My background

I was born in Izhevsk and I’d been dreaming of moving to a bigger city since I was a school student. That’s why for my Bachelor’s I applied to universities in Perm and Kazan. Eventually, I got into the Applied Mathematics and Computer Science program at Perm State University.

Starting from our fourth year, my groupmates and I’d been developing Place2.Rest, a restaurant management startup. With it, visitors can book a table and peruse the menu online, while business owners get a full-scale booking and analytics system with the opportunity to manage human resources and information access. However, we didn’t have experience in market studies and product marketing; we also lacked a frontend developer. As a result, we weren’t moving forward as fast as we would have liked.

I received an extended stipend (10,000 rubles), worked on a startup, and started working as an analytics intern at an IT company in Perm.

At first, I earned 20,000 rubles; then I became a junior analyst and my salary grew to 40,000 rubles.

I was making my ends meet and I wanted to earn more. There are branches of major Russian companies in Perm and Izhevsk, but they are hard to get in. I went to several job interviews, but got the same answer everywhere: if you don’t have experience at major companies or continuous professional education diplomas from universities in major cities, you are rejected.

What’s more, I understood that development isn’t the field I want to grow in. It was challenging to work by day and write code by night to get full marks. I dreamed of being a product analyst at VK; it’s a big company with spacious offices that can offer career growth. Unfortunately, when I compared my skills to job requirements, I saw that I didn’t know enough to work there.

That’s how I knew that if I wanted to get more professional opportunities, a good position, and a high salary, I needed to move to a bigger city. Initially, I chose St. Petersburg for its scenery and architecture. Later, as I studied the opportunities available in the city, I saw that there are many events and conferences with major companies where you can land a job. Last but not least, I am more comfortable in St. Petersburg than in Moscow: there aren’t as many people, they have a more relaxed lifestyle, and are kinder to strangers.

How and why I got into a Master’s program

At first, I didn’t connect my move to getting a Master’s degree – it was a lucky turn of events. My startup teammate asked me if I wanted to get into ITMO and shared the university’s admissions website. Several programs caught my eye:

• Web Technologies, 
• Data Analytics, 
• High-Tech Business Management

At that time I was still working in our startup and wanted to become a product analyst with a prospect of starting my own business. I needed to learn to assemble and manage teams. Eventually, I opted for High-Tech Business Management.

It turned out that I could get into this program via the Portfolio Contest, skipping entrance exams. The contest included:

• Assembling a portfolio. First, I read the ITMO guide to making a portfolio. With my team, I participated in various student competitions and hackathons as we were developing our startup. I included all of my certificates into the portfolio, adding a CV and a motivation letter. I submitted my documents about 2-3 days before the deadline.
• Online interview. Next, I had to talk to the admissions committee. They asked me various questions, including: “What would you do if you don’t get in?”. After a minute’s thought, I replied: “I’ll apply next year.”

I successfully passed both stages and secured a tuition-free position. I am now finishing my second year of studies.

My move to St. Petersburg

Once I got in, I started getting ready for my move to St. Petersburg. I have some tips for those who are about to follow in my footsteps:

• Tickets

Make sure to take into account your plane or train expenses, as well as any additional payment for baggage. 

• Accommodation

Start thinking about where you want to stay in early summer – it will be hard to find something truly nice later. Students from other cities and countries can always choose where to live: the university offers dormitories that look nice and cost cheaper than the average rent. 

• Infrastructure

When you choose the area to live, study its infrastructure. There have to be grocery stores, transport stations, and other crucial commodities for you.

• Expenses

Save a sum that will be enough to cover two months of rent and groceries.

I didn’t want to stay in a dorm, so I looked for an apartment on Avito and Cian. My top criteria were location, proximity to the metro, cost, and household items (washing machine, microwave, oven). Eventually, I wasn’t able to arrange my rent remotely, so I did it when I arrived in St. Petersburg, at the start of the school year.

