Host Polina:
Hello, dear listeners of our podcast “HR at Heart.” This is Polina Druzhinina, and we continue our podcast series. Today our guest is an IT project manager, psychologist, and career consultant, Feodor Malyshko. Hello, Feodor! Please tell us about yourself and what you do.
Feodor Malyshko:
With pleasure! Hello everyone. My name is Feodor Malyshko, as you’ve already said, and I do quite a lot of things. I work as an employee at PepsiCo. I’m an IT project manager, a certified project manager, if that means anything to you. I work on infrastructure projects. Right now, we are building a new snack factory in Kazakhstan, and I handle IT there.
In addition, I have my own business: I’m a consulting psychologist working in a body-oriented approach, and also a career consultant. I’m involved in many related activities as well. I run two groups: one of my own on Telegram and another for the Association of Career Consultants, of which I’m also a member. I conduct trainings, workshops, and seminars. I also teach fellow psychologists: I run courses on “Introduction to Practical Coaching” and “Career Psychology.”
Host Polina:
Feodor, you are an IT project manager at such a large corporation as PepsiCo. You also have a private practice as a psychologist and career consultant. How do these seemingly different roles complement each other and combine in your approach to working with people and tasks?
Feodor Malyshko:
They complement each other very well. For example, the structure I use as a project manager fits perfectly into career consulting and psychology. Not all my colleagues work this structurally, but I do. And it gives very good feedback from clients: they like it because we know where we are going, what our steps are, and how we are progressing. We track that progress.
On the other hand, psychological skills are useful in any profession, in my opinion—especially in project management, where there are many people and a lot of communication.
Host Polina:
Yes, without psychological skills it would be quite difficult to manage people and align them for teamwork.
Feodor Malyshko:
Exactly. It helps to better understand what people want, how they want it, and why they want it. And then to adjust processes and communication so that everyone comes together and delivers a great project.
Host Polina:
How do you manage your time and energy when you have so many different activities? Your schedule must be very busy.
Feodor Malyshko:
Yes, it is busy. The honest answer is: I don’t manage everything perfectly. I wish I had more time and resources.
Host Polina:
Sometimes there’s not even enough time for yourself.
Feodor Malyshko:
That’s also a big issue—resting and relaxing. There are so many interesting opportunities, so many ways to stay busy. The answer is actually quite simple. I look at what I need in the long term and how it aligns with my career path. If it aligns, I take it on. If not, I think carefully: why do I need this? How does it help me grow?
For example, right now we’re working on building my personal brand. So it’s useful—not necessarily in the short term, but definitely in the long term.
Host Polina:
Based on your experience, what are some body signals that indicate a person is having professional problems? And what steps or practices can help address them?
Feodor Malyshko:
The first thing I’d mention are issues with routine—especially sleep—and increased anxiety. These are the most common problems clients come with.
What should you do? If you want a quick and easy answer, I’ll say there isn’t one. You need to dig deeper and find the root causes. When you change the causes, the consequences change too. Then the improvements naturally integrate into your life.
If you only deal with the symptoms, the root cause remains, and the problems will return—constant fatigue, sleep issues, and scheduling difficulties.
Host Polina:
So basically, there’s no quick fix for these kinds of professional “illnesses,” and it requires a long-term process.
Feodor Malyshko:
Just like in medicine. Doctors treat diseases, not people. Once the disease is treated, it’s up to the person to stay healthy. So you need to find the root cause, deal with it, and then you’ll feel better.
Host Polina:
If it’s possible to deal with professional issues independently, can someone also conduct a career assessment on their own? And if so, where should they start?
Feodor Malyshko:
Of course, it’s possible—but it’s harder. People often think, “If I can do this, everyone else can too.” But that’s not true. That’s why it’s important to check in with another person—whether it’s a colleague, a friend, or a relative.
However, since they may be biased, it’s usually better to work with career consultants, coaches, or psychologists.
As for where to start—begin with self-analysis. That’s the most reliable approach. Understand who you are, your values, your strengths and weaknesses, and your skills. Based on that, you can start building career paths, exploring suitable fields, and structuring everything into a coherent plan.
