Today we will tell you about the experience of two young specialists, Ayub Kosimov and Mukhammadzhon Khakimov, who found their place in the world’s leading companies. Or rather, they themselves will share the secrets of building a successful career in the IT sphere.

Ayub Kosimov, Software Engineer at Yandex

– During my school years, I devoted a lot of time to studying English, but I did not realize how important it would be in the future. I always perceived learning a language as a necessity for successful communication, but only later I realized that it is the key to opportunities in the international environment.

In the 11th grade, I decided to participate in the FLEX program and, despite the fact that I did not expect the result, I became one of the finalists in Isfara.

And I began to master programming only in my first year at the Higher School of Economics, where, frankly speaking, I lagged behind many of my classmates. However, it was at the university and during an internship at Yandex, where I got after my first year.

In 2022, Yandex transferred two of its services to VK: Zen and News. After the deal, the platforms were combined into a single product. I moved to VK together with Zen, where I continued to work in the team dealing with infrastructure services. My task was to ensure their scalability so that the combined product would work smoothly and meet the needs of users.

For example, we adapted the News services to the Zen infrastructure so that they could interact effectively.

Another important stage was the integration of Zen technologies into the VK ecosystem. This process required careful work on the transition to new infrastructure solutions to ensure the stability and reliability of the platform.

When I first joined Yandex, my mentor helped me a lot, becoming my guide in the world of corporate culture and internal processes. At that time, I felt a little insecure, especially because of my age – I was 18 and it was a test.

My main challenge then was impostor syndrome. But since then, I have learned to cope with it, and now, looking back, I identify two big tasks for myself:

Responsibility. I realized that my career and life in general depend on the level of tasks that I can solve. The higher my ability to cope with important things, the higher my personal and professional growth.

Interaction with people. This is the key point. People are much more complex creatures than any technology, and interacting with them requires a high level of emotional intelligence. Regular small talk with colleagues about the weekend or personal interests can significantly facilitate the resolution of work issues, as it helps to establish more trusting and productive relationships within the team.

My advice to young professionals who want to build a career in international technology companies is to start by immersing themselves in the programming context. This could be studying at specialized schools or universities, or participating in various technology events, exploring specialized channels and chats in Telegram.

It is important to have an environment with which you can develop technical skills and share experiences. For example, this summer I mentored students at a summer school on programming from Yandex.

For beginners, CS50 from Harvard is an excellent course.

For those who live in regions where there are fewer opportunities, it is important to remember that there is plenty of information on the Internet. And you should not think that you need to repeat someone else’s path. Everyone has their own path, and you need to look for the one that suits you.

Mukhammadzhon Khakimov, Site Reliability Engineer at Avito

– My career began at the National Research University ITMO. In my first year, I received a job offer from Yandex, but declined because the internship coincided with the start of my studies in St. Petersburg. Studying at one of the most difficult programming departments in the CIS – the CT department, whose students have won the ICPC seven times, required full dedication. I got there thanks to my success in Olympiads: I won the Republican Olympiad in programming twice, taking the absolute first place. In my third year, I received invitations again and finally began an internship at Yandex.Cloud, combining studies and part-time work. Six months later, I became a full-time employee and worked at Yandex until March 2022, after which I moved to Ozon, where I was developing Object Storage in an internal cloud platform.

I mastered programming in Java, and simultaneously learned C++ and Python. Today I actively use Golang. To prepare for interviews, I solved about 200 problems on Leetcode and 500 on Codeforces, practiced on Pramp and with friends.

I brought my English to level C1 through constant practice: phone interface, podcasts and literature in English. My IELTS result is 7.5.

Advice to aspiring developers: apply for internships and vacancies in advance – a year before graduation. Practice solving problems, learn programming languages, improve your English and don’t be afraid of rejections. Persistence leads to success.