"Some achieve success through defeat, while others through victory," — Muhammadkarim To'xtaboyev on starting his career in the IT field

Muhammadkarim Tokhtaboyev, Tashkent City, Head of the Microsoft Community in Uzbekistan, Microsoft MVP, Senior/Lead Software Engineer, @mukhammadkarim_tukhtaboyev

About Me

I am a senior/lead software engineer, recipient of the Microsoft MVP award in Uzbekistan for 2023, and the head of the Microsoft developer community in Uzbekistan. I graduated from the Tashkent University of Information Technologies in 2022 with a bachelor's degree.

I started programming in 2013 thanks to my uncle Salohiddin and his son Nuriddin. They are also software engineers like me. At that time, I participated in various programming competitions and school olympiads, becoming a winner.

About My First Job in IT

I began my career as a freelancer. At the age of 20, I started my professional career as a .NET developer at the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Uzbekistan. There, I contributed to creating a platform that helps people in need, working alongside Uzbek and foreign engineers. My responsibilities included resolving issues that arose in the system. Additionally, I developed a special Telegram bot to make using the system easier.

Employers tested my technical knowledge. At that time, I had sufficient knowledge and experience for this position. During the interview, I answered questions without difficulty. Since I was a student, they offered me a part-time job.

During the hiring process, I had an interview with HR representatives, followed by a technical interview and discussion with the department director.

I usually prepare for job interviews, but this time I didn't have the opportunity to prepare. During the interview, they mainly asked me about web application integration and security.

My higher education helped me in the job search process. However, once I started working, my personal skills and competencies proved more useful.

About Challenges

For me, finding a job is usually difficult, but I have the ability to build good relationships with people. My first job was obtained thanks to these connections.

I have experienced failure in many job interviews. However, I understand and accept such processes correctly. Experience can be gained in two ways: some achieve success through defeat, while others through victory.

If I don't pass a job interview, I learn from it and fill in the gaps in my knowledge. Sometimes I get upset, especially when failures occur in a row, but I understand that this is useless. It is important to constantly work on yourself and learn from any situation. I overcame difficulties through patience and constant self-improvement.

Sometimes there are technical problems at work, but otherwise, I haven't encountered other difficulties. I have always maintained good relationships with my colleagues. When technical questions arise, I contact the team leader or search for answers on Google.

Those who have just started working in the field often face difficulties due to a lack of practical experience. Usually, business owners do not entrust commercial projects to new developers. However, they can gain experience by participating in open-source projects.

3 Tips to Help Find a Job in IT

1. Develop skills in working with software

2. Learn English

3. Gain experience by working on open-source projects.