The qualifying round will end on December 10; until then, competitions in 27 tracks will commence. For each of the tracks, there are specific timespans in which the participants can take their tests, as well as sign up for the competitions.

Participants who perform well enough to pass the qualifying round will proceed to the final, on-site round that will take place on January 27-30. Students who did not take the online round, but can substantiate their skills with at least two certificates with good or excellent marks for online courses in their chosen tracks can participate in the finals, as well.

According to the competition’s organizers, one doesn’t have to be a university student to participate in the contest.

“We’ve got important news for those who are no longer university students, but are interested in our project. Due to the many applications from graduates of Bachelor’s and Master’s programs who were initially only able to take the tests non-competitively, we’ve decided to let them participate on a regular basis. This means that they can also win monetary rewards, internships at major companies and tuition-free Master’s and PhD education, as well as have their profiles included in the Young Professionals database,” explains Valeria Kasamara, head of the “I am a Professional” project.

Valeria Kasamara

The countrywide competition “I am a Professional” is the first event of its kind in Russia been conducted jointly by representatives of business, industry and universities. The competition is organized by the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs and the public organization Business Russia in collaboration with Russia’s ten leading higher education establishments. ITMO University curates three of the competition’s tracks: Computer Science, Information Security and Photonics. Yandex acts as the competition’s technical partner.  

The competition’s winners and runner-ups will receive various prizes: monetary rewards,  internships at major state and private companies, as well as their profiles being featured in the Young Professionals database that offers an individual approach to developing their future careers.

Another great opportunity available to the competition’s winners is tuition-free education at Master’s and PhD programs offered by Russia’s leading universities.

Those participants who will show good results in the qualifying round and pass the shortlisting will be able to make use of yet another opportunity: they will be invited to attend the special Winter Schools in February. There, participants will learn about the most relevant trends in their future professions, as well as the requirements set by their potential employers.

The competition’s finals will take place on January 27-30; the lists of winners and runner-ups will be published in the beginning of March.