'I did not understand what was happening': the Ukrainian spoke about moving to New York, adaptation and the path to success

Leaving the comfort zone and reaching the ceiling in professional development - this was the goal of Bogdan Korolev, Business Consulting Manager of EPAM, when he decided to move to the USA. New York met him with high prices, peculiar traditions, socio-cultural barriers and a complete lockdown, while simultaneously opening up many opportunities and saturating with extraordinary energy and motivation. He told about his experience to the publication Highload.

Moving to the USA

“After a year and a half of working with EPAM, I moved to the USA,” Bogdan Korolev began his story. - I have been working with EPAM for a little over three years, starting in 2018. Then I came to the position of Business Analyst and rose to Lead in this specialization. Due to my job responsibilities, I often visited the United States to work with clients, and during one of these business trips, my colleagues suggested that I go through an internal interview and transfer to the EPAM office in New York. "

At that moment, Bogdan did not have any specific plans for the move and he was skeptical about this initiative of the management. But in the end, all stages of the interview were successful and he was invited to the United States.

“At that moment I felt that I was ready for a change. I was offered a choice of two cities to live and work - Jersey City and Boston. Jersey is located right outside New York, although, in fact, it is a different state. Before, I was already in New York, but only in Manhattan, but I did not know anything about the state of New Jersey. I really like Boston, I've been there, but it's a very cold city. Since I don't like extreme cold, the choice was obvious for me. So, after a year and a half of work in the company, I moved to the USA, and my job has changed significantly, ”says Korolev.

"The job has changed significantly"

He moved in a few months before the start of the pandemic. Lockdown made colossal adjustments to Bogdan's work. When COVID-19 fell on his head, he had to choose projects from the hottest at that time.

“I ended up in a different domain, although I performed similar functions. The range of work and responsibilities has expanded greatly. Over the past year and a half, I have had to grow significantly and shift my focus from business analysis to Product Management. To do this, I had to study a lot, get certificates, since this is important in the USA. So, for example, I finished courses in product management at Cornell University, ”Korolev shared his career growth experience.

Most often, he works on the client side, as he must keep constant contact with his team: before quarantine, he spent three days a week in the client office and two days in the EPAM office in Manhattan or at home.

“My position does not imply writing code, most of the working time consists of various communication: with the client's team, with our development team, and other stakeholders. The working day usually starts at 5: 00-7: 00 am: every morning you pick up your phone, you see about a hundred messages, and you need to immediately determine the most priority and “hottest” one among this array, ”says Bogdan.

On the subject: Black bread, bacon and haute French cuisine: how a Ukrainian in New York feeds Americans with secret dinners

In the company, he is as close to customers as possible, since all stakeholders are located in the United States, in his time zone. Accordingly, his task is to communicate with the client, find out what is most important, "what is on fire", obtain approval, conclude contracts and analyze problem cases. If necessary, you also have to set tasks for other specialists.

“Therefore, until 13.00-14.00 I sit on calls. My main job is to negotiate and help the developers to do their job correctly or find some kind of compromise between what the specialists offer and what the business wants to make it work, ”the narrator emphasized.

He also always needs to feel the market. Clients no longer really want the performer to blindly do what they are told. It is important for them to hear alternative, new opinions that will contribute to the improvement of their products.

“I didn't understand what was going on”

“It was difficult at the moment of onboarding. When I first came to the office, even before the quarantine, my team seemed to be everywhere, just not in the office with me. For the first two months, I did not understand at all what was happening. There were quite a few Ukrainians among my colleagues, and my management was American, and they were all scattered in different cities. My main project manager was in Chicago, the designers were in Canada or Connecticut, the development teams were in Romania, Ukraine, Russia, India, and the main office was in London. I have been working here for a year and a half, but I have never seen my manager live. We are still joking, they say, if you will be in Chicago - call, ”says Bogdan.

In the office, he found colleagues who worked on other teams, and they went to lunch together. Not only with Russian speakers, because he always had a special desire to speak English more often, improving his skill. He wanted to learn more, develop, and not stay at the language level with which he came initially.

“When a tough lockdown was introduced and people couldn't even leave the house, all meetings went to Zoom and its analogues. This brought certain complications. There is an initial stage of the project, when we go on business trips and get acquainted with the client's teams in order to set up social connections, establish communication, and understand what they want from us. We are also trying to get to know each other in order to better understand the situation, to see the picture wider, because during online meetings you only accept what you are given - shown via video link. And this is not always: sometimes you just look at the black square, because the interlocutor did not turn on the camera, "Korolyov shared the difficulties that arose during the start of the total lockdown.

Such difficulties, emphasizes Bogdan, arose for various reasons. So, the team consists of specialists from different countries, each of which has its own cultural characteristics and subtleties of communication. For example, in Asian countries it is not very customary to say "no", but in the United States, due to politeness, it is not always possible to hear about your mistakes. Because of all this, precious time begins to drift away.

