time, Vassil Terziev is back on the cover of the prestigious business monthly.
There is more behind the avalanche-kind of success than just a good business model and a few smart ideas. You feel this the moment you enter the company's headquarters in Sofia's "Mladost" suburb. "In spite of being in the lime light, for us everyone working for the organization is a hero,” says Terziev.
In Bulgaria, where demand for qualified IT specialists is now outstripping the available supply, Telerik promotes itself as the only company in the country that offers free training courses. In 2009, it set up an academy for software engineers. So far 510 have enrolled — though not all stay the course — and the annual intake is rising. This year about 1,000 started the program, of whom Telerik plans to hire about 150.