I stayed close to Rybatskoye metro station (the green line). It’s quite convenient, you can get to the city center without changing transport, but it takes 40 minutes. Unfortunately, this meant that I was often late in my first year: my work day ended at 6 pm and I had to be in class by 6:40 pm. Moreover, my rent was 26,000 rubles. If I lived alone, my 40,000-ruble salary wouldn’t have been enough to survive. That’s why by the end of my first year, I started looking for a job in St. Petersburg.

How I got a job

I stayed at the IT company in Perm till the end of my first year at the university but then, I began to feel short of money – I had to pay for rent, public transport, food, and also entertainment. St. Petersburg has many more job opportunities; the salaries are higher and there are also beautiful offices with gyms and lounge areas, so I started to look for a job here. 

I responded to job postings on HeadHunter (a major Russian job search engine – Ed.) and communicated with HR managers of different companies. I was primarily looking for a remote or hybrid job. It’s easier to combine remote work with studies. We have classes online, so I don’t need to spend much time commuting, and some on-site classes typically start at 6:40 pm. In general, lecturers at ITMO support students who work alongside their studies. 

As a result, I became an analyst at a larger IT company and started to earn more – from 120,000 to 190,000 rubles a month.

Each year, the company gauges an employee’s KPIs and offers raises based on their performance. If luck’s on my side, I’m going to be a senior analyst earning up to 250,000 rubles a month by December. 

What I gained by doing a Master’s

Moved to St. Petersburg

Many wish to go to St. Petersburg on vacation, but I’m fortunate enough to contemplate its beauty every day. I love walks on Yelagin Island and boating in Moskovsky Victory Park; I go to the Lakhta Center promenade to enjoy the Gulf of Finland and sunsets and to the yacht club on Petrogradskaya – to take lots of gorgeous pictures with yachts. 

St. Petersburg is also conveniently located. By car, I have traveled to Karelia, Shlisselburg, Staraya Ladoga, Vyborg, and Veliky Novgorod; and I also flew to Kaliningrad once. These were rather eventful yet casual weekend getaways.

Found a better job

During my Master’s studies, I became a part of a professional community of over 200 members. I met experts of varied domains and expertise from more than 50 companies. It’s much easier to seek employment or assistance in an environment like that. 

I found a new job myself, but what I learned during my Master’s helped me do that. I had lecturers who were practicing specialists – experts from Ozon and T-Bank who shared some handy tips on how to present ourselves and work with large amounts of data in different projects. Also, I boosted my presentation skills, learned to do product deep dives in a short time, and, last but not least, got rid of the habit of being late thanks to the university’s course on time management. 

Boosted our startup

Our team keeps working on the project when we’re free from our work or studies – typically on weekends or in the evening. Before I started my Master’s, I had only a basic understanding of how to develop a business. For instance, my teammates and I first chose the wrong target audience, so when we surveyed them expecting lengthy answers, we only got either “yes” or “no.” This didn’t help our startup at all. 

In the program, I learned how to determine which product you’re developing and for whom, run quantitative and qualitative surveys, and form a value proposition to stand out among your competitors. We had lectures by both ITMO teachers and practitioners; a product manager at Ozon, for instance, told us how to evaluate product metrics. 

As a result, my team and I managed to narrow down our target audience, hold a quality survey for our customers, and define our price segment. Our lecturers also helped us find two frontend developers among students who give us a hand in implementing our service. We’re planning to launch our product in June. We already have agreements with several restaurants in Perm. 

For me, startups are all about new skills and experiences. We’re now building our social media presence and actively promoting our service. We expect good profit within one to two years after our product breaks into the market and we successfully integrate it into businesses. 

Attended more professional events

We had few professional conferences in Perm, but in St. Petersburg, I have already attended 5-6 major events.  These are an excellent opportunity to meet speakers and ask them questions. Recently, I was at a conference by Sberbank where experts from T-Bank and Gazprom Neft shared their cases in product development, data collection and analysis, and UX surveys. I believe this knowledge will be beneficial not only for my startup project but also my current career.