Here’s the thing: in a job market that’s more unpredictable than ever, standing still can feel like falling behind. Whether you’re actively looking for a new role or just hoping to sharpen your skills and stay employable in the long run, sometimes the best thing you can do for your career is to attend community events.
We’re not saying that because we at Gurtam believe in some generic idea of networking. We’re also not speaking hypothetically here. This comes from our own experience and the stories of colleagues who’ve seen how just showing up can open doors you didn’t even know were there.
Here’s how industry events in tech (whether internal, external, or anything in between) can quietly but seriously change the game for your growth.
Networking that feels good
Let’s be honest: networking doesn’t always come easily, especially in tech. Many of us got into this industry because we don’t necessarily enjoy shaking hands and swapping business cards, at least not regularly. But in a complicated world like ours, connecting with people outside your usual circle isn’t just nice. It’s one of the fastest and most organic ways to grow.
Tech events gather developers, product managers, QA engineers, designers, and data scientists under one roof. And when those cross-disciplinary conversations happen, you see your work and career path through a broader lens. That kind of cross-pollination doesn’t just spark new ideas. It helps you rethink how you approach your challenges.
A Forbes article notes that engaging with professionals from different fields can sharpen your problem-solving skills by exposing you to different ways of thinking.
In 2024 alone, Gurtam hosted 9 external events that brought together over 1,000 attendees in total. That kind of social and professional exposure could take years to build within a single workplace. If you’re with a smaller company, it just won’t happen because you don’t have that many people around anyway.
And that’s just our calendar — imagine the breadth of insights and ideas you’d walk away with by simply having a few real conversations at each one. But if you start showing up at relevant events beyond just the ones hosted by Gurtam, your exposure to new ideas, experts, and opportunities only grows from there.
Irina Sherborne,
Founder of Sherborne Consulting, Process Consultant, and Business Agility Coach
“All in all, it (Gurtam Marketing Meetup) wasn’t just a good networking event — I was pleasantly surprised to see what a great crowd it was. We even bumped into people from all over the world.”
Real learning opportunities
We live in a golden age of online learning. You can binge-watch Python bootcamps on Udemy anytime, anywhere. But while that kind of learning has its place, something critical often gets lost: real-time dialogue, context, and the chance to challenge or clarify ideas on the spot.
That’s where in-person, case-based events really shine.
They offer what self-paced resources can’t — practical, local, and interactive spaces where you’re not just consuming knowledge but actively engaging with it. Where you ask questions, see how others approach the same problems, and walk away with a more grounded understanding.
44% of students report they can express ideas and ask questions more easily during in-person classes, compared to just 22% in remote settings. Additionally, 55% of students understand material better in face-to-face environments, and 53% feel more engaged with the content. For professionals, it’s no different.
In Vilnius, where our head office is located, we see a lack of events in the format of case-based training. In our office, we organize 6-8 meetups annually for IT professionals, and they fill up fast.
These aren’t just lectures. They’re real stories from the field, shared by people who’ve been through the fire and are generous enough to talk about what worked and what didn’t. Over the past year, we've had to close registration at least a week before the event starts to avoid overbooking.
Elena Shylko,
Software Engineer at Gurtam
“The best part of our Python events is when people start asking questions I didn’t expect. That’s when the real conversation starts. You won’t get that from an on-demand course.”
Career growth and job opportunities in the 2025 job market
These days, the landscape of job hunting has changed dramatically for tech workers. Landing a decent role now requires much more effort and time, and between AI filters and automated applicant tracking systems, it’s no wonder many great candidates never make it through and feel discouraged.
This is precisely why showing up — physically, in a room full of people — matters more than ever. You can’t automate human connection. When you meet someone face to face, whether it’s a recruiter, a hiring manager, or a future teammate, you create a level of trust and context that no application can match.
70% of the jobs are not published publicly, and 85% are filled through networking.
We’ve seen it happen, over and over again, at Gurtam events.
Here’s a story about Mariia, a recent addition to our Wialon Platform team. A couple of years ago, she attended one of the Python events we helped organize purely out of interest and a love for the community.
Mariia wasn’t actively job hunting at the time. She had even declined a recruiter from Gurtam in the past. But at a recent meetup, she ended up chatting with one of our team members, Nina, Talent Acquisition Specialist at Gurtam. The conversation wasn’t planned or formal; it was just two people connecting over shared interests. And it turned into a career move.
Mariia Ibragimova,
Python Developer at Gurtam
“At their latest meetup for developers, Gurtam announced they were hiring. I saw how many people were interested and thought, ‘Why would they even choose me?’ But then Nina smiled at me; I smiled back — I didn’t even know who she was. We started talking, and things just went from there. I didn’t intend to change jobs and went to the interview out of curiosity. And yeah… now I’m a part of Gurtam.”
Stories like Maria’s aren’t rare, but they don’t happen on LinkedIn. They happen in person when people feel seen and heard.
A healthy way of learning about trends
The tech world is constantly in flux. One week, it’s debating whether to switch to microservices from a monolith; the next, it’s integrating LLMs into your workflow; and after that, vibe coding is the topic of lunch jokes. At this pace, trends can feel more like noise than signal.
But live events offer a different kind of filter. There, you get to hear from people who are actually in the trenches, building, testing, and figuring out what really works.
According to Vation Ventures, 87,8% of executives use conferences and industry events as a source of information about trends and innovation.
There’s a reason that number’s so high. The insights are more profound, the context is clearer, and the conversations are honest.
Take our recent AI meetup in Vilnius. We ensured the event consisted of grounded discussions about real-life automation, data privacy, and building scalable systems that work in production.
👉 Watch the video from the AI meetup by Gurtam: Practical aspects of automating technical support at Teltonika
So what’s the ROI of showing up?
It’s growth.
At Gurtam, we believe professional growth thrives in community, and we put that belief into action. Every year, we host a series of hands-on meetups, workshops, and tech talks covering topics from Python and AI to leadership and product development. If you’re in Vilnius, you’re welcome to drop by one of our upcoming events — we’d love to see you there! Follow our Facebook page to receive notifications about the upcoming events.
Many of our sessions are recorded and available on our YouTube channel so that you can tune in from anywhere. And if this kind of learning environment sounds like something you’d like to be part of more regularly, well, we’re always looking for curious and driven people like you.
Sometimes, all it takes is showing up.
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