Story of two young people who acquired international IT certification without higher education
We would like to share with you the difficult and successful life story of two young employees of AzInTelecom LLC who received certifications from international IT companies without having higher education.
Since IT is a global field, obtaining certifications from major international companies is already an indicator. After completing such difficult courses, a high level of knowledge and experience in the field are required to successfully pass the final exam.
However, two young people in Azerbaijan, aged 22 and 23, were able to violate this axiom and develop themselves without higher or even complete secondary education, acquire knowledge in information security, obtain hard-earned international certifications, and work for a company offering the most advanced technological products and services in the country.
With their successful life stories, Tural Asadov and Khazar Hajiyev have proved that higher education is not a priority for building a career and achieving big goals.
22-year-old Khazar Hajiyev suspended his studies before finishing 7th grade and began to work as a waiter and operator’s assistant. At the age of 16, he began to improve himself in programming skills and independently mastered Linux and Python programming languages. After returning from military service in 2019, he took an externship exam and received his 9th grade certificate.
In 2020, Khazar Hajiyev acquired knowledge in networking, system administration, virtualization and cybersecurity on his own. In the same year, he received an international RedHat Linux System Administrator Certification.
During the second Karabakh War, he participated in the liberation of our lands from occupation as a conscript, and after his demobilization in July – September 2021 he completed an information security internship programme at AzInTelecom LLC.
Receiving an Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP) certification from an American multinational company is one of Khazar’s biggest successes in his next and current role. On May 7, 2022, he completed the penetration testing course in information security and successfully passed the exam.
23-year-old Tural Asadov is another international certification holder, who after finishing high school, joined military service and served in the army as sniper in 2019.
Since high school, Tural has been self-taught in web programming, cyberattacks and Linux operating system and continued to pursue his interest in this field after completing his military service. In July – September 2021, Tural Asadov completed an internship under the Information Security Program at AzInTelecom LLC.
In continuation of his success, he received a well-deserved eWPT certification from the international company eLearnSecurity on May 9, 2022. Having completed a web application penetration testing course implemented by this company and lasting several months, Tural Asadov successfully passed the exam.
Both young people have been working as specialists in the Cybersecurity Department of AzInTelecom LLC since October 2021.
Personnel training in IT field, specialist training in Azerbaijan is always in the spotlight and the relevant institutions are taking the necessary steps in this direction. The Ministry of Digital Development and Transport is also implementing many support projects in this direction. Within the framework of the Technest Scholarship Programme of the Innovation and Digital Development Agency and AzInTelecom Cybersecurity Lab Training Programme, some 1,000 young people have already gained specific IT knowledge and have the opportunity to work in the ministry’s agencies and other leading companies and institutions in the country.
Although Tural Asadov and Khazar Hajiyev who have not formally received higher education, they proved that great successes can be achieved in both science and business through an interest in the field they love, a determination to learn and hard work to realize their dreams.
