"The first six months after my master's degree, I couldn't find a job," — Askar Aytouov on the beginning of his IT career

About Me

By my first degree, I am a telecommunications engineer, having studied at AUWE. I received my master's diploma from the University of Warwick in Information Systems and Management in the United Kingdom. Today, I work at Google DevRel (Developer Relations) as an Ecosystem Coordinator for Developers.

About My First IT Job

The master's program I entered specialized in training IT consultants.

I tried to find a job in England in 2009, but due to the bankruptcy of a major bank and a surge in unemployment, the situation became extremely difficult, and I returned to Almaty. However, there was also unemployment in Almaty. So, after three months, I found a job where I had to monitor equipment. Therefore, I periodically applied for IT consultant positions at other companies. But no one would hire me.

At that time, a well-known company in Kazakhstan was assembling a team. I passed the technical screening. There were four stages in total: the first was tests, which I passed. The second stage was an interview, after which I disappeared from their radar. By happy coincidence, an acquaintance of mine who worked at another Big Four company spoke with them. It turned out that I hadn't impressed them; I seemed unenergetic to them. Then they called me back for another interview, and I took some more tests. Only after five stages did I get my first IT job.

To be honest, the master's program didn't bring me much benefit. Its main advantage was prestige: companies more often paid attention to graduates from well-known universities. However, the content of the training was not related to my work. In practice, I acquired skills related to 1C and IT standards, which helped me become a more qualified programmer. Real help in finding a job came from forums and knowledge of typical interview questions.

About Difficulties

Upon returning, for the first six months after my master's degree, I could not find a job, although I was searching every day. At that time, there was a crisis in Kazakhstan, and the IT sector was not very developed, with few employers.

When I finally found a job, I faced adaptation difficulties. In many companies, there was no strict work schedule, and I often had to work for 10 hours or more, including weekends. Sometimes I didn't understand what was expected of me. Perhaps I lacked experience in communicating with colleagues and flexibility in problem-solving, as well as physical endurance for long hours of work.

I handled rejections poorly and got very upset.

3 Tips to Help You Find a Job in IT

First, use professional networking. It doesn't matter where you are. Even if I live in a village, I can go online, join communities, and understand what is currently relevant and required so as not to live in a vacuum. This is the most important thing.

Second, choose one direction. If you constantly chase different vacancies or directions, you will lose focus.

Third, apply for vacancies. There is a rule of 50: if you apply to 50 vacancies every day, you will definitely find a job within two to three months. This means you will make about 1,000 applications and receive approximately 100 interview invitations. It is important not to just blindly send applications, but to analyze them. If you have zero responses out of 200 applications, it means you need to change your resume, skills, and so on at this stage. Then I guarantee success.