The last 12 months were one hell of a ride, and all of you are the reason for that: you, the superhumans around us.
There is a famous saying. "If you are the smartest person in the room, then you are in the wrong room." It's a quote attributed to many people, including Confucius and Richard P. Feynman, and has several variations.
It's a good quote, a truthful one. It represents something that we strongly believe in but with a little twist - the most intelligent person in the room is the only one in it incapable of learning.
We all must challenge ourselves to grow and level up - it's something to strive for every day. It's about being the best version of you.
In 2022, we were surrounded by even more of you who wanted to be better, to harvest the power of knowledge.
All of you superhumans - colleagues, students, partners, and friends.
People who made 2022 one hell of a year for all of us. Let us share why.
Milestones and a new Alpha
The year started with a significant milestone for us. We've celebrated five years since becoming an independent company!
In 2022, Telerik Academy celebrated its 13th birthday! As you may know, we are the first large private tech-ed initiative in Bulgaria - established initially to fuel Telerik's team with great software developers. The Academy quickly grew (if you haven't noticed - growth is an integral part of this blog post) to power the entire IT sector in Bulgaria with well-rounded software engineers and help close the looming gap between the increasing demand and availability of tech talent.
So, fast forward a couple of years, and in 2017 Telerik Academy spun off into an independent tech-ed organization and a true partner to all IT companies.
It was a big change for us.
We kept our mission to help people jumpstart successful IT careers and help tech companies grow, thus supercharging the whole ecosystem. However, we changed the way we do it.
Introducing
Alpha - our unique 6-month intensive IT career jumpstart program!
Yes, we introduced the first Alpha in 2017 and have been perfecting the format since then - based on the feedback of our students, partners, and the everchanging tech sector. As a result, our Alpha programs (
Java,
JavaScript,
C# and
QA) remain the fastest proven way for an absolute beginner to becoming a Master Junior developer. We measure our success with the actual change in our students' lives - it's not just a course. It's a 6-month transformative experience with 800+ hours of practical training, working in teams, building real-life projects from scratch, polishing your soft skills, and preparing for an IT career.
In 2018, we added our
Upskill programs. As the name suggests, they help professionals reach the next career level and bring the local IT ecosystem to the next level – from an outsourcing destination known for its tech talent to a top product innovating tech hub.
So, at the beginning of this year, we've celebrated 5 years since becoming an independent company with 50+ programs and 1700+ students who've changed their lives.
According to a survey among our IT career starters for the last thirteen years, 96% of them would recommend and have already recommended the Academy to their friends. Another metric we are proud of is that 90% start their IT career 6 months after graduation (with the rest following the next six months) and a 97% satisfaction score.
Today, Telerik Academy prepares 15-20% of the talent the IT sector needs.
The beginning of the year marked another new for us - the first
Alpha with Python! With the rising popularity of Python and the need for well-prepared experts with the programming language of the year (
TOBIE).
And this was just January!
In April, we were named "Best Employer "by the Forbes Business Awards, adding to our
"Best Company" award from 2020! We won against 46 companies across different industries, including the other two finalists - Progress and VMware!
The award was a recognition of the atmosphere at Telerik Academy in which
our team develops, grows (in 2022, we grew by 20%!) and works. Our colleagues are the core that contributes to the success of our students, partners and the IT sector as a whole.
Alpha and Upskill in 2022
In 2021, we kickstarted 11 career jumpstart programs -
Telerik Academy Alpha. With the help of our technical and soft skills trainers, career coaches and a team of mentors, hundreds of motivated Alpha graduates were able to change their lives and join the future-proof IT sector.
We were once again happy to see people from so many different backgrounds joining our Alpha programs. Based on statistics from one of our Alpha programs, more than 90% of them started their journey with zero or just some basic programming knowledge.
In 2021, we opened our free preparation courses in programming (happening before each Alpha program) to anyone. In 2022 we saw more than 1000 people go through the fundamentals course!
The fundamentals course is a great way to experience the software world, take your first steps in programming, find out if this is something you like, and prepare for the Alpha exam. It helped people with different backgrounds (from finance and civil engineering – to law and marketing) transform their lives with Alpha.
As a result, in 2022, 93% of Alpha graduates start jobs within 6 months of graduation.
Just like two of the superhumans Raya and Dimitar, whose stories
you can read here.
"I can compare the Academy with the following metaphor: the Alpha Java program is a rocket in which everyone who gets on is a beginner. Still, the moment the rocket takes off, and 6 months later, when it lands on the planet of programming, the people who get off that rocket are already well-prepared talents for an IT career," shared Raya.
In addition to our Alpha programs, we organized 6
Upskill programs in 2022, including two editions of our
Upskill UX/UI Design program, the fifth edition of
Upskill Digital Marketing, the third edition of
Upskill Product Management and
Upskill React, and the second edition of
Upskill DevOps.
This year we made all Upskill programs more accessible for the NGO sector, as we believe those organizations have an essential role in our world. For all of them, we introduced a 90% discount (two positions per program) to support the growth and professional development of the employees from the NGO sector.
"The Telerik Academy Upskill program was a great experience and of great benefit to the development of the "Give a book "team," shared Sofia Ivanova, Project Coordinator at the "Give a Book" foundation and one of the students in Upskill Digital Marketing.
In 2022, we've had over 600 learners and an overall 35% increase in candidates.
And by candidates, we meant superhumans!
Our ever-growing partner network
In 2022, our
partner network kept growing, with new companies actively looking to expand their teams with Master Junior Talent. At the same time, our partnership with one of the biggest software companies in Bulgaria stayed strong as ever. Companies such as Bede Gaming, Americaneagle.com, Tick42, Tinqin, EGT Digital, Hedgeserv, Bright, Grafixoft, Do IT Wise, Progress, Zuhlke, Schwarz IT, Software AG, and more.
Today, almost 230 companies and superhumans (among Alpha and Upskill) are part of our network. We've welcomed our newest partners, WPX, Trading 212, Toki.bg, Tiger Technology, The Coca-Cola Company, Taulia, ST6, Soft2Run, Questers/News UK, Bosch IO, DXC, and Amdaris, to name a few.
You've already met
many of them, but there are still many interviews to come - stay tuned!
Awards and recognitions
In 2022, in addition to the "Best Employer "by the Forbes Business Awards, we've added even more silverware! We were recognized as the "Most Dynamic Company "by b2b media awards, and in the same gala, our CEO Alexandra Mechkova won the CEO of the year award.
We also won "HR Strategy of the Year" by the b2b Media Employer Branding Awards 2022.
Another important recognition came from Capital's Digitalk 101! We were ranked in the leading positions for IT Training Providers and the Top 50 of most Dynamic ICT Companies and Most Profitable IT companies.
Surrounded by superhumans
Like every year, since 2009, during the last 12 months, we have been surrounded by superhumans. People who inspire us with their passion and motivation - whether our colleagues, students, partners, and friends. We see it in each one of them.
It motivates us to be better, excel, change the tech-ed sector, and grow with all of you. Because in our room, everyone is capable of learning.
The last 12 months proved that together we can do more and that the future is not something to expect but something to build (to paraphrase the quote from Franco Ongaro from the European Space Agency).
In 2023, we will continue building the future. The journey is just beginning, and we are happy to have you on board.
Have a great holiday, and keep dreaming!
Looking to jumpstart your career in IT? Find out more about our
Telerik Academy Alpha programs. Ready to take your career to the next level - don't miss our
Upskill programs.
