I have experience as a Software Project Manager and a Frontend Engineer. I intend to include my impact in both fields in my application. Although I worked as a PM for 11 months, (and I intend to use that in my OC1 - proven track record or examples of innovation in the digital technology sector as an employee working in a new digital field or concept, + a reference letter from said organization). Can I do this? Or do I have to apply strictly as experienced under one track?
I have community impact, mentoring, bootcamp tutoring and speaking at public events, besides my technical work that has contributed to the sector.
What are my chances? I’ll appreciate your feedback.
cc @Francisca_Chiedu
I don’t know what your chances are. You need to list the evidence you need to meet each criteria. Also, avoid using evidence of places you worked for less than 12 months.
Thanks for your response. This is the evidence list I planned on applying with:
MC1- How do I demonstrate that I have been recognised as (or recognised as having the potential to be) a leading talent in the digital technology sector in the last 5 years?
Personal profile: winning at a Microsoft Leap Hackathon, 2nd position in Africa (I worked as the frontend engineer, included repo commits), public profiling (interview features), community work (i’m an organizer with Google Developer Groups and I’m a Women Techmakers ambassador), my impact as a PM at my former workplace (eg: the launch of an account opening service with major banks in Nigeria on an agency banking platform, and a railway ticket vending solution)
MC2- How do I demonstrate that I have been recognised as (or recognised as having the potential to be) a leading talent in the digital technology sector in the last 5 years?
Evidence of speaking at a high-profile digital technology sector event: Event details, invite, flier, feedback, news mention, large viewership of webinar.
OC1- How do I demonstrate that I have made a significant technical, commercial or entrepreneurial contributions to the field as a founder, senior executive, board member or employee of a product-led digital technology company?
My work as a PM in a fintech company (this was where i spent 11 months). Key achievements (to be complemented by reference letter and LinkedIn recommendations from ex-colleagues:
-Agency banking: I coordinated the deployment of an account opening service for Polaris bank and Globus bank on the company’s agency application. The solution is now generating about 5,000,000 naira for over 10,000 agents, contributing significantly to the ease of opening bank accounts for the underbanked in Nigeria, and a 61% increase in revenue from account opening services for the company.
-POS Payment Solutions: I managed the development of various payment features across both Linux and Android POS terminals such as value added services (VAS) and pay with transfer, resulting in more convenient payment options for businesses, and a significant contribution to the increase in income streams for businesses in Africa
-Railway Ticket Vending Service: Stood at the frontline for the design and implementation of an automated ticketing system solution which enables online and offline payment at ticketing touchpoints for the train transport service in Nigeria, in collaboration with Verifone and Secure ID Limited. This solution has increased convenience for passengers by reducing long lines and wait times, speeding up the transaction process, and also increasing staff efficiency.
OC2- How do I demonstrate that I have been recognised for my work outside of my immediate occupation that contributed to the advancement of the sector?
Developer community ecosystem impact. Since 2022, I’ve co-lead a community of Google Develops and I have organized tech conferences, events, workshops and bootcamps for developers in my community in Lagos, Nigeria.
I’ll be adding 3 events details, fliers, staff designation tag, huge attendance count, feedback from attendees, plus me on stage moderating panel sessions.
OC3- How do I demonstrate that I have been recognised for my work outside of my immediate occupation that contributed to the advancement of the sector?
Mentoring and tutoring at a bootcamp: I was contacted by the Academy Director of an EdTech to draw up a curriculum and tutor the participants for their pilot bootcamp. Attaching screenshot of invitation, bootcamp classes, attendance, feedback from students, social media page of the EdTech with a flier having me as the frontend engineering instructor.
OC4- Question: How do I demonstrate that I have been recognised for my work outside of my immediate occupation that contributed to the advancement of the sector?
I’m yet to conclude on this. Torn between:
-An op-ed or news article that exemplifies thought leadership (a blog feature on my transition into tech, and thought leadership) or
-GitHub profile demonstrating active participation in a collaborative project
Kindly help review these. Thank you!
Regardless of your titles, you’d only be able to apply under one sector (so to say). 11 months as a PM won’t be it but should count towards your experience in software engineering, except the PM role is in a different domain e.g. real estate that I would say it’s not beneficial.
