AUCA Alumnus at Google's “secret laboratory”

July 14, 2014

AUCA Alumnus Tilek MAMUTOV, since 2007 the first Kyrgyzstani to work at Google, was recently assigned to the position of project manager in their “secret laboratory” referred to as Google[x].

This project is designed to solve global problems with revolutionary technologies that seem at times to be similar to science fiction. At the moment, our compatriot keeps his office at Google’s main office in Silicon Valley, California.

Tilek’s team will be working on a network of air balloons traveling in the stratosphere at the border with space. This project, known as Project Loon,  will allow Google to make Internet more readily available for people in rural and remote areas, filling up gaps in global coverage of internet connections, and restore communications to people after disasters.

 

Tilek Mamutov tells us about his work in this giant company.

 

Tilek, tell us a little about yourself.

 

I was born in Bishkek and studied at the 70^th high school. After quite successful Math and English exams I had a chance to enter to the Department of Software Engineering in the American University of Central Asia, so I decided to enroll. I’m much obliged to this university, from which I graduated in 2005. From graduation until 2007 I worked as a part-time teacher at AUCA, with classes in programming and Macromedia Flash. However, my main earnings came from doing web page design for private companies, starting from small orders but growing to projects designing web sites of local mobile operator Bitel, for example for their tariff “YO”.

         

So how did you get to Google?

 

While I was studying at AUCA, I had to upload my CV to monster.com; it was homework for one of my classes. Since then I have used this website to research what skills are topical in the world and occasionally I updated my CV. After graduation I had plans to apply to MA courses in Japan, and while I worked I searched for all possible ways to get financial aid. In January of 2006 I received a letter asking whether I wanted to work in Google’s office with free meals and game rooms. At that time I was sure it was spam, especially after my experience of contacting with some “Nigerian prince” via e-mail in my first months of using the Internet. I can’t even dream of working for Google, but it turned out to be a real message from an Irish recruiting company. After that followed the long-term process of interviews by phone and at Google’s offices, at the culmination of which then they refused my application! At that moment I started to strongly pursue this dream that suddenly felt realistic, and on the second interview half a year later I finally I completed my fight to the top.

         

How it is to be the first Kyrgyzstani working in this giant company?

 

Google is a friendly work environment and for many of my colleagues one of their personal goals in life is to make the world better with the newest technologies and other innovations, focused on users’ interests. It seems to me only this sincere service to the interests of users will lead to long-term success. I think this corporate culture started with the founders of the company: Larry Page and Sergei Brin. I would advise all to read their biography.

 

As opposed to similar companies I like that the technologies of Google are frequently free or easily accessible, or if they are physical devices Google helps to make them accessible for the maximum possible number of people in the world, like the Android operating system.

 

Have any of your projects with Google focused on Kyrgyzstan specifically? If yes, what kind of projects were they?

Shortly after I began work at Google, patriotic sentiments lead me to spend my time on the localization of Google’s products for Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia. For example: the interface of Google’s searching site, Google maps, a keyboard on the searching engine, keyboard layouts for Android phones, festive logos of Google, automatic text pronunciation, and many other projects. Now we have several translators from Central Asia who help us in such projects.

The majority of my larger projects in Central Asia were made during my service as the official representative of Google in this region from 2011-2012. The biggest example is the launch of free SMS message sending service from Gmail in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan. After that, when Kyrgyzstan had presidential elections in 2011 we created a web site where users could ask questions for candidates and these questions were read on air by the Kyrgyz National TV-Radio Corporation (KTRK). Now all of these records of the debates are accessible on YouTube. Also I worked a lot on improving of Google’s download speed in the region and helped to found an open community of software developers “Google Developer Group” in Bishkek. And of course I will never forget meetings with CEO of Google Erick Schmidt and President of the Kyrgyz Republic, members of Government of the Kyrgyz Republic, and also with Roza Isakovna Otunbaeva in 2012. Now there are many people in Kyrgyzstan who work a lot for Google’s development in our country, for example, Mikhail Ivaschenko, Murat Jumashev, and Chorobek Saadenbek. We work together on such projects.

 

What advice would you give to young people who want to achieve their aims?

 

Certainly I have had to learn many things including all of the following, but I want to make special reference and give advice on the basis of biographies I have studied of some really successful people, as well as my own modest experience:

         

1.     Study what you like to do.

In 2005, Steve Jobs said in his famous speech for Stanford’s graduates: “You have to find that what you like to do.” He gave many examples about how love to work helped him to overcome many of the obstacles in his career path. I advise you learn a little more about different professions, make attempts to try them temporarily, and to communicate with people of different backgrounds. Writer Richard John interviewed many successful people  and came to the conclusion that devotion to a job is one of the key factors of success, and I think this is one of the key factors of happiness. I am lucky, because in my eighth-grade year I was able to realize that software developing is my area of passion.

 

2.     Learn your strong sides.

Many people quote a statement attributed to Albert Einstein, and I also very  much like what it says: “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” That’s why I advise you to very carefully observe people who you think are successful and you will see that they have many sides where perhaps you can be stronger than them.

 

3.     Be enterprising and positive as much as possible.

David Schwartz’s book The Art of Thinking Clearly is very good writing about this, and I’m sure there are a lot of best-selling books on the same topic. Try to interpret any piece of news and any change in life as a chance to learn something, to improve your situation, and to derive maximum benefit from this. Learn from everything and everybody, and learn to see yourself in positive terms even though often it is much easier to see negative sides. I think it helps me to be more successful and happier, and everyone likes to be among positive people.

 

4.     Communicate with people who know much more than you.

Actually, I think almost every person fits these parameters if we come to know somebody better. Everybody (including me!) always likes to be the “smartest in the room” but nevertheless I try to communicate with people who know much more than me. This can be just a citizen of a foreign country, or totally another profession, or even just a person who thinks differently.

 

5.     Try to treat people as they want.

The Golden Rule of morality  which was invented as far as back as ancient religions says: “Treat people thus you want they treat you.” In my opinion this is a good moral requirement, but I think treating people thus they want is better. If you will sincerely focus on giving maximum advantages for people sooner or later this benefit will come back to you in financial or another beneficial equivalent, because naturally people value benefits and I think smart people value those who give benefits. This return can come back in the most unexpected moment from most unexpected person. Thus, for instance, when I was appointed as Google’s representative in Central Asia. Though it was not my direct aim, people in the company noticed my sincere zeal and passion to improve the situation in the region.

 

6.     Always develop yourself.

At the moment the Internet and smartphones allow us to get answers for an enormous number of questions, and not long ago it became possible to take free classes for an ocean of different subjects from the best teachers in the world. Web sites Udacity, Coursera, Edx, and Khan Academy are especially popular. Also I advise very much the web site of famous conference TED.com.

In the days of rapid growth of the amount of information available, I think it is incredibly important to learn to tell truth from lies or even just from errors. I advise you to be especially watchful, for instance, if someone tells you something that you want to believe and if a person of authority respected by you or limited majority of your surroundings think like that. I personally always try to specify origins, to check its validity, to do double-check information, and most often to use logic. For example, I used to think that success depends on the stars and I believed in astrological forecasts, but when I learned in detail what astrology is I understood I have to recheck all the sources and notions deep-rooted in my brain. I also think most people like to generalize and to create stereotypes, and it is extremely useful to be very alert to this too. Finally, I want to note that I consider it extremely important to speak in English because the amount of useful and new information in English is much more than any other language.

 

I hope all of these ideas will help you, and if you want ask questions, you always can easily find me on social networks. Of course, I’m very busy, but usually I try to answer to all questions.

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