Verslo Žinios ('Business News'), 22 September 2011

After your Studies - a Permanent Job

SOREN FINK-JENSEN, CEO of 1ClickFactory, says: "Students choose to improve their knowledge in the fields where they see the best career prospects. The great interest in doing further studies in certain fields shows that the need for IT specialists is growing." Photo by Judita Grigelytė.

Companies sense this need for certain specialists, so more and more they choose to solve the problem by offering students a chance to learn new skills and even to be assured of a job placement. 1ClickFactory, which was founded in Lithuania three years ago, runs an 'academy' that helps students to get established in the Microsoft Dynamics market.

Applications to take part in the academy were received from more than 70 students from Vilnius University, Kaunas University of Technology, Mykolas Riomeris University, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University and the Vilnius University of Applied Sciences (Vilniaus kolegija). Invitations to take part in the programme were extended to 17 students.

Soren Fink-Jensen, CEO of 1ClickFactory, says: "Students were able to choose one of three study programmes on offer: they could learn more about the Microsoft Dynamics NAV or Microsoft Dynamics AX programmes and get new programming skills; or they could learn more about .NET technologies (.NET Framework)".

They stay in Lithuania

Six students who have done the programme have already started work in the Company's office in Lithuania. It is hoped that the rest of the students will get a job with the Company's team or with other Microsoft Dynamics partners within a year. "Students interest in the programme is considerable. They choose to improve their knowledge in the fields where they see the best career prospects. Their motivation - the belief that everything they are now being taught will truly be useful and will be used at work - drives the students to try harder, to take a real interest" says Mr Fink-Jensen happily.

Students who have done the academy and have started work are happy with the experience they got as well as with their new workplace. Therefore it is not surprising that when offered a chance to get a job in their field here, they are not inclined to keep looking for opportunities abroad. Skirmantė Kiliūtė, a junior 1ClickFactory developer, explains: "Here we not only received the basic knowledge but we also got to learn the principles of work organisation and work relations. I certainly associate the start of my career with Lithuania".

Her comments are supported by Mindaugas Andrulevičius, another junior developer at 1ClickFactory: "As a student without any work experience, this gave me an opportunity to see that you can work even without job experience. Therefore at the moment I also associate my career with Lithuania, since I feel no great attraction to leave the country".

The need is growing

According to Apolinaras Škikūnas, Head of the UAB Microsoft Lietuva Business Solutions Group for the Baltics, the need for specialists in the installation and expansion of Business Solutions has been growing very rapidly in recent years. The skills learned by such specialists are universal and they can be successfully applied in consultation with companies in various branches of business both in Lithuania and abroad. Mr. Škikūnas explains: "The economic crisis that business experienced in 2008-2010 showed us very clearly that businesses which effectively controlled their own business processes had a competitive advantage. Therefore, the need for developers who can understand the business processes of various branches of business and can develop appropriate business management solutions will continue to grow." He adds that attempts by other companies to independently prepare highly qualified professionals are also welcome and exemplary.

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