Exciting things happening in Uzbekistan with the recent addition of our newest software developer, Feruz Oripov. Feruz lives in Samarkand, which is located in the southeastern part of Uzbekistan and is considered one of the oldest cities in Central Asia. I was lucky enough to visit Samarkand last September (I’ll save my Uzbek adventures for another blog) and hopefully will be able to visit Feruz in the near future. Until then, let’s get to know Feruz virtually.
Tell me about your career path and how you got to gap intelligence.
Back in my first year as a student, when I started studying Computer Science, I and some of my friends in university started building simple applications for local stores in Samarkand. Then I joined a start-up company with a small team, but with ambitious plans, where I was able to work with cool mentors and developers for almost a year. I had a chance to learn a lot of things and got important skills and experience. I always wanted to learn more and more, try different technologies, and expand my horizons. And one day, I saw a gap intelligence ‘We’re hiring’ post on Facebook. I checked requirements and I said to myself ‘this is what I am looking for’. I applied and now I am a gapper!
What would you do if you weren’t a software engineer?
I would still be a software engineer :)
That’s a really interesting question. I don’t see myself in other fields since I am so passionate about what I do. But if I had to answer the question I’d be a tour guide. I love traveling and I would love to show off historical parts of my town.
What do you like to do outside of work?
Outside of work I spend my free time by working out, reading books (not related to tech), walking in the park…I’m open to almost anything.
What is your favorite Uzbek dish?
Definitely Plov! Plov! And Plov!
What is one thing about Uzbekistan that most people don’t know?
I am really glad that the origin of the word ‘algorithm’, which is widely used everywhere, is associated with our country. As Wikipedia says, ‘The word algorithm itself is derived from the 9th-century mathematician Muḥammad ibn Mūsā al-Khwārizmī, Latinized Algoritmi.’ He was born on the west side of modern Uzbekistan. Another fun fact: My university is named after him.
What is one thing you’ve learned at gap intelligence?
I have learned a lot working on distributed teams (a new experience for me). I have learned all about handoffs, scrum, and weekly standups. Also, we have cool projects written in Ruby, where I can find a lot of examples of best practices and how to write clean code.
Is there anything else you would like to share?
A couple more notes about me: I am in my final year at the Samarkand branch of Tashkent University of Information Technologies and my favorite soccer team is Barca.
Do you have what it take to be a gapper? We’re hiring. Head to our culture section to learn more about open positions. We’re conducting phone interviews as we work towards flattening the curve. Stay safe and healthy. We’re all in this together.