Also, I think you’d need to move the pieces of evidence around so that you have them under MC and any two of the OCs. From scanning through, OC2 and OC3 would seem most applicable.
You simply can’t have evidence under every single OC. Please revise.
Thank you so much @ask4jubad. I can add it as part of my experience in software engineering, as the Software Project Manager role was in a fintech field.
Also, kindly shed more light on what you mean by:
It’s not so clear to me.
Thank you!
I am saying that you can only choose two of the OCs (Optional Criteria) from the tech nation guide, not the four of them. So, you have to decide which ones you consider best suitable for your situation. What I mean is under which of the Optional Criteria are you submitting your evidence against? But I guess the problem is in how you have documented your evidence.
Furthermore, you have not identified the profiles of those that you would use as core recommenders. Those may impact your submission as well.
Oh! Thanks for the clarity. So I’ll restructure my OCs to have supporting evidences for OC2 & OC3. The website says “at least 4 unique documents showing you have any two of the other necessary skills (see Optional Criteria)”, that means 2 supporting docs with evidences for OCs 2&3 each, right? So is my MC strong enough?
For my recommendation letters:
- Head of Engineering at former workplace (a fintech)
- Head of Engineering in current workplace (a fintech)
- Director of Digital Transformation at a Resource Management Company
Thank you!
Actually, it means two at least. The more, the better.
MC looks promising but for instance, you can’t be the judge of if the event is high-profile or not. If it is adjudged not high-profile, then you essentially are one evidence short.
I also noticed that this bit is repeated under OC1 - is this deliberate?
Are you applying as promise or talent?
Got it!
Alright then, so to add extra evidence then right?
Yes it is. I’m highlighting it as an achievement under my personal profile, and presenting it as an evidence of significant contribution to the field as an employee. (used the template from one who got the endorsement). Also, can I use my work as a Software Engineer in my current workplace as the second evidence for this? I currently work as a key engineer in the core product of a start-up, and I have evidence as to how I have contributed to its success
I’m applying as promise.
Thank you!
Yes
Definitely.
By the way, depending on when the person who mentioned go their endorsement, note that the rules have changed materially in such a short time. Be careful not to follow strictly how they have composed their own pieces of evidence. Make sure to digest the TN guide a couple of times to be sure that you have considered the most up-to-date requirement.
Thanks a lot for the insights. I’ve gotten more clarity that will help as I continue to work on my application.
Thanks again!
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General information: when applying for Stage1, you must be sure to indicate the route you will take. You have not indicated what experience you have as a technician. If it is more than 11 months, it is better to go this route. If you choose the “manager” route, you will need to prove that you work for a product-LED company, which is not easy given the information above.
- In MC1 I suggest you briefly talk about Microsoft Leap: the number of participants, why it is an important event and why 2nd place in Africa in this event is cool. It looks good, but without details it is not clear until the end.
- In MC2, I also recommend to be clear about the number of participants, why the event is high-profile, provide information about the event in public sources (screenshot and link).
- In OC1 from the described in my opinion nothing fits, all the described solutions are found on the market.
- In OC2 I think you have a good chance thanks to Google Develops. Here again it is important to describe how important these events are.
- OC3 implies contribution to a product-led company. Mentoring and tutoring are not suitable.
Thank you for the feedback @igortsk. I have experiences in both Software Project Management and Frontend Engineering. I want to be sure I can highlight both in my application, or it just has to be one track.
I’m restructuring my application thus:
MC1- personal profile (with highlighted above)
MC2- high profile event speaking
OC2- recognized for work that has contributed to sector growth: using community impact (Google Developers), talks and conference speaking, tutoring and mentoring as evidences.
OC3- significant technical, commercial or entrepreneurial contributions to the field as an employee of a product-led digital technology company: having worked as a key engineer in the core product of a start-up, showing evidence as to how I have contributed to its success, plus my PM experience detailed earlier, as evidences.
Does commercial impact not count as well?
You will only need to select one track when you apply. I, for example, have 5 years of experience as a lead programmer and a few years of c-management experience in startups. It was hard for me to decide too, I chose management.
OС1 is about innovation + commercial impact. Commercial impact alone won’t do.