How I got into Tech: From studying History to Technical writing

Table of?contents

• From studying Law to History and International studies
• The Job hunt
• Finding a career path in Tech
• Five helpful tips

From studying Law to History and International studies

I have always desired to be a lawyer, and fight for the rights of the common people. I wanted to wear wigs and say, “Objection, my Lord. This man has failed to provide this court with enough evidence to acquit him…”

Unfortunately, I scored 246 after writing Jamb for the first time in 2017. Professional courses like Law are very competitive. With my score, I doubted if I would be admitted to study law. I was scared that I was not going to gain admission into the university. So I switched to History and International Studies, my next most preferred course.

I thought I was going to become one of Nigeria’s Ambassadors after studying the course. In my mind, the progression was to study, make mind-blowing grades, graduate and have your perfect life.

Well, I resumed lectures only to be disappointed by the course content. It was not what I had in mind. It was more of what I ordered versus what I got. Most times I asked myself how I would apply the things I learned in the classroom to the real world. I dreaded graduation because I did not know what I was going to do with my life.

I was meant to believe that going to school was the solution, a ticket to a better life. But I am in school and I am facing the reality that it is not the solution. “What then is,” I asked myself. I felt welcomed into the harsh realities of the world. I said, “hello world, I am here now and I am going to make it.”

I understood that life does not work the way I thought it did. I observed the environment around me. I found out the fate of the majority of the graduates. They usually joined the company of confused and broke graduates. A community I never want to belong to. So I took responsibility for my life and began to look for ways to free myself. That way, I would be able to possibly help others.

The Job?hunt

I began to search for ways to add value to myself and upskill. One day I came across Skill up Nigeria’s hiring ad for campus ambassadors in 2020. I rushed to apply. I felt I had found my dream job, at least, that would prepare me to become one of Nigeria’s ambassadors.

I began my application but could not complete it, because they needed students that had excellent communication skills and knowledge of Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and spreadsheets. I had none of the skills required so I could not even apply.

For the first time, I faced true reality, like I was an actor in this scene. I asked myself, is this a joke or something? These skills are essential though not taught in school. The only option was to develop myself, learn and prepare for the future of work.

Moving into?Tech

In April 2021, I attended a Youth and students conference organized by the Anglican Church of Nigeria. Tony Elumelu was the keynote speaker. In his speech, he talked about the increasing rate of unemployment and poverty in Nigeria.

He encouraged us, young people, to gain in-demand skills. In-demand skills are skills that are needed in a particular industry.

According to him, many Nigerians are unemployed because they are unemployable, that is, they don’t have the skills required to solve today's problems.

After the speech, I researched to find out the top in-demand skills in 2021. Search results showed me Cloud computing, Ux design, Artificial Intelligence, Machine learning etc. I researched further to learn more about each and decide which to learn. Unfortunately, I didn't understand Jack about them. I decided to go with UX Design even, though I did not properly understand it.

I stumbled on Ingressive 4 Good's design scholarship. They partnered with Geneza school of design to help 1000 women to gain Tech skills in designing. They had three tracks; Brand Identity design, Product design and Graphics design.

I chose Brand identity design. I loved the course contents, and structure. But, I was not selected. 10,000 women applied for the scholarship but they only had slots for 1000 women. The remaining 9,000 women were given scholarships to learn UI/UX design at Zuri.

I googled countless times to understand what the term meant but I kept seeing definitions that confused me. The blogs I read kept saying that, UI/UX design means User Interface and User Experience. It involves designing interfaces that solve users' problems. I was new to problem-solving. I did not understand the concept. So, the definitions confused me the more.

I decided to learn the skill anyway since it was a legal way of making money. I have been taught not to follow the ways of fraudsters to make money. Rather, I should make my money legally. If not for anything, at least to escape EFCC and have peace of mind.

EFCC means Economic Financial Crime Commission. It is a law enforcement agency in Nigeria charged with the responsibility of investigating financial crimes such as advance fee fraud (419 fraud), money laundering, etc and prosecuting offenders.

Zuri internship

Learning design at Zuri was fun. We were many, but I was learning alone and I made no effort to connect or network with anyone. I had no power bank. I had no MiFi. I never knew I needed one till I started learning design and we began to have power outages. I always had an extension in my big bag pack. It was so bad that my coursemates began to call me “Amara extension.” At the sight of light, I am already standing near a socket to charge my phone and laptop.

I didn't know about time management so I missed many classes. I also didn't know about prioritizing tasks as I was juggling a lot. I was trying to get a job as a blogger at one of the media companies in my school. They had to train us first. So I was attending the training, juggling that with academics, preparing for exams and running for Departmental President at the time.

