Upskilling And Reskilling - Excerpts from my Recent Webinar Talk

It's another beautiful day to share my story, Aside from being a community builder, I also enjoy speaking at different events, on topics ranging from technology, diversity and inclusion, capacity building, innovation startups and talent upskilling.

I had a great time with the Little Drop Students on the webinar program for December 2022, it was held on the 24th and was scheduled to start at 10:00 am with the Topic-??Upskilling And Reskilling.

Towards getting the Topic of the webinar delivered, I used the perspective of storytelling using my own case study;?I presented some interesting questions and gave answers to them as well during my presentation;

• Why is ICT important in today’s world?
• How do you up-skill?
• How do you Re-skill?
• How do you plan for the future so that you can fit in?
• What are the steps required in today’s world of ICT?
• What are the opportunities in ICT?
• What are the strategies to put in place to take opportunities in the future of ICT as a career person or to exploit?

These are a few questions I asked my audience, I started my ICT journey a few years ago, around 2017. I started by taking a bold step in learning as I did not know what to do. I studied Mechanical engineering, but I am not sure what I could do with it, I did not fancy staying under the car nor did I like getting my hand dirty, but I'm not so good at using my hands to connect things.

I spent most of my time on the system looking for a way out, I started by asking how can I do this and that. I'm very curious about how things work.

So instead of focusing on my career path as a Mechanical engineer, I started using my computer to design different stuff, like drawing intricate parts of machines with some software like AutoCad, Revit and all, I started making some money by teaching my course mate in school, and I did all that for a while.

So by this, my?first conclusion in terms of ICT is?that?when you know something, the next thing is for you to monetize it.

Then, the next thing I decided was to stop drawing intricate parts of the machine. Because of restrictions on the market size as I won’t be able to make enough money in the long run. Well, I'm not passionate about it, I was just doing it since it put food on my table at that time.

What if I graduated, how will I continue to inspire people? that thinking made me realize that there are a lot of things I could do on my computer. I researched the software I have been using to draw. And that was the first?Curiosity?I had since it was what prompted me to discover what is known as?programming.

My curiosity made me determined to learn a new skill. I transitioned from Mechanical Engineering to software development in 2017, before I graduated from school, I learnt how to develop software applications, I found it interesting and am making cool money from developing apps for small businesses in my locality.

I discussed with my friends about putting a team together to establish a new company, they ponder about it for a while, their main objection was the possibility of them having a company when they are still newbies.

Here is?one of the mistakes people make when they are just starting up they don’t believe in themselves in doing something big before they know it, and they start losing the energy they need to achieve success.

After the creation of the company, we did many things together for a long period of time, we got different opportunities, and took Jobs we cannot do, it validated my theory of ICT??“ICT is just the way out you just need to look for a niche”.

ICT plays a vital role in the life of everyone.

It might look a bit cumbersome for some people to fit in, but it is worth your time.

I discovered that my productivity rate increased, I was able to make money while in school, learnt how to write code, and I was able to do some other things.

It was part of the reason I fell in love with ICT.?

Another good thing is that; it helps in?collaboration and communication, I was able to get information across to you because I have gadgets to leverage on. You will also see that we have some messaging apps and video conferencing tools. Without ICT, you can’t get access to information, that is one of the reasons you should appreciate ICT?because you can buy things online and add them to your cart.

The more you get access to information, the closer you are to taking a step further in learning different things.

You need to learn more, update and get relevant resources that will bootstrap your technical experience. ICT has done a lot for us.

I proceed to discuss why ICT is important to skill?or what are the things to be focused on in ICT.

At this point, I engaged the participants to let me know what they are using ICT to do and what they can say that ICT has helped based on what I discussed.

The comments I received from the participants include:

• Web development
• Data compilation
• word processing and problem solving through the web and applications.

Then back to my presentation, it was mentioned that there are aspects of ICT that are essential; one of?them is – Data storage processing?which is quite essential for businesses and organizations.

I pointed out that?Data is money,?because if you are good at it then you are already an edge out of poverty in the country. No matter where you live, there will be a standby opportunity waiting for you.

How do you get started with Data storage or analysis?

You can pick up a course either online or a physical class. I said that some of the things you will be learning about are: R programming, Excel manipulation etc. Also, you can learn python if you are going into Data Science, but if you are the type that’s starting a career in data analysis, you can get yourself a mentor.

Another thing is?Networking and communication,?it enables people to communicate and collaborate efficiently. If you want to explore career options, in terms of E-mail messaging, Video calls, and Conferencing.

I also talked about?software and applications. This?involves a wide range as it includes various tasks. If you learn how to code with javascript or front-end you can build an interface for people who are currently coming into the web space.

I added that the fundamental stage is very important as it should never be neglected.

The fourth one I mentioned is the?hardware sector.

I said the sector is highly overlooked but in?Nigeria,?a lot of people are making a lot of money from it since it involves the use of various hardware like computer and smartphone repairing and also doing some data transmission etc.

Resources are very important. Look within where you have access to tools and resources, in order not to lay your hands on things you won’t be able to accomplish.

Lastly, Internet and connectivity. People are working on different solutions because without the internet you can’t do all this and neither can you learn because it is one of the key aspects of ICT, and it plays some important role.

I gave out Ten(10) best platforms where people can learn skills or get resources for ICT, and they are as follows;

1. Coursera
2. edX
3. Khan Academy
4. Code Academy
5. MIT OpenCourseWare
6. Udemy
7. LinkedIn for Learning
8. YouTube
9. Stack Overflow
10. IEEE Xplore-Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

I rounded up my presentation by giving mind-blowing answers to questions?from the participants.

For more insight on the Webinar presentation Here is the?Link?(Passcode: SLK4L?^9) to listen to the recordings.

Shoutout to Little Drop for the amazing workshop setup.