The IT sector is not only about the secret knowledge possessed by programmers. Common misconceptions do not do justice to the variety of IT jobs. Thanks to recent market trends, Polish IT's offer is expanding and verging on non-traditional areas.

Poland sees the IT sector as one of the most robust industries within its economy, with IT services being its largest component, constituting the share of up to 29 per cent of the entire IT market value and employing about 140,000 people. Despite declines in international IT markets (Gartner 2016), Poland's IT is supposed to grow 6 per cent per year according to the Future Market Insights forecast for 2020. It is facilitated by the inflow of foreign investment, advanced technology, mergers, and acquisitions, which introduce diverse IT companies to the market. Over 55,000 large IT employers offer services ranging from technology & telecom (the biggest group) and BPO services to banking, insurance, and other financial areas. Seeing the vastness of IT in Poland, a popular yet thoroughly wrong idea that all these organizations comprise solely of programmers needs revision. Programming is indeed a core element, but apart from Java or C# experts, modern Polish companies seek a broader spectrum of candidates. There are a few job positions we need to keep an eye on and the ABSL IT Services Market in Poland report (2015) confirms that employers in Poland are highly interested in narrow specializations. Thanks to the professional profiles below, foreigners can see which direction to take in order for their Polish career to thrive.

Project management

This field of IT activities is on the rise and over 90 per cent of Polish companies focus on training efficient project managers, as agile methodologies are to stay for good in Poland. PMs, as they are often called, are born organizers – they ensure that all activities are finished on time and within the specified budget, launch new products and software, delineate responsibility and are the first ones to embrace change. This position is obviously not restricted to the IT sector, but its popularity in this field is growing. The requirements are pretty high and consist of a mixture of soft skills, leadership abilities and expert technical knowledge related to the type of business a company is focused on.

Business System Analysis

43 per cent of IT companies operating in Poland provide services related to the field of business analysis. Analysts of business systems are often members of Quality Assurance teams within their organisations. In this position, it is desired for them to have previous knowledge of computer science (preferably a degree), but also strong interpersonal skills and a business-oriented mind. Their task is to improve processes after having deduced what fails to work properly. This requires interaction with managers and system users, determining business system goals, and finally implementing changes with the use of integration technologies.

Data administration

Data is the new business currency and figures prove it: 44 per cent of Polish IT companies provide data-related services. Those who enjoy mixing IT knowledge with new technologies may find this area of IT activities particularly close to their interests and become for instance DBAs, short for database administrators. DBAs take care of databases within a company they are part of, making extra sure that they run smoothly and are properly secured. This position requires knowledge of database systems, so getting familiar with SQL, Unix and DBMS is a focal point for candidates. The responsibilities may obviously vary – from simply maintaining of a database, to developing it in order to adjust it to users’ needs.

Cloud services

Data storage is one of the most burning questions in modern organisations. Although there are data administration services, a specific subgroup of them has been emerging in Polish IT companies – cloud services. One of the most common positions is that of a cloud architect, who helps build cloud computing systems. Thanks to the companies can be actually based in their entirety on clouds, which in turn allows easy access to all sorts of data for all members of a given organisation. The job requires, apart from certain technical skills usually related to network engineering and security management, innovation and thirst for more visionary improvements. Choose this position if you truly enjoy looking up… to the clouds.

Testing

The necessity of avoiding pitfalls makes testers invaluable to every kind of business. Testing takes place in software development, applications and even computer games and the ABSL report mention it as one of the narrow specialisations that employers are really interested in. Thanks to the process, a certain product is proven to meet technical and business requirements that have been set forth. Testers are not necessarily programmers, but they do need to have some specific knowledge of coding in order to spot where their product is likely to crash. They can join a certain project from the start or be introduced towards the end of works in order to review it in a critical moment right before implementation. The job of a tester sometimes requires working in a larger team, so soft skills may be broadly applicable as well.

Network infrastructure

Most companies have dedicated networks, which need constant attention and supervision. Corporate networks can be really complex and may require special certifications from their potential admins, often called engineers. There is a lot of networks to work with, the most common ones starting with LANs (those limited to an office or a building), WANs (covering national or even international areas), WLANs (wireless local area networks) or VoIPs (the Internet telephony – voice over IP). Moreover, network engineers should be communicative and possess problem-solving skills – they often work as IT support for their colleagues. Their duties vary depending on the type of network they serve and the company.

The list of a few narrow specializations favoured by Polish employers in the IT sector is the beginning of arising more sought-after positions in the years to come. In 2020, the IT market in Poland is projected to reach the value of USD 6,245.8 million and the country is one of the places to look out for among other key IT players. Young graduates and older experts can all choose from the spectrum of jobs related to databases, networks, software and computer systems… The major advantage? New fields emerge so rapidly that a new niche is created for qualified experts almost every day. Staying out of Poland means missing out on some major opportunities from the IT sector.