“There was a funny situation when the developer was Spanish-speaking, I was Russian-Ukrainian-English, and the client was English-French. I received calls, passed, connected everything. Filled out the form - it had to be implemented in a certain way. But due to the fact that English is not native to everyone in this triangle, someone either did not look at the commas, or misunderstood some words, and as a result, the developer did not write what the client expected. We, of course, quickly corrected everything. But such situations in the IT sphere are quite common. Sometimes even fully spelled out requirements, alas, do not help, ”the hero of the story shared the situation from everyday life.

According to Bogdan, it is easier for him to discuss technical working nuances with colleagues from Ukraine, which is justified by a small number of socio-cultural barriers and a higher level of mutual understanding. You can go to the team and say: "Let's talk frankly." It is easier to negotiate the business aspects of projects with the Americans - the communication barrier is not so felt in this area.

Other culture

“Of course, there is a difference between life in Ukraine and the United States: a different language, a different atmosphere, a different culture. The very first thing that catches your eye at work is the distance between colleagues. In the United States, you do not "clump together" within the same location, which is very inherent in our culture. You come, for example, to New York, and there everyone is in constant motion: they are constantly flying somewhere, all specialists from different projects are in the office, and most of your project colleagues are scattered across the vast territory of the country, ”says Korolev.

The second point he called cultural nuances.

“Much differs from what we are used to, and at the beginning I simply did not understand these differences for a long time. For example, Ukrainians and residents of the CIS tend to have black humor, while in the USA it is bad manners. It is not very correct, for example, to say jokingly “would kill you”, which sounds like “I would kill you right now if I could” - they may not understand you. For the first two months in communication with my American friends, I joked the way I used to. It seemed that everything was cool, but in fact, they just turned a blind eye to my humor. When I got to another company and started catching sidelong glances, I realized that something was wrong here. The comic threats of reprisals that are familiar to us can be taken quite seriously here. And if something happens to a person in the near future, then, quite possibly, someone can say that I am involved in this, ”Bogdan emphasized.

On the subject: The best shops and restaurants with Russian and Ukrainian food in New York

There are quite a few similar moments, and this applies not only to communication with colleagues. For example, the art of small talk is very important here - a kind of "warming up" before a conversation, when you talk about your business, the weather and other little things, smile and try to make a good impression. Often the interlocutor is not very interested in such a conversation, but this allows you to set the right mood for the dialogue.

“You speak with a smile on your face. This approach to communication, both domestic and professional, is very changing. You start to live, smiling more - I notice it myself. In Jersey, I'm used to seeing a stranger in the elevator of my house and saying something like, “Hi! How are you? How is your dog? " Our people are more gloomy, there is no such culture of joy. A short visit to Ukraine made me pay attention to this feature even more, ”the narrator shared the comparison.

Due to the lockdown, adaptation in an unusual social country was delayed. Only a year later, Bogdan began to feel more or less comfortable, to be aware of social norms (not all, but the majority). His first surprise in New York, as well as in other large cities in the United States, was the fact that there are much more people with dogs than with children.

“The second thing that struck me was that all people in the United States are much simpler. For example, I have not noticed any desire for an extra level of service. Even in an expensive restaurant, food is just food, without the superfluous pathos inherent in our restaurants. In the USA, they like to boast about history, some peculiarities: for example, this establishment is 50 years old, but here the founder of the restaurant is still a chef, and so on, ”says Bogdan.

According to him, people in the United States do not treat each other highly, but as equal, regardless of social status, which is good news.

“Again, I’ll give an analogy from the restaurant segment: even in luxury establishments, visitors do not behave with staff as if they should be bowed to. No matter what position a person is in, this is an amazing person. People are valued for what they do, not for how much money they have. It doesn't matter what your status is, what you are wearing - people talk to you because you are a nice person. Or they don’t communicate in any way, ”said Korolev.

Quickly found myself in the community

As he claims, he was lucky that his friends from Kiev had acquaintances in New York. Because of this, he quickly found himself in the community. He found other friends by chance, his first friend was a realtor, a rather bright and cheerful girl, with a special understanding of life. She herself is from Korea and has lived in the United States for 10 years.

“In the end, I rented an apartment without her, but decided to invite her to dinner, talk, and thank her for her help. Since then, we have started to communicate well. Americans are very social. It seems to me that Ukrainians really miss this. They teach at school how to present ideas, present yourself - in 20 seconds tell something that will make people fall in love with you, show the world that you are good. Their presentation skills are at the maximum level, we do not. We are very closed. Therefore, it was very embarrassing when they approached me on the street, tried to start a conversation with me, but I did not understand what they wanted from me, I was looking for some kind of trick. On a subconscious level, the thought came up: "Something is not right here, they need something from me." And people just wanted to communicate, and nothing more, ”Bogdan recalls.

Life in New York is more expensive

He claims that life in New York is more expensive than in Kyiv, simply incomparably. You can even calculate this based on the cost of renting a home. It all depends on the tenant’s request, what the house, service, infrastructure, and view from the window will be like. Against this background, prices vary greatly. Renting a one-room apartment will cost from $1 to $500 per month, and this is not the limit. And it makes no difference whether the housing is located in the center or on the edge, because in New York life is not concentrated in one place - on the outskirts of the city there may be even more places for entertainment and recreation.

