Organised by Associate Professor Tomislav Jakopec, head of the Information Technology (IT) study programme at the Department of Information Sciences of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Osijek, a series of excellent guest lectures by IT professionals was held from 10 to 13 November 2025. The lectures were intended for students enrolled in the courses Web Design, Databases, Information and Communication Infrastructure and Programming 3, but were also open to anyone else interested in IT who sees their future in this part of the labour market. The aim of the lectures was to familiarise students with current practices, tools and challenges in the information technology industry, as well as to provide advice on employment and career development.
The first guest lecture, held on 10 November, was delivered by Luka Marić, a software tester at the Osijek-based IT company Mono, who spoke about his path to employment, the challenges he encountered and the importance of perseverance. He pointed out that the job-search process is not always easy, but that opportunities eventually arise with effort and persistence. He described the various aspects of a tester’s job, from checking functionality and code correctness to collaborating with developers and designers, emphasising that testing requires precision, logical thinking and continuous learning. Luka Marić, a former IT student at FFOS, encouraged students to start applying for jobs as early as possible and to seek opportunities to gain experience, as every experience can open new doors in the industry.
This was followed on 11 November by a lecture by Davor Peurača from FINA, also a former IT student at FFOS. He presented the practical aspects of frontend and backend development of web applications. Using concrete examples from professional practice, he discussed the importance of a GitHub portfolio, independent learning and using artificial intelligence only as a programming tool. Peurača pointed out that React and WordPress are excellent starting points for frontend development, while Java is most commonly used for backend development, with .NET also used to some extent. Finally, he told students that “it is not enough to know how to code; the key is knowing how to demonstrate what you know”, emphasising the importance of learning through practice and publishing one’s own projects. He also stressed that the certificates they hold and the courses they have completed are less important than being able to demonstrate their knowledge, independently develop projects and present them, as this places them ahead of other candidates in the job application process.
Following Davor Peurača’s guest lecture, Mihaela Kolarić, a UI/UX designer at Cobe and a graduate of the IT and Publishing study programmes at FFOS, gave a lecture. She emphasised that combining design and technology is essential for creating a successful digital product: “A website must be functional, but also visually appealing.” She encouraged students to develop an aesthetic sensibility, an interest in art and design, and to be proactive and open to new experiences. She also recalled student conferences that had helped her find her professional path. At the end, she addressed the students and encouraged them by saying that in a competitive industry such as IT, regardless of today’s highly complex labour market and its constant fluctuations, the most important things are the ability to learn independently, collaborate with others and believe in their own abilities. She also pointed out that political party affiliation or personal connections are not necessary for employment, despite the common perception in Croatia that they are, and encouraged students to focus instead on their abilities and knowledge, which will take them further than any connection.
The following day, 12 November, a lecture was delivered by Luka Hat from the Osijek-based company Cobe, a student of Business Informatics at the Faculty of Economics and Business, who shared with students his experience of learning programming and his path towards becoming a full-stack developer. He explained the basic principles of SQL databases and said that only practical work had helped him fully understand and apply the theory. Although he had learned programming independently, Hat emphasised that in just one month of practical training he had learned more than during the preceding period of self-study. He sought out his first internships independently during his summer free time. The first two lasted one month each, while the third, a three-month internship at Cobe, was paid. Although he initially wanted to work as a frontend developer, Cobe recommended that he take on backend work because it offered better employment prospects, which later proved to be the “right” choice. After completing the internship, Hat continued working at Cobe and told students not to be afraid to seek opportunities and apply for internships because “every internship, no matter how short, brings new experience and brings you closer to a job in the industry”.
The lecture series concluded on 13 November with Ivan Matković from the Osijek-based company Swift d.o.o., a programmer with many years of experience in iOS development and a former engineering manager who led a team of twelve people. Matković shared his experience of working in international teams and an interesting detail from an interview with Lars Rasmussen, one of the creators of Google Maps. He recalled Rasmussen telling him that, in programming, it is more important to “approach the solution with the right mindset” than to have a perfectly prepared “skill set”. Matković also spoke about iOS application development and the role of artificial intelligence in modern programming, pointing out that AI can significantly speed up work and improve productivity. As an example, he noted that he can now create five application screens in a single day, whereas previously one screen would take him an entire day. He distinguished between two types of programmers: those who use artificial intelligence without reflection and those who use it as a tool for critical thinking and creative problem-solving. Finally, he presented his current project, the AI agent Robyn, an application that recently attracted an investment of USD 5.5 million. Matković also introduced students to the technical aspects of iOS development by comparing UI Kit and Swift UI, noting that although Swift UI enables faster development, UI Kit still offers greater flexibility and is used by as many as 90% of companies. Matković concluded by saying that iOS development remains an extremely dynamic field and that, despite the currently challenging labour market, opportunities always exist for those willing to keep learning and adapting to new technologies.
Following the lecture series, students pointed out that such encounters were genuinely useful in helping them understand the real demands of the labour market. Marko Pešut, a third-year student of the single-major Information Science study programme, said: “The guest lectures were extremely useful to me because they helped me understand the challenges of finding employment after graduation. The speakers gave us excellent advice on how to find our first job and how to master the subject matter we will deal with in our future workplaces.”
At the end, Professor Jakopec emphasised to the students that the purpose of these lectures was to bring the theory they encounter in their courses closer to practice and to give them an opportunity to hear useful advice from younger colleagues, gain insight into professional practice in the IT world and see the latest trends in the labour market. Such encounters, he stressed, help students, alongside their regular classes, to better understand the actual situation in the labour market, recognise their own interests and orient themselves towards what they might like to do professionally in the future.
Text: Roman Šimunović
Photographs: Sven Bonet
