Usman Garba – Just get your foot in the door
Usman Garba joins the podcast to talk about the "two-minute rule," navigating the Malaysian tech scene, and why your first job doesn't have to be your forever job.
We met Usman Garba at his place in February for a one-on-one interview, where he talked about his experiences in Malaysia, turning down two job offers for a chance to work with Google and then losing that opportunity, taking a pre-sales job to get his foot in the door and the “two-second rule”.
He also shares some of his favourite TV shows and what he does when he isn’t doing technical training.
Some of the things we talked about
06.03: Insecure was the show to watch last year. Looking forward to the new seasons of Insecure and Atlanta
07.25: The Joint Admissions Matriculation Board (JAMB) and West African Examinations Council (WAEC) are the college entry exams, and I’m not sure how it works now, but back then, after the exams, you couldn’t be 100% sure you’ll get results. The exams may get cancelled, or it’ll take forever to get the results.
20.40: If you’re coming to Malaysia to study, you have to pick a really good school
24.40: I started out as a virtual profiler, calling companies to understand their tech needs and requirements. Since no knowledge is wasted, I’ve carried the experience from those days into my current role as a trainer.
25.48: In my case, even though I have a Master's in computer networking, I was willing to accept a job in pre-sales, which, at the end of the day, puts me in a better position. So, are you willing to do that? It’s making sure you get your feet in the door first.
27.14: After turning down two offers to work with Google, he ends up not getting in. What happens next?
33.45: Horror apartment hunting stories – are you Chinese-looking or do you look more Indian?
37.07: We round up with the two-minute rule
The two-minute rule is that whatever it is you want to do, it takes two minutes to get started. If I want to write a book, it will take me two minutes to get a pen and paper and write my first word or sentence. That is progress from two minutes ago, when I had nothing written.
As Newton said, an object in motion keeps moving until it’s stopped, and a static object remains in that static position. All it takes is two minutes to get in motion and keep moving.
The Other Expats’ sound design is by the Big Mean Sound Machine, and the intro was created by Small Room Productions.
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Other Expats
Shares information, tips and guides on living in Malaysia as non-white expatriates based on our own experiences and research.