Open Day 2026: Making Room for What Comes Next

By 9 AM, the house was already awake.

The banner was up, the equipment was tested, moved, tested again, and somehow one more cable was still missing, because not a single event at CodeChem can officially start until a cable disappears. Someone was carrying supplies from one room to another. Someone else was checking if the snacks were where they needed to be. The first coffee had already happened, along with breakfast from Silbo, because coffee alone was never going to carry us through the morning. ☕

Open Day 2026 was the 8th Open Day we organized, and one of the biggest so far. Around 120 participants joined us for a full day of introductions, technical tasks, mentoring, food, coffee, nerves, and, hopefully, a little less fear by the end.

QA Automation Engineering and UX/UI Design in the House

For the first time this year, our Open Day wasn't only about Software and Embedded Software engineering, but we also had QA Automation and UX/UI Design. That changed the shape of the day in a good way. It made the event feel closer to how work actually happens here. Not one discipline in isolation, but different people solving different kinds of challenges, with different ways of thinking, all under the same roof.

Or, in this case, under several roofs.

How Do You Plan an Open Day for 120 People?

Carefully.

There was no way to keep everything in one place. We were spread across the main building and a neighboring house, both within a short distance of each other. The ground floor was used mostly for Embedded (with a tiny corner for software), while the first, second, and third floors were exclusively for Software Engineering. QA automation and UX/UI Design were hosted in the neighboring house.

It was tight, but it worked. We previously had one big Open Day like this, but only in one house, so if there's something we're good at, it's definitely handling a lot of people in limited space. 😂 There is something very CodeChem about that. Not perfectly polished. Not built like a conference center. More like a busy day at a place where people actually work, learn, ask questions, make coffee, and help each other figure things out.

Base42: The Starting Point

Base42, the hackerspace in the basement of the main house, became the starting point for the day. Sinatra, the coffee team keeping everyone alive that morning, set up a small coffee station there, and people kept going back for another cup. ☕ Nobody complained, why would they?

Around the space, there were snacks and drinks everywhere: sweets, juices, water, charcuterie boards, fried piroshki, various cheeses, and vegetarian and vegan options. It was practical hospitality, with one simple goal: make sure people could focus, take a break when they needed one, and not get through the day on stress alone.

The Part Nobody Says Out Loud

At 10 AM, everyone gathered in Base42 for the introductory presentation. Before the technical part started, we wanted to address the thing that is usually already in the room before anyone says anything: stress.

Open Day can feel like a lot. You arrive at a company. You meet people you do not know. You know there will be tasks. You know there are mentors around. You know this might matter for your future internship or job. Even if everyone is friendly, your brain can still decide this is a very serious situation.

Former Open Day Participants, Current Employees

So we started with people who had once been on the candidate side of Open Day. Our colleagues gave short talks about their own Open Day experiences from previous years. They talked about how they felt, what they did, how they handled the day, and what they wished they had known at the time.

The message was not "don’t be nervous," because that rarely helps. It was more honest than that: yes, it can be stressful, but it is not the end of the world. Do your best, ask questions, think clearly, and work with your teammate. And if this year is not your year, there is still next year.

That seemed to land well. People laughed. The room loosened up a bit. The day became less like an exam and more like a shared experience. After that, there was a short presentation about CodeChem, what we do, and how we work. Then a short break. Ten minutes is not much, but it is enough for a reset, a coffee refill, or one more piroshka if you move fast.

What Happened Next?

At 11 AM, the groups split.

Software engineering is divided into a few categories based on the technology participants use to solve the challenge, with the largest number of participants in the largest category. Embedded, QA automation, and Design each went with their own group leads to their assigned spaces. Each group had a technical introduction from the person leading that area. They explained the domain, how the day would work, what was expected, and gave a short overview of the projects their teams work on.

