How does the Kharkiv IT Cluster prepare students for a successful career start?

Open IT: Professions Explained by Those Who Live Them

5 workshops — 652 participants — 5 speaker companies

Open IT is a series of webinars where representatives from leading IT companies introduce young people to the realities of working in various fields. This semester was particularly rich in topics: from cybersecurity basics to team development tools and blockchain technologies.

Spring Season Topics:

• GitLab In-Depth: Team collaboration and implementing CI/CD.
• UI/UX: The art of graphic design and animation.
• Cybersecurity for Beginners: How to protect your data.
• Launch into Blockchain: Becoming a developer of future financial systems.
• DevOps: Who they are and how they empower developers.

The speakers were experts from Alitro, Netpeak, CodeIT, Chainza, and EPAM — companies representing different market segments, offering participants a comprehensive view of IT in all its diversity.

In total, 652 participants — students who now know the exact difference between a DevOps engineer and a developer, understand what CI/CD means in practice, and have an idea of what blockchain looks like from the inside — attended the 5 workshops.

Open IT builds foundational literacy for future specialists even before they enter the job market. Speaker companies gain access to an engaged audience and the opportunity to talk about their work in their own words — rather than through a standard job description.

Learn more about Open IT

#StudLeadCommunity: A Space for Student Leaders to Grow

7 events — 340 participants — 5 partner companies

Behind any change in the university environment are real people — student councils, activists, and event organizers. #StudLeadCommunity is a project for those who want to do more than just study; they want to transform the environment around them.

This semester, the community hosted 3 webinars, 1 open mic, and 3 offline events, reaching a total of 340 participants. The open mic format allowed students not only to listen but also to speak — sharing their own experiences, asking relevant questions, and searching for solutions together.

The season's partners were EPAM, SDA, Zone3000, SevenPro, and U-force — companies that supported the development of student leadership and shared management and communication insights.

IT Mafia: When Networking Becomes a Game

A special highlight of the semester was the first offline event in the IT Mafia format — an original game created by Kharkiv IT Cluster, held at the Diia.Business Entrepreneurship Development and Support Center in Kharkiv.

It is a completely reimagined version of Mafia, where every role represents a real IT profession. 10 participants played the inaugural game, where tactical thinking, persuasion skills, and the ability to read people proved to be just as important as in real work.

The game became an intersection point for students from different educational institutions — and simultaneously a live illustration of how IT teams interact with one another.

Kharkiv IT Cluster plans to develop IT Mafia as a standalone community and host games regularly.

"Coffee with CEO": Real Experience for Future Builders

Another offline format that debuted this semester was "Coffee with CEO." Students met face-to-face with Serhii Sereda — founder and CEO of U-Force, co-founder of the Factoria children's center network, and the Ekstremal paintball complex.

In a dialogue format, they discussed how to build a business from scratch, which decisions prove to be key, and what truly sets those who reach the finish line apart from those who stop halfway.

#StudLeadCommunity is made of people who already know how to lead teams, communicate with diverse audiences, and take responsibility for results. These are precisely the candidates companies look for when soft skills matter most.

Learn more about #StudLeadCommunity

Guest Edu: When Learning Goes Beyond Lecture Notes

5 lectures — 446 participants — 3 partner companies

University curricula provide a solid foundation — but there is always a gap between theory and a real project. Guest Edu narrows that gap: live case studies from practitioners cover what doesn't fit into the syllabus.

Guest Edu is a series of guest lectures by IT professionals from leading companies aimed at students. No dry theory — just live case studies, current trends, and advice for those building their path today.

This semester, we conducted 5 lectures reaching 446 students. The main partners were Law Firm "Belpart" (3 lectures), Zone3000 (1 lecture), and Beetroot Academy (1 lecture) — companies that shared real industry experience and answered questions you won't find in textbooks.

Thanks to these meetings, university studies are enriched with practical meaning, and students understand what and why they are learning — long before they enter the job market.

Guest Edu serves as a direct channel to the audience of future specialists. Speaker companies build employer brand awareness and connect with motivated students well before they start looking for jobs.

Learn more about Guest Edu

Student Internship: From Theory to First Practical Experience

263 students — 11 Higher Education Institutions — EPAM, CloudWorks

A syllabus provides the basics, but true professional understanding begins when there is a real project, a real team, and a real deadline. This semester, 263 students from 11 universities and colleges across Ukraine received exactly that through internships at Kharkiv IT Cluster partner companies.

EPAM and CloudWorks opened their doors to students who wanted to do more than just "see the office" — they wanted to work inside real processes: communicate with the team, receive feedback, and navigate tasks that weren't artificially simplified for an educational format.

For some participants, this internship was the first step toward an official start in IT — even before receiving their diplomas. For partner companies, it was an opportunity to get to know candidates in action: not during an interview, but in real work, where problem-solving and teamwork skills are immediately visible.

Job Fairs and Open Days: Where IT Meets Youth In Person

3 events — 560 participants — NTU "KhPI", SNEU, Kharkiv Regional Military Administration

This semester, Kharkiv IT Cluster reached out to young people in university classrooms, hallways between lectures, and career events where high schoolers, university students, and applicants look for answers to "what's next?".

NTU "KhPI" Open Day was held under the slogan "From Education to a Career in IT Business." Together with Kharkiv IT Cluster, NIX, EPAM, and SevenPro joined the event — and over 150 participants online and offline had the opportunity to ask questions directly to industry professionals.

Career Days 2026 at S. Kuznets SNEU was the university's first offline career event since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Students met with representatives from EPAM, NP CONSULTING, LOGITY, and CREDIT AGRICOLE BANK. Around 150 SNEU students engaged with employers, attended practical workshops, and expanded their professional networks.

"Path to Success: From Education to Career" Job Fair organized by the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration gathered over 260 participants — high school students, university students, applicants, and veterans looking for growth opportunities. Kharkiv IT Cluster represented the entire IT industry alongside Kharkiv universities presenting regional educational opportunities.

Building the Future IT Industry Together

The "Tomorrow in IT" track is an ecosystem where a student journeys from their first introduction to the industry to hands-on team experience. Guest lectures, practical workshops, corporate internships, and leadership communities — each project covers a specific stage of this journey. As a result, the market receives not just graduates, but individuals who already understand how the IT business works from the inside, know how to work in a team, and have clear goals.

We express our gratitude to the partners who were with us this semester: Law Firm "Belpart", Zone3000, Alitro, Netpeak, CodeIT, Chainza, EPAM, CloudWorks, SDA, SevenPro, U-Force, NIX, NP CONSULTING, LOGITY, and CREDIT AGRICOLE BANK.

Want to be part of the next season?

Member companies of Kharkiv IT Cluster receive:

• Access to a community of 30,000+ future specialists;
• Employer brand amplification through participation in educational initiatives;
• The opportunity to find interns or junior specialists prior to their graduation;
• Real influence on shaping modern IT education.

Join Kharkiv IT Cluster!