Success Stories

Getting comfortable with the current trend is not the way to go in software development: Zdravko Kostadinov

Zdravko Kostadinov is a manager in the Full-Stack development department at one of Telerik Academy's partners, Schwarz IT Bulgaria. Fifteen highly experienced back-end/full-stack developers work there. His career in the software company began in 2018 as he joined as a senior back-end developer.



We talked to Zdravko Kostadinov to learn more about what Schwarz IT local technical teams work on, the most important skills junior IT talent must possess, and why they partner with Telerik Academy.

What are the main responsibilities of the Schwarz IT office in Bulgaria?

Our main responsibility is to ensure our customers have the highly reliable infrastructure and tooling they need to operate in the fastest and most efficient manner. Additionally, we implement new solutions and concepts as our organization grows rapidly.

How is Schwarz IT’s culture different compared to other companies in the industry?

We develop our own products, and we use them afterwards. Our goal is to distribute the knowledge among all team members so that we can sustain and support our software in the long term. We want our people to be happy and familiar with the latest trends in technology. 

Why did you choose to partner with the Telerik Academy? What differentiates the Academy’s junior talent?

We are looking for highly motivated people with a broad knowledge of technologies, and the Telerik Academy is the first to come to mind in this pursuit.

What skills are you seeking in a junior Telerik Academy software developer? 

We are looking for the fundamentals, a basic understanding of how systems work, a programming language that the person can work with, the capability to identify and solve problems, motivation to learn new things and dedication to every task they work on. 

What does your recruitment and onboarding process include?

We want to be quick and effective when it comes to recruitment. We start with a short screening to check the level of English the person has and the expectations for the company. After that, we have an interview to check their technical and soft skills. Finally, we discuss how the interview went and come to a decision after a maximum of 10 working days.

What are the projects that junior talent can work on?

There is a variety of projects and technologies that a trainee can work on. We can always start with small tasks, bug fixes or research so that the trainee can get into the codebase and technologies.

What would you advise people who are now learning to code?

Never stop learning new technologies. Getting comfortable with the current trend is not the way to go in software development.

What are the plans for the Bulgarian office of Schwarz IT and for expanding the team?

We plan to expand our Bulgarian office (check our open positions) slowly while gradually reducing the external contractors that currently work for the company. The whole idea behind Schwarz IT is to develop and maintain all the systems we use internally.

Are you looking to jumpstart your career in IT? Find out more about our Telerik Academy Alpha programs. Are you a company seeking Master Junior talent? Then go through our business page or contact us directly.

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