Host Polina:
Is it possible that during self-assessment a person might evaluate their abilities irrationally—overestimating their talents and skills?
Feodor Malyshko:
Of course. That’s why it’s important to check in with another person—someone who knows the market, understands people, and can ask the right questions to help clarify whether someone is truly exceptional in a certain area or not.
Because people don’t only overestimate themselves—they also often underestimate their strengths. That happens quite frequently too. So the best option is to work with someone else. Ideally, with coaches or career consultants who don’t impose their opinions but analyze and help a person better understand themselves.
Host Polina:
The kind who can objectively show both the market situation and the person’s actual abilities.
Feodor Malyshko:
More objectively than a person can evaluate themselves.
Host Polina:
With how quickly the market changes, how can consultants remain objective?
Feodor Malyshko:
As I mentioned before, I always recommend that clients don’t start with the market, but with themselves. Once you understand what you want and where you want to go, only then should you look at the market to see what suits you.
The right approach is to start from yourself—not from the market, and not to adapt blindly to it.
Host Polina:
So is it better to rely on values, interests, or something else? What should be the top priority?
Feodor Malyshko:
Not exactly a priority, but more like a foundation. I would put values at the base, and then build on top of that with skills and interests—what a person wants to do.
It’s like a pyramid. At the foundation are values. For example, one of my values is helping people. Then I realize how I can express that—through career consulting or psychological counseling. And on top of that are my skills and what I enjoy doing. That’s how the whole structure comes together.
Host Polina:
I recently read that only about 30–40% of people work in the field they originally studied. Have you had cases where someone, say, studied engineering but wants to become a veterinarian? Could you share a particularly difficult case?
Feodor Malyshko:
That happens very often. In fact, people come to me after working in the same position for 10–15 years and say, “I don’t like my job.”
Host Polina:
Then why did you stay there?
Feodor Malyshko:
Exactly—why now? These are complex cases that go beyond career consulting and move into psychology. Why did the person stay? Maybe they were uncomfortable—but why did they tolerate it? How does it align with who they are and what they want for their future?
It’s hard to figure this out on your own. It’s difficult to look inward and admit that you spent five years studying something you don’t even like. But there are always options. I help people understand these things about themselves. Even in fields where they think there’s no opportunity left, we find roles or tasks they enjoy—aligned with their education, skills, and interests.
Host Polina:
Do you have a specific practical case you could share?
Feodor Malyshko:
Let me tell you a difficult but very instructive case. A woman came to me wanting to change her job. We started exploring why. She said she had an overwhelming workload and was constantly overworking. She was leading one of the HR departments, managing a team of four people. She said, “I do all the work for them. They’re not very competent, and I have to redo things for them.”
Host Polina:
So the team was affecting her.
Feodor Malyshko:
Yes, and it created a lot of stress. She was constantly overworking and close to burnout. Because of this, and not seeing another way out, she decided to change her job.
We started analyzing her situation and then moved to analyzing her as a person—her strengths and weaknesses. And we discovered that she was hyper-responsible, had a perfectionist mindset, and extremely high expectations of herself—which translated into high expectations of her team. She was afraid of making mistakes.
There were many psychological patterns at play. So our work kept shifting from career consulting into psychology. She would say things like, “I’m afraid it will go wrong. I’m anxious. I need to double-check everything.” These were clearly psychological issues.
So I suggested we focus on those first, using a psychological approach, and then return to career consulting. She agreed. She was brave enough to look inward and realized it was necessary.
We paused career consulting and worked in a body-oriented psychological approach. After about a month—4–5 sessions—she made great progress. She realized her hyper-responsibility wasn’t actually necessary. She understood the root causes of her overworking and stopped doing it.
And it turned out—the team was actually doing a great job.
Host Polina:
So her expectations were just too high.
Feodor Malyshko:
Exactly. She would do the same work just 3% better, but at a huge cost to her energy—and it wasn’t even required. No one expected it from her.
After a month of psychological work, everything fell into place. She relaxed at work, started trusting her team, and realized she had other responsibilities—more creative ones, like developing new directions.