I had a lot going on. I lacked focus. I didn't understand what I was doing. I was struggling with using Figma. It took ages to design my profile card. The profile card did not even come out well after several attempts. It didn't take quite long and I was kicked out of the program. I could not move to the next stage. I missed the submission of several tasks. I was struggling to catch up with the lectures. And I did not tell any of our mentors about the challenges I was having. I didn't know that I could improve by watching videos on YouTube. So I abandoned design entirely for a year.

HNG Internship

I signed up again to learn design with the Zuri team in the next cohort. It was not beginner friendly. They were so many UX designers that they had to assess to choose the number of people that they wanted. The task was to design something. I left the workspace even before the list of successful applicants was published because I could not design anything.

Google Developer scholarships

I decided to try out something else. I applied for Google developer scholarships. I selected the mobile web development specialist track. In my mind, I was going to build and design amazing apps.

I got the scholarship. I made it to the learning phase, but the moment I opened the course content to learn about HTML etc, I had sudden headaches. I understood the job requirements of a Mobile Web Development specialist but I just could not devour the contents of the course.

Women Techster's Bootcamp

I came across Tech 4 Dev's Techster Bootcamp for women. I loved the idea so I applied to be part of the Bootcamp. Instead of choosing UI/UX design, I chose product management. I chose it because I learned that I would be working with different people in tech with different skills to build amazing products. I got selected as a participant.

I learned a lot. I was learning and writing my exams at the same time. I learned of terminologies in the industry like Agile methodology, SCRUM etc.

I joined Tech communities like She Code Africa, Ladies Do Tech, Web3 ladies, e.t.c. I joined them because there was a lot I did not understand in the industry. So I needed mentors and peers too. Sometimes, it was as if I was just wasting my time. Sometimes, I was not sure if I was doing the right thing because I seemed to be the only one in my environment then who was interested in Tech. At a point, I just paused everything Tech. I was learning alone. I was confused. I was tired of trying.

Blockchain Technology

I learned about Blockchain Technology at one of the Tech summits I attended in 2021. I joined a Blockchain campus club in November 2021 and volunteered as a content writer. I didn't quite understand everything about Blockchain. I decided to know more about it.

I attended many Tech conferences and my campus club even hosted one. In all of them, the speakers emphasised the need to come into the industry with a skill. The skills that were most emphasized were Blockchain development and Blockchain UX design. So I applied again for a scholarship to learn UX design at Zuri. I was hoping to find a way to move into Blockchain UX design later. By this time, I had read one hundred million blog posts(exaggeration), but the point is that I had consumed so much content that the definition of UX design was no longer jargon. I could explain what it meant to even my Grandma.

I got into Zuri again. I was worse at designing. My Figma board was a mess. It took more than a week just to design a simple profile card. I refused to submit the task because I was so ashamed of it.

I am part of a design community on Whatsapp. I told them about my challenges with Figma and I was given a 10 hours YouTube tutorial video to watch. If you are interested in learning how to use Figma, then, you should watch the video. If you are a fan of taking notes while watching YouTube videos like myself, then, it may take you more than 10 hours. Watch it here.

Trust me, it was not funny. I still struggled and I could not keep up with Zuri. I got kicked out again. I was frustrated but I decided to continue pushing. I just did not know what I was not doing right. I just knew I was not getting the required results. I kept on learning independently and through twitter spaces but I just could not design but I could write properly.

In August, I began to read resources about none techies in Tech. I read about Podcasters, YouTubers, and Content marketers. I had several conversations with several people who knew my strengths. I prayed to God too. God directed my path and helped me to connect with people. I built solid relationships. I am still doing that though. I took some skill assessments. That was how I found clarity and decided to be a non-techie in Tech.

I am starting as a Technical writer for the Blockchain and FinTech space. You can also call me a Tech content creator. To kickstart my non-techy in a Tech career, I applied for Writing streak and I got selected. For the next three weeks, I would be learning about Technical writing. As a Technical writer, I would contribute to the Blockchain ecosystem by writing explanatory content about Blockchain Technology.

Five helpful?tips

Getting into Tech is not easy especially when you are from a non-techy background. But, here are five tips that can help your journey.

• Have helpful friends

If you can, surround yourself with friends that have similar interests, make new friends and be part of communities. Tech is not a journey you should travel alone. You will need support systems at some point.

• Be consistent.

If you decide to learn web development or product design, stick to it. Master it. Don't be carried away by trends. Be consistent with your craft. If you do, you won't have to run around in circles.

• Focus

Don’t allow yourself to be distracted by what others are doing. Be inspired by them. Don’t be deceived by screenshots of making 1 million naira or dollars in one week. Focus.

• Don’t try to skip the process.

Success has a process. It’s unfortunate that sometimes advertising copies play down the process or make it seem trivial. The truth is that it takes time to achieve something tangible. It's a process. Don't try to skip your process. It is not going to be easy, but it will be worth it.

We are going to make it(WAGMI).

Thank you for reading the story of my life. I know I will read yours someday.

This article was originally published at amarachukwuawaeze.medium.com