On September 19, the N-iX office in Kraków became a meeting point for people at very different stages of their tech journeys, as N-iX hosted the Mate academy Community Meetup. The city wasn’t picked at random: the Mate academy community chose Kraków in a vote, and the afternoon was built around the people who asked for it.
The event brought together current Mate academy students, graduates who had already started their careers in IT, and tech professionals. It was an afternoon of practical knowledge, honest conversations, and opportunities to meet in person with people who usually know each other only through the learning platform and online chats.
A community in real life
The idea behind the meetup was simple: to create an open, welcoming space where people changing careers could connect, ask questions, and see that a path into tech is real and within reach.
Throughout the afternoon, participants enjoyed:
- Welcome coffee to set a relaxed, friendly tone.
- A practical talk on recruitment and job searching in IT.
- Inspiring stories from Mate academy graduates.
- Networking and open conversations about growth and upskilling.
- Gifts from Mate academy and an informal get-together after the official part.Knowledge you can use the next day
Knowledge you can use the next day
The core of the program was a talk by Kamil Chochla, Senior IT Recruiter at N-iX, titled “IT Is Recruitment: LinkedIn, AI, and Recruitment Processes.” Kamil took participants behind the scenes of IT hiring and focused on three key areas:
- Recruiters search for candidates on LinkedIn using Boolean search. AND, OR, and NOT operators help them combine skills, cover synonyms, and filter out irrelevant profiles (for example, Java NOT JavaScript). Kamil also showed what recruiters pay attention to and shared tips on building a profile that actually gets found.
- Recruiters use AI to prepare for kick-off calls with hiring managers, draft interview questions, and take notes. Candidates can use it to polish their CVs, analyze job descriptions, and prepare for interviews.
- A typical recruitment process includes an HR interview to assess fit and salary expectations, a technical interview to verify skills and problem-solving abilities, a meeting with the hiring manager to discuss the project, and, in some cases, a meeting with the client.
The talk ended with a Q&A session, where students asked questions about their own job searches. For those preparing to enter the IT industry, it offered a valuable look at the hiring process from a recruiter’s perspective.
Proof that change is possible
One of the most inspiring parts of the meetup came from Mate academy graduates Ewa Karnia and Adam Truszkowski. They shared their own journeys into IT, showing current students what growth after completing the course can look like and encouraging them to take their next steps.
Their stories sparked open conversations about what comes after the first job – continuous learning, new skills, and long-term growth in tech.
Community insights
At N-iX, we’re glad to support people taking their first steps into tech by sharing our experience and creating opportunities to meet and learn from each other. Welcoming the Mate academy community to our Kraków office was also a chance to hear about their experiences and perspectives on the Polish IT market.
For Kamil Chochla, Senior IT Recruiter at N-iX, the meetup was also an opportunity to hear directly from people preparing to enter the industry:
“When you’re looking for your first role in IT, it can be difficult to understand what recruiters expect and what happens behind the scenes. We wanted to make that process clearer and give participants space to ask questions about their own job searches. I especially enjoyed the Q&A and hearing their experiences and perspectives on the Polish IT market. These conversations are valuable for us as recruiters, too, and I hope everyone left with a few practical ideas they could put into action.”
For the Mate academy team, events like this are a reminder of why the work matters. Magda Majcher, Partnership Manager and PL Flex Team Lead at Mate academy, shared:
“This is probably the most beautiful part of our work – seeing the change. Remembering you as students, and later meeting you as graduates – with a job, more self-confidence, and a sense that you are truly on the right path. Seeing how, despite work, family, and many other responsibilities, you find time to learn, grow, and fight for the change you once only dreamed of.”
Together, these perspectives capture the spirit of the afternoon: a community grows stronger when people share their experiences, inspire each other, and show that a career change is possible.
Events like this show how much can happen when companies and learning communities meet halfway. At N-iX, we’re glad to support people taking their first steps into tech, and we thank Mate academy for the partnership.
About Mate academy
Mate academy is an EdTech company that helps people start and grow their careers in tech. Its practice-based programs combine hands-on learning, mentor support, and career assistance, helping both career changers and IT professionals reach their next goals. The results speak for themselves: more than 6,000 graduates have already started their careers in IT.
About N-iX
N-iX is a global software development service company that helps businesses across the globe expand their engineering capabilities and develop successful software products. With more than 2,400 professionals and over two decades of experience, N-iX offers expert solutions in software engineering, cloud, data analytics, embedded software, IoT, machine learning, and other tech domains covering a wide variety of sectors, including finance, manufacturing, telecom, supply chain, and retail, to name a few.
Europe, Ukraine