She became more engaged and energized. Then we resumed career consulting—but now from a different place. She no longer wanted to change her job just to escape burnout. Now she wanted to grow and move forward.
That shift in motivation is very important. If your motivation is to run away, it’s likely psychological. If you’re moving toward something, that’s growth.
We completed the consulting process, and about six months later she came back with feedback: she found a new job, passed her probation period, and everything was going well.
Even at her previous job, her energy improved. She completed several projects before leaving and worked with much less stress. She regained balance—she had a life again, not just work.
Host Polina:
You already have significant experience as a career consultant. What are the most common reasons professionals come to you?
Feodor Malyshko:
You mentioned an interesting statistic earlier—here’s another one. The School of Career Management conducted a survey and found that out of 20 career-related requests, 16 were actually psychological.
Host Polina:
So do people eventually end up in psychology or sociology?
Feodor Malyshko:
No, they come with requests like changing jobs, writing a CV and so on. But at the root, it’s psychology—lack of confidence, fear, as we discussed.
Host Polina:
That “escape” again.
Feodor Malyshko:
Yes—escape, insecurity, and so on.
Host Polina:
Are there particular industries people tend to want to switch into? Any trends?
Feodor Malyshko:
Everyone wants to move into IT because they think there’s a lot of money there and that it will suit them. But that’s not necessarily true.
You have to base your decisions on who you are—what you want, what you’re good at, and what you enjoy. For example, I have a background in programming—I studied it in my early education. But by my third or fourth year, I realized I didn’t want to do it. It didn’t suit me.
No matter how much money I might earn, if I did that kind of work, I would burn out.
Host Polina:
There will be money—but it will all go to psychologists.
Feodor Malyshko:
Exactly. So it’s better to find something that truly suits you and that you enjoy. By the way, the most common request is exactly this—searching, searching for oneself.
In reality, people don’t fully understand what career consultants do or how they can help. But very often, at the core, it’s about self-discovery: understanding what I really want, where I want to go, why what I’m currently doing doesn’t suit me.
People also ask: what do I actually like in my job? What don’t I like? What do I want from a company? What things don’t matter to me—like whether there’s private health insurance or not?
This kind of self-analysis gives a lot of confidence in future decisions: “I decided to change my job based on who I am—that’s great. And if I don’t like it, I can change again.” It’s a good strategy.
Host Polina:
Do people often come with the goal of increasing their salary? Like switching to a new field or career where they can earn more?
Feodor Malyshko:
Wanting more money alone—not very often. Usually, people want to move into a different field or industry. Again, I recommend starting with self-analysis: do you even fit that industry? Do you have the skills? Will you actually enjoy doing it?
It’s much better to understand this now—with a career consultant—than after five years of working and suffering. In that sense, consultations save both money and resources.
Host Polina:
Could you give some advice to students of the Human Resource Management department at the State University of Management?
Feodor Malyshko:
Of course. The advice is very simple: try different things, explore, feel what suits you and what doesn’t—and then develop in what you enjoy.
Host Polina:
And as a tradition, our blitz lottery section. I’ll give you a box, and you pick any card with questions.
Alright, the card says: “The best thing in life is to stick together.” And here are the questions. What are you planning to do next year? Or probably this year, since it just started?
Feodor Malyshko:
To keep progressing in all my work.
Host Polina:
What made you happy today?
Feodor Malyshko:
The atmosphere.
Host Polina:
Your ideal day in three words?
Feodor Malyshko:
Sleep, eat, do nothing.
Host Polina:
I agree. What’s your zodiac sign?
Feodor Malyshko:
Taurus.
Host Polina:
What was your first job?
Feodor Malyshko:
A library—Library System No. 3 of the Southern Administrative District of Moscow.
Host Polina:
Wow! And your three favorite music bands?
Feodor Malyshko:
The Offspring, In Flames, and something Russian—Neuromonakh Feofan.
Host Polina:
Great. Feodor, thank you for joining our podcast. It was very interesting to hear about your experience.
Feodor Malyshko:
Thank you for inviting me.
Host Polina:
And thank you for reading our podcast “HR at Heart.”