Ikram Babajnov works as a Senior Software Engineer. He is originally from Uzbekistan and started working at ImmoScout24 two years ago. In the interview he told us about his biggest challenge that comes along with moving to Germany, what he likes most about his job and which advice he would give to someone who wants to move to Germany.
1.Where are you originally from and what is your job at ImmoScout24?
Ikram: I’m from Uzbekistan, Central Asia. Khorezm oasis, the region I grew up, is surrounded by two deserts and sunshine throughout the year. It is worth mentioning that the ancient Khiva city in Khorezm, also known as a museum city, is under the open sky and deserves a visit. Everytime I hear the word algorithm it reminds me of Khorezm, the place where it derived from.
I work at ImmoScout24 as a Senior Software Engineer in the Trust and Safety team. The main goal of our team is to detect and prevent the occurrence of fraud in our system. We work closely with the Customer Care team to achieve our goal.
2. How many languages do you speak?
Ikram: I can speak in Uzbek, English and Russian. I talk in Uzbek to my family and friends from Uzbekistan. English is the main language that I use at work and outside of home in Germany.
3. What has been the biggest challenge moving to and working in a new country such as Germany?
Ikram: I joined Scout24 2 years ago. After working 2 weeks in the office, the Covid-19 pandemic kicked in and we all had to work from home. At that time, I was searching for an apartment and luckily our company supports relocated employees in finding an apartment. Therefore, I found my first apartment quickly. Later I searched for a bigger apartment for my family, and it was challenging. Finding the right apartment took months since I don’t speak German and Covid-19 pandemic caused a lot of problems.
It was not really a challenge, but I had to make a lot of adjustments to coordinate my appointments before visiting, signing contracts, sending and receiving letters.
4. How does your individual background influence your work at Scout24 and with your team?
Ikram: Before joining ImmoScout24 I managed various tech stacks like mobile, web, backend development and it’s helping me a lot in my daily job. I’m generally interested in security related topics, and it has helped me to focus on the specific areas when we create or improve our products.
5. What do you enjoy about your job here at ImmoScout24?
Ikram: I see a lot of opportunities in our company. Employees can have a development plan for their profession and career and our company fully supports it. Also, there are a lot of other teams who support us to achieve our objectives as quickly as possible. For example, the Application Platform and Employee Tech teams maintain our app, cloud infrastructure and equipment so I can concentrate more on our cycle goals.
In addition, we have a modern and smart office in the very heart of Berlin.
I’m pleased to work in a company that helps people find their next home easier and faster.
6. Which advice do you have for someone who wants to move to Germany or who just recently moved to Germany?
Ikram: Finding apartment, kindergarten and school takes time, especially in big cities. You need to start the search earlier in order to have the chance of choosing between available options. Speaking German is still important even though English is very widely spoken in Berlin.