“Food is also somewhat more expensive. A monthly grocery basket, taking into account the fact that all the groceries are delivered to me, costs about $ 600. But this includes salmon and shrimps on a regular basis, because there is no difference in price between red fish and meat. Salmon is a common food here. Of course, it can be morally difficult when you know that you can buy carrots from us, conventionally, for 5 hryvnias for a thing, but in the USA it costs $ 2, ”the hero of the story shares.

He singled out apples separately. A really tasty variety will cost $ 1,5–2 apiece. For one bag of apples, you will have to pay about $ 20.

“And in my head:“ Hmmm ... In Ukraine, for this money, I can eat apples as much as I like. But the range of products, their quality and other characteristics cover this shortcoming, in my opinion. You can't say where the food tastes best, because it is different. Sometimes I miss Ukrainian dishes. To knock the teeth off, it is enough to go to Brighton Beach, which seems to be "frozen" by the USSR, and then quickly and with pleasure return to your favorite American food, "says Korolev.

Medicine, he argues, is also significantly more expensive. EPAM provides him with good insurance, like the top companies Google or Facebook, and it really helps out a lot.

“A trivial moment: I have a common chronic disease, an injection for it needs to be done every two months, but one injection costs $ 12. Insurance covers all this. Ukrainian insurance companies cannot boast of such a thing. The only negative is teeth: they are very expensive to treat in the USA. One crown with maximum insurance cost me $ 000, and without it it would have been $ 600. In the US, insurance costs $ 3-000, but even if the company provides insurance, you still have to pay some part, ”Bogdan emphasized.

Any hobby

In New York, you have the opportunity to do any kind of hobby - no matter how bizarre it may seem - it has it all. Golf and tennis are popular recreational activities in the United States, although individual states have different tastes. Gyms are very common and accessible without being a special kind of leisure. At the same time, they are all equipped with modern exercise equipment, swimming pools, lounge areas and more. The most expensive subscription to the top hall costs $ 200, which is very cheap by local standards.

“I discovered tennis for myself in the USA. I also like motocross, but I did it back in Kiev. I plan to go to acrobatics again: I used to do it, recently I found a classroom and it’s very interesting for me to see how they teach in the USA, ”the narrator says.

Local residents are quite active - they run a lot, ride a bike. Bikes are everywhere, on almost every corner. It can be rented through a single application.

“In the morning you go out for a walk with the dog, and there are literally crowds of runners on the streets, everyone is doing fitness, exercising in groups. A popular topic is group cycling (exercise on a stationary bike - approx.). In winter, when many restrictions were imposed due to quarantine and indoor sports were banned, many endured cycling outside and practiced wearing masks, ”recalls Bogdan.

In the USA, sports are very popular - this is good and right. It is unpopular here to be unhealthy, to look bad. At the same time, people around in no way will say that you look bad, Korolev emphasizes in his story. If there is a desire to go in for sports, you can be sure that from all sides (even from strangers) you will feel support, which you may not even dream of in Ukraine.

Exit comfort zone

“While the visa is valid, I plan to continue working in the United States. Given my rapid growth, I am afraid to wonder what will happen next. Rather, I would like to stay there than return to Ukraine. Perhaps I will try to live in some other country - I have always dreamed of London, I must close this dream. After the experience of moving to America, I understand that it is not so scary. It is possible, although it means going out of the comfort zone, ”said the hero of the story.

According to him, in Ukraine you find yourself in comfortable conditions and there is a fear of getting out of your comfortable "shell", but in the USA you feel that you are still not where you would like to be, and you still need to climb, work without looking back.

On the subject: 'Ambassador' borscht in Manhattan: how a Ukrainian runs a legendary restaurant in New York

“In Ukraine, I held the position of Lead Business Analyst, on the whole I was satisfied with my life and career, but I felt that I was hitting the ceiling. When I came to the States in a new role for myself, I realized that by the level of my knowledge I had become a student abruptly. The difference was felt very strongly, I had to study a lot, and now I continue to do it. When you begin to communicate deeper with colleagues from different companies, you still see the difference and understand that you are good, but you can be better, ”says Bogdan.

He shared that the United States misses the depth of communication, because in Ukraine there is a sense of community, that everything is on the same wavelength, at the level of some invisible emotional ties.

Korolev says that his communication is concentrated in a narrow circle of work colleagues, with many of whom close strong friendships have been struck up. Perhaps, he stresses, this is wrong, but communication is lacking. Even in Kiev, all his best friends are colleagues.

“And, although I maintain relations, periodically fly to Ukraine, but still this is not quite what I need. In the United States, close and friendly relations, despite the openness, are more difficult to build. This is a lengthy process. Relationships take a lot of work. But you can find good friends, I know that for sure. There are many honest and wonderful people here, but in order to build quality relations with them, you need to change for the better yourself, ”said Bogdan Korolyov.