Circuit Rescue Begins

We won't go too deep into the challenge itself, but it was called Circuit Rescue, which already sounds like a tiny electrical drama. One of our engineers even made a video explaining it, so everyone could understand the mission before bravely attempting to save the circuit.⚡

You can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOlIHqz4ckw

Learning Through Collaboration

Participants were divided into teams of two. That was intentional. Real work is rarely a solo performance where someone disappears into a corner and returns with the correct answer. Most of the time, you are thinking out loud with another person. You are explaining what you tried. You are noticing something your teammate missed. You are stuck, then unstuck, then stuck again in a slightly better way.

Each team had mentors nearby who weren't there to solve the challenge but to guide them, answer questions, help with bottlenecks, and make sure people stayed on the right track. That balance matters. Too much help, and the task stops being useful. Too little help, and the day becomes a stress test instead of a learning experience. The goal was to see how people think, communicate, and approach an issue when the answer is not immediately obvious.

Candidates could also take breaks whenever they needed. Coffee, water, snacks, fresh air, a quick reset. This was not treated like a weakness. It is just how people work, especially on a long day.

The People Behind the Event

Around 100 CodeChem employees helped keep everything on track. Mentors, organizers, people fixing technical issues, people refilling snacks, people moving around between rooms and buildings, checking what was needed, and handling it.

There were also colleagues who made sure we didn't miss a single moment of this event, and everything was properly photographed and filmed. The goal was not to make it look perfect, but to catch the real rhythm of the day: people thinking, asking, explaining, taking breaks, and getting back to work.

Food, Dogs, and the Post-challenge Feeling

At some point, Jojo’s burger truck arrived and set up on the pavement in front of the building. The grill started, and after that, the burger stand needed no announcement.

After a long day of coding and designing, discussions, and focused work, the burgers felt well deserved.🍔 There was draft beer too, which helped shift the mood from "I hope I did okay" to "okay, I survived this."

Right after the burgers, with everyone fed and noticeably more relaxed, we gathered for the kind of group photo that takes a few minutes to organize and about ten people to direct. Candidates, mentors, organizers, and everyone who helped during the day squeezed in together. It was crowded, loud, and slightly chaotic, which was exactly the kind of ending this Open Day deserved.

And because this is our current location, our unofficial mascots were part of the day too. They say animals can feel good energy; that's why every year during Open Day, we have some doggos in the yard, waiting to be petted and fed, 🐶 and to enjoy the joy and attention of so many people in one place.

Last Open Day at Rimska 25

This part is a bit emotional for all of us, as it is probably our last Open Day at Rimska 25. As CodeChem grew, and we all grew, we're moving to our new offices very soon, and we're all looking forward to it. This place will be missed for sure, but a modern space, more room, a better setup, and fewer logistical hurdles will feel very good.

Still, there is something meaningful about closing this chapter with one of our biggest Open Days so far. We are ready for more room, but we will miss the strange, warm chaos of making it all work here.

Why Open Day Still Matters

Open Day is probably the best opportunity to join CodeChem. The majority of our colleagues came through this path, including many of the people who now mentor, lead teams, give talks, and help organize the same kind of day they once attended as candidates.

The Cycle Continues

That loop matters.

It starts with someone walking in, unsure of what to expect. Then comes a teammate, a challenge, a few questions, a few moments of being stuck, and a mentor who helps without taking over. A few years later, that same person might be standing in front of the next group, making the day feel a little less scary for someone else.

That is how a culture becomes real.

Not by saying “knowledge sharing” in a presentation, but by making time for it. Not by claiming “mutual support” as a value, but by having mentors available throughout the day and colleagues who stay available long after it, for questions, advice, career steps, and the occasional mild panic. Not by talking about career growth in abstract terms, but by giving students and young professionals a real point of entry.

Until Next Time

The day ended around 5 PM with Costa's final words. He thanked the candidates for showing up, encouraged them to keep going, and closed the day with support for whatever comes next: studies, careers, another attempt, another year, another chance.

Open Day 2026 was crowded, busy, a little chaotic, well-fed, highly caffeinated, and very human, which is probably the right way to remember it.

Until our next one,

• CodeChem.