Last year, we ended our annual recap with certainty that “together with you, we can make a better world.” Now, 12 months later, we saw so much evidence of this! And we know that there are still challenges ahead, but in 2021 inspiring stories and examples were everywhere around us - our students, partners and our team. Yes, 2020 taught us that things would never be the same, but 2021 showed us that resilience was everywhere.
Let’s look back on some of the key moments from the last 12 months!
It all started with an award-winning redesign
The year started with an exciting moment for us - the redesign of our website. It was not only about a visual update - we realized that our
Alpha and
Upskill programs had developed so much in recent years that the website didn’t fully communicate all the benefits and value they bring to the students.
As a result, we had to think about a new design that included more content, information, clearer timelines, and illustrations while remaining just as easy to consume and use. And the result? We'll quote Polya Vassileva, Telerik Academy's Creative Director:
"I'd like to think it's easier to navigate, innovative, engaging, reflective of our brand and that it communicates the value Telerik Academy programs offer in the clearest and best possible way."
We are happy that the experts and public thought the same thing because the redesign won two Website of the Year Awards in the Institutional website category. If you are curious to learn more, you can check the full
interview with Polya here.
IT career jumpstart Telerik Academy Alpha
For 12 years now, we've been helping people jumpstart or accelerate their careers in the software industry, thus changing their lives and helping the sector grow. In 2021, we kickstarted 10 career jumpstart programs -
Telerik Academy Alpha. With the help of our technical and soft skills trainers, career coaches and a team of mentors, hundreds of motivated Alpha graduates were able to change their lives and join the future-proof IT sector.
They all had different backgrounds but one common goal - to be successful software engineers. Based on a statistic from one of our Alpha programs, 82% of our students are career changers. Their backgrounds vary from finance and civil engineering – to law and marketing.
As we said - different backgrounds but all of them undergo 800+ hours of training and practice in our Alpha programs (
Java,
JavaScript,
C#) and have 16 people to count on during their journey to become Master Junior Talent. In the end, 70-80% start their dream IT job in the first 1-3 months after graduating. The rest follow in the 6-12 month period.
In 2021, we made an extra step to help them. We opened our free preparation courses in programming (happening before each Alpha program) to anyone, whether making their first steps or still unsure if this is the right career path for them.
The fundamentals course is a way to experience the software world, master programming basics, prepare for the Alpha exam, write their first lines of code and basic programs under the guidance of experienced professionals and a team of mentors.
Just like
Magi, who started a new career as a Software Developer in 2021:
"Telerik Academy gave me so much more than knowledge. It gave me freedom. At the Academy, I met wonderful people, developed my skills, and now I have the freedom to work what I've always dreamed of."
In addition to our Alpha programs, we organized
7 Upskill programs in 2021. Two of which were new for Bulgaria in this form and depth.
Between our Alpha and Upskill programs, we’ve had over
620 learners! We’ve organized two editions of our
Upskill UX/UI Design program, the fourth edition of
Upskill Digital Marketing and the second edition of
Upskill Product Management and
Upskill React.
The most in-depth DevOps program in Bulgaria
In our ongoing conversation with the business and the IT sector, it became clear there is a shortage of talent possessing these skills.
So in 2021, together with some of Bulgaria’s most renowned DevOps experts, we kickstarted the most in-depth
Upskill DevOps program in Bulgaria. With Daniel Rankov, Cloud & DevOps Manager at MentorMate, an AWS Community Hero, as a lead trainer, and five seasoned experts as guest lectures, the program helped more than 35 professionals take their career to the next level.
Do you want to find out more about the DevOps profession?
Read our interview with Daniel Rankov.
Turning Bulgaria into a hub for e-commerce tech solutions
There is an excellent opportunity for Bulgaria to become a go-to hub for e-commerce tech solutions - not just regional but global.
Currently, over 15 companies in Bulgaria are creating e-commerce tech solutions based on the undisputed platform in the sector - Salesforce Commerce Cloud. The only limitation?
The lack of talent.
To solve this problem, Telerik Academy joined forces with Isobar/Merkle, AIOPS Group, Tryzens, Forkpoint, C4 Nexus, and ZaUtre and kickstarted the
first 3-month program for Salesforce Commerce Cloud Developers in Bulgaria.
It opened up an excellent opportunity for front-end or web developers who want to take their career to the next level, develop new skills and work for billion-dollar companies, such as Adidas, Disney, IKEA and Coca-Cola.
To learn more, you can
read our interview with Oggie Astardzhiev, the lead trainer of the first edition of the Telerik Academy Upskill program for Salesforce Commerce Cloud.
Our ever-growing partner network
In 2021, our
partner network kept growing, with new companies actively looking to expand their teams with Master Junior Talent. At the same time, our partnership with one of the biggest software companies in Bulgaria stayed strong as ever. Companies such as Bede Gaming, Americaneagle.com, Tick42, Tinqin, Mercell, Next Solutions, Bending Spoons, KPMG, Bright, Grafixoft, Do IT Wise, Progress, and more.
Today, almost 200 companies (among Alpha and Upskill) are part of our network. We’ve welcomed our newest partners, Schwarz IT, Protiviti, Software AG, Cognyte, CleverPine, ST6, Taulia, Gtmhub, GemSeek, Token Terminal, 1ForFit, Digital Lights, EGT Digital, FantasticStay, A1, just to name a few.
You’ve already
met many of them, but there are still many interviews to come - stay tuned!
Awards and recognitions
In 2021, in addition to the two Website of the Year awards, our CEO Alexandra Mechkova won the
Female Leader award from Forbes DNA of Success Forum & Awards 2021. The award recognizes ladies who inspire the next generation of women entrepreneurs.
Accepting the award, Alexandra Mechkova said that our most significant resources as a country are our talented people. “Тo receive an award for investing in its development is one of the greatest recognitions,” she added.
Another important recognition came from Capital's Digitalk 101! We were ranked in the leading positions for IT Training Providers and Most Dynamic ICT Company (second position). We were also placed in the Top 50 of Most Profitable ICT Companies.
"To infinity and beyond!"
What a year, right? And all of you are the driving force behind Telerik Academy! Our alumni, partners, team members and friends are the ones that continuously inspire us to evolve, excel and raise the bar in tech education.
Each story of our student or partner is yet another evidence that together, we can change the world and make it a better place.
We wish you great holidays, stay safe and never give up on your dreams!
Looking to jumpstart your career in IT? Find out more about our
Telerik Academy Alpha programs. Ready to take your career to the next level - don't miss our
Upskill programs.
