The General Director of the training center CYBERTEK, the programmer of CHASE bank in Chicago, Esenaly Niyazov told 24.kg news agency how he, a Kyrgyz from a province, had managed to achieve the American dream.
Esenaly Niyazov is from Batken region. In 2010, after graduation from school, he entered the Kyrgyz Turkish University Manas. Being a student, he decided to go to the USA through the summer Work and Travel program and stayed there. In the United State, he graduated from Madison Technical College, then Wisconsin University. Today, our 25-year-old compatriot successfully develops his career in IT sphere in the USA.
-Did you have enough knowledge received in Kyrgyzstan to study in the USA?
— I had problems with my English. I realized that even if we learn the language from the first grade, we still would to be able to boast about good English in America. Our teaching methods are not aimed at communication. I had to learn English again. But I had a special interest in mathematics and engineering from my childhood. My erudition also helped me.
— What other difficulties have you encountered in the first years of your stay overseas?
— It’s hard to get used to the American way of life, the more so, I did not go abroad before. At the age of 18, I found myself in a foreign country for the first time. I had to earn money for food, to pay for housing and college contract.
I worked as a salesman in a park, in shopping centers, as a courier, in general, I worked the migrant’s way up in the US. Almost all the newcomers have records of such labor experience.
— The largest diaspora of our compatriots is in Chicago. What is the attitude of the local population to them?
— Our compatriots are notable for eagerness and work capacity. Previously, many Kyrgyzstanis worked as cab and truck drivers. Therefore, some people think that the Kyrgyz now work mainly as drivers.
But over the past years, our compatriots have received higher education there. Well, in general, people come here with a good knowledge base.
They are gradually occupying the IT niche now. For example, 70 percent of students in our training center CYBERTEK are the Kyrgyz. I think that in the next 2-3 years our compatriots will occupy a good share of working places in this area.
By the way, training centers are rapidly developing in the USA now. They also fulfill the role of a recruitment agency, since it is easier to get a job with their recommendation than with a university diploma.
— How do you manage to combine two works?
— CYBERTEK is one of the leading training centers in the USA. We opened its branch six months ago in Chicago. We have 120 students now. We teach them programming. I teach after work, but basically, I manage the center remotely.
— Why do our compatriots choose Internet technologies? How do you assess the potential of Kyrgyz IT specialists?
— This is the most fashionable and demanded industry, which is very rapidly developing abroad. And what is also important, programmers earn good money.
Unfortunately, this sphere in Kyrgyzstan is moving very slowly. And our universities give obsolete skills. Therefore, graduates of local universities have to retrain then.
We have a lot of talented guys. Kyrgyzstan has every chance to become an IT country.
We often discuss this topic at our meetings with fellow countrymen. There are our compatriots in the United States, who have been working in this field for many years. We plan to use our experience at home and open training centers for our programmers in Bishkek.
If we create a good team, they, being in Kyrgyzstan, can receive orders from around the world, from all world companies. Of course, it is necessary to gain confidence for this. For example, programmers from India are very much appreciated in the world. Any company in the US, without hesitation, gives orders to Indian programmers.
But one must take into account that this sphere can also become obsolete very quickly. And, by the way, the profession itself also requires constant new knowledge and information, as new technologies appear every day.
