Today I reflect in hindsight over my journey into Tech, which started with the Digital Explorers program in 2018/2019.
🏈 In the third quarter of that year, Emmanuel Mimshach Obioha had invited me to join him for a video call with Mante Makauskaite and Eugenija Kovaliova from the Digital Explorers program. The goal was to design a pilot initiative for a skills and labour mobility project that will place 50 young Nigerian Software Engineers in Lithuania Tech companies for a year.
I found the idea alien and intriguing. It was also my first time hearing of a country called Lithuania.
Four years down the line, it all makes sense. We only grow when we stretch beyond our borders.
🚀I clearly recall the adrenaline rush with the team at the time, as we designed the structure of the selection process. There had to be a near perfect balance between evaluating for skill, experience and potential. There was also the need to ensure adaptability against culture shock for selected Engineers.
As the Local Recruiter on ground, I had the privilege of mobilizing a talented team of 20 HR Professionals who assisted us with the first level interviews of many passionate Nigerian Developers who applied for the opportunity.
There were series of coding workshops and mentoring sessions by international Developers, geared towards priming the candidates to stand out.
Like yesterday, I recall the project’s deliberateness in inviting and hosting CEOs & Hiring Managers from participating Tech companies in Lithuania to feel the warm Nigerian air, experience first hand our vibrant energy and be part of a coding boot camp that happened in Abuja.
😊Side gist: TeleSoftas was proudly one of such participating companies and ended hiring 5 Developers from the program.
👌It was such an immersive experience.
Eventually, 15 Developers made it through the selection process in 2019 and have gone on to record successful career trajectories. I have no doubt about the positive ripple effect this opportunity has had and still has in the families and immediate community of the successful participants. The learnings from hands-on exposure to more complex global projects and the dynamics of working with a cross-cultural team have changed their playing field in Tech.
Looking in hindsight, if every African Software Engineer looking to go global, has access to the right platform where their coding skills and experience can be refined to match international standards, the possibility of bringing the world home to Africa will become a reality in more transformative terms.
Thinking back, I am glad to have experienced the process, first hand.
I acknowledge that there are notable platforms in Nigeria doing this already like TeleSoftas, I salute them and I call for the rise of more because such innovations are pertinent now. I am also thankful to be able to continue to contribute my quota to foster such innovations in tech communities.
