Rubyroid Labs is known not only for software development services, but also for annual Ruby on Rails courses that are held by the founders of the Company Valentine Zavadsky and Yury Kaliada. The courses are 3 years old with more than 250 successful graduates. We have talked with Rubyroid Labs CTO Yury Kaliada just before the start of a new course session.
– When do the courses start?
– The courses take place from September till January. They are first and foremost designed for IT students, so we try to match their schedule. One should mention that our courses are conducted in close cooperation with the leading Belarusian IT University – Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics (BSUIR).
– Where do the courses take place?
– Mainly, they take place at our headquarters, but some classes might be held at BSUIR as well.
– What is the curriculum of the courses?
– The curriculum is pretty tough and designed for top students. We have very intensive training that lasts 12 weeks with 2 lessons per week. And when 70 students start the course, we expect at least 50% of those to drop it later because of a high level of complexity. This way our target are the best and smartest students that later might find a vacancy in our company.
– Is there any division between theory and practice?
– Yes, at first we have a bunch of theory lessons and later they are accompanied by a series of master classes. It’s a common practice when specialists from related areas are invited to the courses, e.g. Quality Assurance or Building other systems.
At the practical part each student works on his computer trying to complete a close-to-life task, e.g. build an online shop or create a simple game. Such approach helps them to get a better understanding and allows us to help students with their questions promptly.
At the end of the course each student has to pass through the final competition, the content of which we keep in secret.
– Who are teaching the courses?
– Majorly, it is founders of Rubyroid Labs: me and Valentine Zavadsky,. We both have around 5-6 years of development experience and have successfully launched around 20 large projects for clients from all over the world. We have big experience of management and giving lectures, which helps us a lot to make the courses useful and efficient.
– Is it possible to find course lessons online?
– Yes, we have a YouTube channel, where every student can have a look at what we discussed at the lesson one more time and review the material if that is required. This allows us to make the courses more packed with important information, since everyone can come back to the required details whenever he wants. And, of course, we answer all the questions that students leave for us under the video.
– What are the benefits of the courses and what can the students expect after them?
– First and foremost the courses allow them to improve their technical skills. We also provide a diploma for the course graduates. We have a very good practice, when our Company or our Partner Companies employs the best graduates. Usually Rubyroid Labs sends a job offer to the first 2 students on the course, other graduates get recommendations from us, which are useful for future employment. Our graduates are highly valued by other employers; we receive plenty of positive feedback about them.
– How can a person enroll to your courses?
– We have advertisement about the courses across the Universities. Usually there are news on our and University websites. The courses are free of charge, we cover all the charges and see them as a way to help smart students that don’t have extra money to improve their skills.
– What a course graduate come through if he is employed by Rubyroid Labs?
– First and foremost, if a student is employed, this means that he has shown a very good progress during the courses. Of course, this doesn’t mean that we will give him an independent project right away. Usually a graduate spends from 6 to 12 months working with the mentor and only after that he can work on a project independently. Such approach lets him to pass through the adaptation period easier and avoid most common mistakes and hurdles.
We wish good luck to all students who are about to take part in a new session of courses. May success be with you!
