ConEECt 2021: The Highlights
At the conference opening, Srdjan Jovanovic, our VP of People Operations, and Katarina Urosevic, Chief of Staff and Director of Corporate Communications, shared the story of how a university incubator start-up grew to become a global engineering powerhouse in the course of a decade. Most importantly, the team shared insights into the different decisions the founders and the team had to take along the way, drawing parallels with their own career choices and sharing valuable lessons for this group which is yet to embark on making their mark in the world.
The HTEC team discussed with students how it is important to constantly develop their skills and knowledge and take on new challenges. The emphasis was on keeping your options open, not limiting yourself early in your career in the type of expertise you develop and the kind of projects you engage in.
This was further emphasized in a panel on careers in IT, where HTEC’s Director of Technology, Goran Savic, shared his career journey with representatives of academia, start-ups, and freelance developers, shining a light on the different benefits these types of careers can bring. Students asked a lot of questions about how development teams are formed, how team leaders choose who they work with and what are some of the success factors for great teams.
HTEC’s Head of Talent Acquisition, Predrag Pivarski, joined other TA professionals from different companies on the final day of the conference at the HR panel, which the students highlighted as extremely useful. From how to prepare cover letters and what stands out in a CV to how technical tasks and interviews are conducted, Predrag and other panelists provided real-life examples of what recruiters are looking for. They explained that it is essential to be a culture fit for the company’s values, have clear motivation and drive, honesty, and willingness to learn and grow. They also explained that these requirements do not revolve only around the right technical skills.
Supporting Young Super Minds
HTEC also supported a group of 80 students from Bosnia and Herzegovina to travel to the conference. Jelena Gelic, conference organizer and student at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Banja Luka, shares her impressions:
“The most important elements I would like to single out were panel discussions, especially the one where we learned more about how to write a good CV and how to create a good cover letter. Young people do not have many opportunities to participate in these kinds of events, mainly because they are either afraid or not confident that they will learn much and that this kind of education will not contribute to them. For instance, two years ago, when students from Banja Luka went to this kind of conference, few of them were interested in it. However, 10 times as many students decided to attend the conference this year, which is a big step forward. This was a great opportunity for them to meet students from other colleges, get introduced to other companies, and form some kind of an opinion about them.” — Jelena Gelic, conference organizer and student at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Banja Luka
