Paul is a talented mobile software developer from Ukraine who has recently joined our company. He graduated from the Lviv National Polytechnic University with Master’s Degree in Computer Science in 2007. Being a student, he started working for one of the Ukrainian IT companies. After making an important career change decision Paul became a part of Forte’s team. Now he works as an Android instructor at Forte Knowledge and shares his mobile development expertise, thus helping his students to succeed in today's competitive IT job market. In this interview he shares his recipe for a successful career change.
Paul, tell me about your story of getting acquainted with Forte Group.
At some point of my life I realized that I need to get out of Ukraine and started sending my resume to different companies. One of the Forte’s employees contacted me saying “Hey, let’s do some projects”. We started working on one project and then I was offered relocation to the US.
How did visa processing go for you?
About three months. Overall process went really quick and smooth. I would give a huge credit to Forte’s visa department for that.
Tell me about your current job. What are you working on right now?
Basically, what I do right now is work for one of Chicago companies. We successfully released one Android application and now I’m working on the second one which is very popular on the iPhone, so the company decided to have another one on Android. Besides that, I’m having Android sessions 3 days per week at Forte Knowledge. As far as I can tell, they are going pretty well. Android school becomes more popular these days as we’ve got other people coming for a next set of classes.
How do your students succeed in Android development?
Well, there was one student who was unemployed and took Android classes class to change his career. After taking the classes he got like 3 job offers which seem to be really good.
Do you have any professional development plans?
The technology expands so fast that you have to be at least on the same pace to keep track of it and to be on demand on this market.
What about personal ones?
Well, I just plan to settle down here - have to make lots of arrangements until I feel like home. I also think of travelling around the U.S.
Did you feel that your life changed when you moved to the U.S.?
Yes, absolutely. I left everything I had in Ukraine and moved here. There a lot of things that caught me off guard: housing issues, high taxes (that was really unexpected) and a lot of minor problems that comes into play when you have to deal with them. So, definitely, my life has changed. I can’t say it’s better or worse, it’s just different. As far as I like it, I’m still here.
Are there any things you miss – let’s say mom’s cooking?
The food that is popular (sandwiches, pizza) is terrible and Americans do admit that. Still you always have a choice: you can cook or go to places that offer something different, healthier and tastier. For now, the food is definitely an issue for me.
Any things you would like to share with future candidates?
From impression I’ve got, many people expect that the U.S. is the magical country where dreams come true, where life is easy and people are rich. That is not true. Life is complicated and tough. But life is fair. The harder you work and “sell yourself” – the more decent living is.
by Lusya Galkina
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