Azamat Abdullaev, our graduate, started working at Amazon – that very legendary company.

Azamat Abdullaev, our graduate, started working at Amazon – that very legendary company.

 

Azamat Abdullaev is a 2021 graduate of Inha University in Tashkent.

 

Azamat, tell us, how did your journey unfold after graduating from Inha University in Tashkent?

 

After graduating from Inha University in Tashkent in 2021, I immediately received an offer from EPAM Systems in Tashkent to work as a Software Engineer. I graduated from the university among the top 2% students with a GPA above 4.40 – combined with practical experience gained at the international company 3i Inc. In recent years, studies have played a key role in thisAt 3i Inc., I had an excellent mentor who taught me about Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud technologies – a skill that later became a turning point in my career.

 

At EPAM Systems, I worked on a project for the British luxury clothing brand, collaborating with leading specialists from Great Britain and the Netherlands. I worked on modernizing the corporate system, including integration with various AWS services. EPAM also provided excellent internal programs for training employees for international IT certifications. Taking advantage of these opportunities, I received the AWS Certified Developer – Associate certificate, and then AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional, becoming one of the first specialists in Uzbekistan to receive such certificates at that time.

 

A year later, I joined eTeam.io, where I was developing an innovative low-code platform. Around the same time, I received an offer from Toptal, a leading global freelance platform that only accepts top 3% of specialists from around the world. I successfully passed all four stages of strict selection. I am confident that a solid AWS knowledge base played a key role in obtaining these opportunities, as AWS is widely used in most modern IT projects.

 

I’ve always been interested in Amazon Web Services, so I applied to Amazon in December 2021 to contribute to the company’s engineering innovation. After going through all the stages of interviews (description below), I moved to Berlin and started working at Amazon as a Software Engineer.

Was it difficult to adapt to the new country?

 

Since I received a direct offer from Amazon, the company fully supported me when I moved – helped with registration, documents, and all logistics. Although at first I was worried that lack of knowledge of German would become an obstacle, I was pleasantly surprised: many international specialists live in Berlin, and English is widespread here.

You received an offer from a well-known company. Tell us about the selection process and your career.

The selection process for the software engineer position, which is described in detail on the official Amazon job portal, includes eight stages, which may differ depending on the position level.

After successfully completing all eight stages in almost 4 months, a recruiter called me and told me great news – I received an offer to work at Amazon as a Software Engineer.

 

Before joining AWS, I watched the services with interest as a user. Since joining, this interest has only increased – after all, I started developing and maintaining the same distributed systems that I once admired. To design, launch, and scale such systems for millions of users is challenging and incredibly interesting. As an AWS engineer, I have every day the opportunity to solve new, non-standard engineering problems together with some of the best specialists in the world. This environment gave me enormous growth – as in technical terms, so in professional.

 

As one of the successful graduates of Inha University in Tashkent, what wishes and advice can you give to current students and applicants?

 

As a proud graduate of Inha University in Tashkent, I would like to share some thoughts and advice that I hope will be useful to students.

 

Firstly, make maximum use of the opportunities that the university provides. A solid academic base and real project experience are the foundation of your future career. I started working at an international company during my final years, and this experience helped me get my first job at EPAM Systems.

 

Secondly, don’t limit yourself to just the curriculum. Explore what truly interests you. In my case, these were cloud technologies – especially AWS. This interest later helped me get an offer from Amazon.

 

A very important advice – be sure to learn data structures and algorithms. Don’t ignore fundamental subjects like mathematics. These disciplines develop your problem-solving skills – a skill needed both during interviews and in real engineering work. Inha provides a great foundation in these areas – take them seriously.

 

And the main thing is to believe in yourself and set high goals. I went through many stages of selection for companies like Amazon and Toptal. It wasn’t easy, but with preparation and self-confidence – absolutely possible.

 

I wish all students of Inha University great success. Work hard, stay curious, and find what truly inspires you. You have enormous potential – use it fully!