Finding a perfect employee has become a real challenge in today’s world. Especially when we are talking about trending professions, such as software developers and engineers, needed in almost every industry. No exception to the situation is Omega Shared Service Centre (SSC), located in Lithuania, Klaipėda Science and Technology Park, which focuses on software systems development for the world’s leading players in the oil and gas industry and the public sector.
The Norwegian based IT company is always in search of professionals with the perfect skills set. People with required master’s degree are getting increasingly harder to find due to the tendency to take a more hands-on approach to study subjects. Omega is adapting to challenges, searching for talents they intend to recruit and are constantly expanding.
Top of their class
Today Omega has over 30 dedicated top-tier specialists working with software systems development in Klaipėda. Looking globally, Lithuanians working in Omega are recognised as of the highest aptitude by the whole Omega corporation. Omega’s SSC employees are very competent problem solvers, even when it comes to complex situations in need of disentanglement.
Successful examples of top talents in Klaipėda speak for themselves. Aleksej Širokij, who recently created a new Pims Cost Management department in Klaipėda SSC, started his career with a training program, having the minimum business knowledge and with time proved to be a real success story. Working at Omega Aleksej gained interest in Cost Control discipline while working on different customer implementations around the world and even spent several years in Switzerland working as a cost engineer on a huge international gas delivery project. With 10 years of experience in Omega and now having extensive knowledge in Cost Control, Aleksej has chosen to come back to Lithuania to continue his work in Klaipėda division where he is training highly skilled professionals with a focus on this projects control discipline. They would then take important roles in implementations of Pims Cost Management module for clients, providing support and training to other Omega departments, and further improving related Pims products.
The correct frame of mind
There are rumours that it is hard to get employed in Omega. However, the reality is rather the opposite. Vadim Narožnij, the director at UAB Omega Technology in Klaipėda says that the company has a very responsible attitude when it comes to new employees. They thoroughly evaluate every candidate and make sure the selected ones get an invitation to come for an interview. In cases when a candidate has the inadequate technical knowledge, Omega might offer a special training program that can help showcase a candidate’s potential.
“If a person wants to become a software engineer but has little practical skills, we feel determined to help him achieve that. We have multiple examples of candidates starting out by just having hobby-level technical experience who demonstrate vigorous inner motivation to learn fast and become a professional. When it comes to candidates without a university degree, usually it’s the capabilities and individual traits that define his or her success,” – explains V. Narožnij.
The successful concept of the start-up training for new employees and trainees alike is called Appframe Certification Program. The training consists of a prepared set of study material and practical tasks spanning 2-4 weeks which can be performed independently, in the office or at home. Even though the assignments are completed individually, the candidates’ progress is monitored by the training coordinator who provides feedback, hints and advice. When theoretical and practical parts are completed, a trainee has to pass the certification exam based on what they have learned followed by an optional personal practical development task, for students often combined with the final thesis topic. This conceptual training method allows the candidates to demonstrate their otherwise hidden potential, capacities and in a very short time cover the basics, that are required for joining any of the Omega’s teams, ranging from Technology to Customer Support.
A particular set of skills
Even though Omega takes every candidate seriously and tries to help him/her out, there are some baseline requirements to be met. A place in the company calls for a solid knowledge of database design, requirements management, systems engineering methodologies and skills with tools Appframe is based on: Microsoft SQL Server, .Net and the modern web technologies, like HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript.
“We realized that every future employee can come with hidden talents, thus we started to look into candidate’s general understanding of basics, their ability to grasp new information and quickly take advantage of the new tools and methods of software development that they are presented with,” – adds the director.
When evaluating candidates, Omega gauges many other aspects, not just the technical knowledge, skills or experience. Of great importance is the ability to self-organize and work independently when required, balanced with good communication skills. High enough English proficiency is also necessary, because of regular communication with teams or customers from all over the globe. As most of the Omega’s projects are already international – either being geographically distributed or having the project team of experienced professionals from around the world – English is the established official language of communication.
“Advantage” over others
SSC in Klaipėda has witnessed slow but steady growth. Employees at Omega say that the atmosphere of openness, engagement, honesty, dedication and responsiveness combines into a working environment in which it is pleasant to be, create and achieve your full potential.
“Omega has a culture of involving employees in improving the company and its products. Via internal communication channels, all employees are welcome to submit suggestions for improving office environment, processes, products and more. However, most suggestions don’t even need to be written since every employee in Omega can openly say his or her opinion and be sure it will be heard and responded to,” – states V. Narožnij.
Klaipėda’s SSC also inherits Omega’s employee welfare program “Advantage”, where all employees are welcome to join teambuilding events (local and global) and book holiday houses for their vacations. The program is playfully point-based. Employees receive monthly points and points for personal achievements, physical exercise and other company initiatives. For example, every spring employees are motivated to “cycle to work” for two months and collect “Advantage points” every time one forgoes the car and contributes to less traffic congestion when coming to work by foot or a bicycle.
Apart from the welfare program, Omega SSC also motivates its employees by giving bonuses for qualification certificates making sure employees are continuously updating their knowledge base and raising their competencies in the professional area.
Does Omega SSC appear to be a dream job? Are You up for challenges and an international adventure? Then it is settled – take a look at open positions and become a part of Omega!
Klaipėda ID inf.
