"There were no difficulties in finding my first job—the job found me," says the CEO of Mancho about the beginning of his career in IT.

Argen Darmanov, city — Bishkek, CEO of IT company Mancho, Linktr.ee

About myself

I am the head of the product IT company Mancho. At Mancho, we work to make the world a little fairer through IT, creating products in such areas as finance — Finik, healthcare — Medcheck, education — Mancho School, and others. I enjoy my work because we create people-oriented products by solving important problems.

I attended School No. 20 and Physics and Mathematics School No. 61. After the ninth grade, I left because I lost interest in studying and enrolled in the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University (KRSU) in the field of "Accounting and Economics," but I did not learn much there. After college, I entered the Central Asian University (CAU), where I was fortunate to study for one semester on an exchange program in the United States at Rockford University, majoring in Political Science. At the Central Asian University (CAU), I graduated with a degree in "International Relations" with a focus on regional conflicts, which often surprises people since I have been working in IT for more than five years now.

About my first job in IT

I got into IT by chance. From the age of 18, I was involved in volunteering and social projects, mainly as a project manager. For nearly three years, I worked in the international youth organization AIESEC, where I acquired many useful skills. I was already known for my projects, so in 2019, I was invited for an interview at KAPOU, founded by Azis Abakirov. At that time, I did not know what kind of organization it was, but it turned out to be an association of IT companies that develops IT in Kyrgyzstan and manages the IT Academy and social projects.

I started working at the Kyrgyz Association of Software Developers and Services (KAPOU) as a development manager.

I was 21 years old at the time. I was involved in establishing business processes, organizing management, communications, and other aspects necessary to achieve the organization's goals.

The selection consisted of only one stage — an interview. Honestly, I did not prepare for it at all. I don't remember the questions asked anymore, as it was more than five years ago.

Later, I moved to the IT Academy project. Over time, I began to lead the IT Academy together with the team, increasing the number of students and managing IT education.

While working at the IT Academy, I met Esen Sagnov, who was then a senior software engineer at Amazon. He had already returned to Kyrgyzstan and founded his own company, Mancho. We chatted a bit and started working together in July 2021. It has been three years since we began collaborating.

Education and personal qualities helped me in getting employed and finding work, but the extent of their influence is a separate question. School education gave me a foundation and basic logical thinking skills. CAU taught me academic integrity and critical thinking. University education broadened my horizons, although it is not directly related to my work, as I studied international relations and conflicts, whereas today I work in IT.

Challenges

I did not face difficulties in finding my first job in IT — the job found me. I never sent resumes or actively searched for a job; everything happened naturally.

However, there were many difficulties in the job itself. The main one, yet at the same time the most interesting, was working in conditions of uncertainty. There is only an understanding of the problem that needs to be solved and the goal. There are no other data or inputs. Further, you need to independently study, find solutions, pave the way, and bring everything to a result. There are no instructions or ready-made solutions — you need to think, act, try, analyze, and solve. This is the most difficult thing I face every day.

The main difficulty in finding the first job in IT is the lack of real practical experience. In my opinion, this is the biggest problem for beginners in any field. Therefore, it is important to learn and gain experience independently, volunteer, make connections, and build a portfolio to demonstrate when looking for a job.

3 tips that will help you find a job in IT

1. Study a lot and learn independently. There is no limit to what we can learn.

2. Set a goal. If you have a clear goal and you know exactly which company you want to join, study it thoroughly from all available sources and prepare specifically for it. It could be a local company where you will have more chances to get hired if you prepare well.

3. Volunteering is very helpful: implement free social projects for your portfolio, attend events, meet people, and build your first connections. This is important.