Hello there,
About me: I am Iwan (reach me at: Twitter, Linkedin – with ~100 positive reviews, Youtube, iwan@gulenko.ch, +41 77 986 9000), headquartered in Zug city. (I enjoy the Zuger lake especially in winter.)
I studied computer science at TU Munich, then worked as a software engineer for three years in Zurich. I noticed that many firms in town struggle to find tech talent, so I started coderfit.com to help them.
For tech firms who are hiring: I can help you find the right talent, you can leverage my network, an d you will hire quickly. Also, I help with technical assessments, advice on how to build your hiring funnel etc.
For tech talents: I can work on your resume, presentation (written and spoken) and salary-negotiation or salary-raise strategy. I do individual and group consultations.
If you want to be introduced to great companies in the Zurich region, I can help, too.
I am an author on different recruitment topics, and I have sold hundreds of copies of “Coderfit: All you need to know for your programming career” (gumroad.com/l/cdrft).
I am “Prüfungsexperte EFZ Informatik” in canton Zug, an honorary role to pay forward my experience in tech.
Here is what people say about me:
Check out my ratings by candidates and clients on linkedin.com/in/iwan-gulenko or on bestcruiter.com.
Some excerpts:
Goes straight to the point
Iwan is a great recruiter, he goes straight to the point and with his technical background he really understands what you’re looking for. it was a pleasure and I totally recommend! 2021-10-15 (Gabriele, see Linkedin)
Extensive market knowledge
Great recruiter: Iwan has an extensive knowledge of the market and solid technical skills (which is rare rare for recruiters). The positions he had were fitting my skills and expectations. Thank you 🙂 2021-10-7 (Laurent, see Linkedin)
Valuable input and pointers throughout the process
Iwan ist a fantastic recruiter. He focuses on positions that are meaningful to ones owns needs and qualifications and offers valuable input and pointers throughout the process to reduce the amount of blind spots that otherwise easily can be present in extended screening days. I highly recommend him. 2021-10-4 (Marc, see Linkedin)
No wasting time
I really appreciated the pragmatic and direct approach that Iwan used, not wasting any time. All the positions presented where a good fit with my profile. I recommend him as a recruiter. 2021-9-8 (Nuno, see Linkedin)
Best Person to Work With
Iwan is the best IT recruiter I ever worked with. What makes his approach unique to others is that he represents the sweet spot between being a professional and a laid-back person. He’s an active coder as well and that makes getting into technical details as easy as he’d be your cool team mate. At the same time, he is very precise in conversations, keeps on focus on the most crucial information and cuts off unnecessary bs. I owe Ivan a completely different view on the recruitment process. 2020-06-12 16:34:44
Superb
“Iwan was one of the best recruiters I have worked with. He does the basics extremely well. He communicates well, provided clear feedback on my CV, was able to provide access to a variety of potential employers in the Zurich area and also provides clear feedback on what my skill set was worth in the Zurich market. Would highly recommend contacting.” 2020-03-21 11:11:13 (via Linkedin)
Great experience
I’ve enjoyed the interview with Iwan very much. I really appreciated how the written and spoken interactions took place. It was nice being approached by someone with a great technical background. It will give you the sensation of being appreciated to the full length of your potential. Your persona will not be misrepresented towards a potential employer. Give him a chance and you will learn something new! – 2020-03-17 21:11:33 Senior Python Developer
It’s rare that you come across a recruiter who actually cares about the candidate’s preferences. I had the pleasure of working with Iwan during my search for a tech job in Switzerland. I was particularly impressed by Iwan’s ability to get me a much better offer from an employer than the initial one. It’s almost like he was a personal coach for guaranteed success in the Swiss tech industry. Anyone, who wants to work in the Swiss tech industry, would be lucky to have Iwan as their recruiter. 2019-07-26 21:23:14 – Java developer
Above and beyond
We stayed in touch over the course of 5/6 months looking for opportunities in the iOS development industry in Zurich. Iwan took the liberty to search and contact different companies to assess their interest in expanding their teams, which I consider to be the differentiator when comparing to other recruiters I worked with. His dedication is commendable and anyone interested in moving to Switzerland should definitely get in touch with him, you will definitely witness the difference.2019-06-21 11:13:55 – iOS developer
Example of Video interviews that I do
- 0:00 Look at repositories of Martin
- 04:32 Look at code that should be refactored
- 7:00 Look at commit messages
- 09:00 Look at React / Redux code
- 11:00 Live showing the app
- 12:15 Interesting moment: Martin says why “em” is better than “px”
- 13:35 Martin tells about his CV / his past and what he wants to do in the future
- 17:10 Martin tells about university / ETH experience
- 18:55 Off-topic: Iwan ranting about universities
- 21:00 Martin prefers 80% employment
**Asshole recognition framework proven by math:**
Let's say you have a friend who never replies if you ask them "do you want to go to the cinema" etc.,
Many people likely would consider such a friend somewhat of an asshole. Why?
1/3
High paid employee vs. small business owner mindset:
I never met a freelancer/small business owner who wasn't paranoid about their income (regardless if they're making 100k or 800k a year)
I met many employees who make 500k and think they **deserve** 500k, regardless.
Funny.
NEVER show you’re pissed, just adapt your behaviour accordingly:
👀Focus less on people who waste your time,
NEVER show any anger or contempt but don't let energy go to waste either, use it in the gym later.
I think many tech people will have to learn to live on lower salaries
7 years ago when I started recruitment, we had sys admins that had 180k CHF salaries,
these jobs are long gone to cheaper countries and these folks now either are still unemployed or work 100k CHF jobs.
Iwan presented me companies and he tested me to check carefully if I am a good fit for the desired job position. Iwan is an amazing mentor that gave me very good tips about how to successfully present myself to a company that I am applying to. Thanks to him I am able to get better salaries in better jobs with better conditions. All is about showing our best values to the firms and Iwan was who taught me how to reach that. I like his kindness to help me when I had any difficulty. 2019-06-20 11:23:24 – Senior .NET developer
A rare positive surprise
Finally a recruiter that does excellent preparation before approaching possible candidates. I never talk to recruiters because they almost never really take their time upfront to know your skills and preferences. Iwan does exactly that. He is easy going and straight forward. He only asked the important questions and still delivered perfectly matching jobs straight from the beginning. Get surprised too, I would definitely recommend him! 2019-04-16 19:38:19 – Senior Javascript developer
It is rare to find recruiters who really care about your profile before suggesting you some job ad, Iwan is one of them.
I had the opportunity to be a good fit one of his clients and I was impressed how much this position was relevant and aligned with my knowledge and experience, he clearly took the time to understand what I was looking for before presenting me some options. Iwan is very direct and honest he also helped me with resources regarding salary negotiations which I am sure will be useful not only this time but for the rest of my career. – 2019-03-03 19:35:18 – Java Tech Lead
Great
Unlike other recruiters, Iwan helped me navigate several interview processes and advised me also on employers that weren’t clients of him. With his help I got an A+ offer in a company that I really like. Iwan trained me on salary negotiation which gave me the confidence to ask (and get!) more fixed salary. If you’re a jobseeker in IT, I highly recommend working with Iwan to land your next job. -2019-01-28 14:13:44 Senior Python developer