Confusions in tech recruiting: learning IT terms with Lucky Hunter

IT recruiting is a very multifaceted profession that requires a deep understanding of technologies, professions, roles in the tech world. What's more important, there are many terms in the tech world, the meaning of which we can easily fail to understand correctly.

Sad but true: ignorance is no defence. Confused a Systems Analyst with a Big Data Analyst? Were searching for Product Manager in the company, but it turned out that you had to find a Project Manager? Selected 400 CVs of Java-developers for the position of a JavaScript-developer? As a result, not only your reputation suffers but also the reputation of all tech recruiters.

We'll try to bring an end to these misconceptions once and for all and keep up our common reputation. On the agenda: Product / Project Manager, Team Leader and Tech Leader, UX and UI designers, Java / Javascript. And for everyone out of subject, we'll describe the differences between an HR specialist and an IT recruiter.

Product/Project Manager

To see the differences between positions, let's determine what terms "project" and "product" mean.

Product

This is what the IT company builds, the core of the entire organization, something tangible and infinitely modifiable. To maintain and improve a product, a lot of various projects are launched.

Project

This is a large-scale task set for the development of various parts of the product. This is a process, but it's limited by budget and time.

It turns out that Project Manager is responsible for the project's implementation and development, monitors processes, establishes communication between Team Leaders and business. As a rule, there are several Project Managers at the company.

Product Manager is responsible for the entire product. He cares not so much about the company's projects as the impact of these projects on the product itself. Product managers figure out such questions as: who uses the product? How can the product be improved? What features can be added in order to make it better? How to attract new users and retain them?

Unlike Project Managers, Product Managers are involved not in operation processes or team management, but in market research, analytics, and the search for new solutions for product development.

P.S. Product Managers are in the TOP 10 most in-demand tech specialists of 2020. Recently, we wrote an article about this, in which, by the way, we've described the difference between System and Business Analysts.

Team Leader/Tech Leader

As in the case of Product / Project Managers, let's turn to the terminology.

Team Leader

Team Leader manages the development team, establishes communication between the team, is often responsible for the staff selection, as he knows the features of the team like the back of his hand, builds communication with the business, and solves conflict situations within the team.

Tech Leader

Tech Leader is responsible for the implementation of the technical component of the processes. They have a good understanding of the product, know how to improve it, offer architectural solutions, implement new engineering practices.

Despite the fact that Tech Leader and Team Leader are responsible for different processes, they have something in common: specialists have good leadership skills, take the initiative, and often get their roles in the natural way (because, as we know, no initiative goes unpunished :)).

To a great extent, it's not a separate tech speciality, but rather the role that the most outstanding team members occupy. Inside young teams or when creating new projects, Team Leaders and Tech Leaders are being searched for from the outside.

UI/UX Designers

Let's start from a simple part - definition.

UX-design

This is a User Experience (UX). This is a story about design functionality, the sensations that users get when working with the interface. The UX designer is responsible for making it convenient for people to use it, follow links, and easily perform targeted actions.

UI-design

This is the User Interface (UI). This concept includes beautiful design, well-developed color solutions, well-chosen illustrations.

It turns out this way: the UI designer works on the design, and the UX designer decides how to arrange it in the most convenient way for the user. Of course, UX and UI can't exist without each other, and often one specialist combines the functions of a UX and UI designer, but still these concepts are different, and you should definitely not confuse them.

Java/JavaScript

The confusion of these concepts has long been a classic for jokes in tech recruiting. In order to put an end to this mess, we are going to tell you about the key difference.

Java

It's an object-oriented programming language. It's used to develop websites or mobile apps on Android. The Java language is used in Backend development. Today it is one of the top programming languages: it is used by the largest tech companies in the world, such as eBay, Amazon, Yahoo !, LinkedIn.

JavaScript

This is an object-oriented scripting programming language. Originally it was used to create scripts for HTML pages. Remember when you visit the site, you see beautifully animated pages or button highlights- this is all JavaScript's merit. This is a key skill for Frontend development, and it has no commerce with Java.

By the way, their similar names are nothing more than a simple marketing ploy. JavaScript was originally named LiveScript, but with the sharp growth in popularity of Java, inventors decided to rename it. These marketers ...

HR/IT Recruiter

And finally, let's talk about the key difference between an HR specialist and an IT Recruiter.

These are the specialists of a wide profile: they hire, adapt, retain employees, most often they are inhouse workers.

IT Recruiters

They are engaged in the search, selection, interviewing and hiring of IT-specialists. They can work both inhouse or in the agency. The scope of tasks for IT recruiters is less wide, but more often, focuses specialization allows to select personnel more professionally.

Polina Barabanova

Content Manager at Lucky Hunter

Specializes in tech staff recruitment, startups, tech research, career, HR, and news topics. With her expertise, she provides valuable insights and practical advice to navigate the ever-evolving tech industry.