IT COFFEE BREAK

Illia Sudakou is an experienced Lead Software Engineer at EPAM Czech Republic. He joined EPAM more than five years ago, relocated from Belarus, and has been working at EPAM Prague for almost two years now. Illia has experience with the whole lifecycle of Java-intensive projects: from coding to leading a team of four professionals and conducting tech interviews. Let’s explore more about his professional and personal journey!

Moving to a new country and gaining unique professional and personal experience with EPAM can certainly be an exciting adventure. In this interview, we discuss relocation with Alexandra Skryabina, a Senior Business Analyst at EPAM who recently moved to the Czech Republic from Belarus. Our expert is Krystsina Katouskaya, Senior Learning and Development Specialist, also relocated from Belarus to EPAM Netherlands.

Keep listening to learn more and share your thoughts in the comments!

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Today's interview features Alexandra Skryabina, an experienced Business Analyst at EPAM Czech Republic. Without further ado, let's take a closer look at Alexandra's life and the exciting work she does at EPAM!

Rachel O’Ryan has an exciting life. Born in Great Britain, she studied in Cambridge. After her studies, she moved to Krakow, Poland, and she has been living there for almost two decades now, experiencing a new culture and a new language by herself. For more than four and a half years, Rachel has been helping EPAMers to develop their English skills. Today, Rachel is ready to help us overcome our language fears and debunk some common myths about using English at work!

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Today we are wrapping up the first season of the IT coffee break and the year 2021, with this one question special: “What was your most memorable moment of the year 2021?” We asked this question to our amazing colleagues of EPAM Czech Republic, who have been co-hosting our IT coffee breaks this year. Happy Listening!

Olga Kudriasovais a talent acquisition manager at EPAM Czech Republic and Slovakia. For almost ten years at EPAM she stated a lot of questions to potential EPAMers. However, today, Olga answers our inquires as we inspect some common hiring myths and discuss the career opportunities at EPAM. Keep listening to learn more and share your thoughts in the comments.

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In today’s special program we explore how the winter holidays are traditionally celebrated in the Czech lands. Our experts on Czech Xmas are amazing People Team of EPAM Czech Republic. We talk about Christmas traditions, food and drinks, films and music, decorations. And also share laughter and Christmas stories. So get yourself in the Christmas spirit and enjoy Christmastime with EPAM family!

Olga Kudriashova is responsible for a perfect match - finding the right person for the job. She connects EPAM with great professionals to drive new projects forward. Olga also leads and manages a pool of Talent Acquisition specialists (TAs). Let’s learn more about Olga and her work at EPAM!

If you prefer reading you can check out the interview here: https://community-z.com/communities/epam-czech-republic/articles/1445!

Adrian Benko is a Lead Software Test Automation Engineer at EPAM Slovakia. Apart from being responsible for the app's quality on his project, he also leads and manages a pool of seven very talented Quality Assurance specialists (QAs). Adrian is an active member of the QA society: a mentor, a regular conference speaker, a lecturer and a blogger. Together, we are inspecting some common Software Testing Myths and discussing the career opportunities for a QA. Keep listening to learn more and share your thoughts in the comments.

· (00:00) – Intro, ‘This or that’ game

· (03:10) – What’s the difference between a tester and a QA?

· (05:35) – Software testing as a career path

· (06:45) – Myth busting #1. Developer Power: Developers Make. Tester Power: Testers Break. Is it true?

· (09:00) – Myth busting #2. Being a tester is easy: “Automate, sit back, and relax”

· (13:30) – Is it possible to build bug-free software?

· (15:00) – How much testing is enough?

· (17:30) – What is Agile testing?

· (20:00) – Agile testing practices at EPAM

· (22:00) – How does retesting differ from Data Driven testing?

· (25:20) – Overview of a QA’s role and responsibilities at EPAM

· (27:50) – Best practices and sources for the QA specialists

· (30:10) – What’s the future of the QA?

· (34:10) – Life at EPAM: case studies and blogs at epam.com

· (35:10) – Main takeaways and Outro

Pawel Labaj, the Lead Software Engineer at EPAM, has almost 20 years of experience in IT. Besides being a Lead engineer, Pawel shares his knowledge as a mentor at our eKids training programs. He is also a proud father of two teenage daughters. One of his daughters has just won the bronze medal at the European Coding Championship. Curious about how to inspire kids to join the program, open kid’s creativity, and get excellent results? Listen to this episode to learn Pawel’s tips and experience on teaching coding to kids.

Timestamps:

· (00:00) – Intro, ‘This or that’ game

· (02:30) – Why should you teach your kids programming?

· (04:15) – When to start teaching coding to kids?

· (05:30) – How and where to start teaching programming to kids?

· (06:30) – The best experience of being a tutor at EPAM’s eKids programs

· (08:45) – How to teach programming to kids

· (10:15) – How much time to spend on teaching kids to program?

· (10:45) – Best platforms for practicing coding skills with kids

· (12:30) – Contests and championships as means of practicing coding

· (14:30) – Scratch - the best resource for teaching coding

· (16:00) – Best resources for teaching logical thinking to preschoolers

· (19:00) – Best resources for teaching logical thinking to school kids

· (20:45) – How to motivate teenagers to continue coding?

· (22:45) – How to show hardware to kids?

· (25:45) – Message to parents: how to teach coding to kids

· (26:05) – Main takeaways and Outro