@pahuja @Francisca_Chiedu Please help! Application rejected. I need advise on whether to appeal or do a fresh application. Also wondering if I can appeal under EP instead of ET.
LOR
- Letter from the CEO of an EDTech company I worked with.
- Letter from a Head Of Products of a Technology Innovation Company who I have worked with previously.
- Letter from the CTO of a Financial firm who was formally my boss in Company A
MC docs
- Evidence of Leading Products and Innovation in Company A: I briefly discussed how we started the product team and my role. I included a link to some documentation of internal processes and policies that were introduced by me
- Media recognition of the company’s innovation/Personal Publication: I had to state how innovative the company’s approach was to digital technology and that I am a major key player, so these media mentions are relevant evidence to meet this criterion. Also, the attached screenshots and links mentioned my name in them. I attached screenshots from 3 major media outlets, and I added a brief description of what these media houses do, their target audience and details about the publication. I also attached links and screenshots of various small virtual spaces where I spoke about product management.
- A reference letter from an SVP of Company A, who spoke about my product leadership role.
- Salary and Contracts: A brief history of how my earnings evolved since I started my career in tech. I attached a payscale report showing what an Average person in my role earns, 6 months’ payslips for my current job and details about the benefits being paid to me in my current job.
OC1 docs
- Proof of innovation: I spoke about the product team, the products we have built and my role and briefly described 3 major products implemented while leading the team. I attached just a link (not the screenshot) to the Figma designs of these products. The other evidence I attached to this document was a screenshot and link to one of the products being launched. I showed the target audience, and a brief description of the publication and the link to the publication. Screenshot of One pager that describes the challenges we are solving and our solutions.
- A reference letter from the head of product design of a company I previously worked in, who spoke about my involvement in leading the software/product development.
- Proof of products in the market: I reiterated that I built the product team from scratch before showing the pieces of evidence. Docs attached are screenshots of the flagship product web app and link to the web app, screenshots from Google’s Play and App Store console dashboard showing product acquisitions and channels and product performance (number of app downloads). I also included a link to Play Store and App Store.
- Proof of employment contracts.
OC2 docs
- Evidence of teaching at a product management school: Here, I spoke about the Ed-tech company, what it does, and my role as a product management facilitator. Docs attached, Screenshots of my offer letters, links to the ED Tech company’s website, screenshots of email correspondence for the different cohorts I taught, screenshots and links to students I mentored who attributed their success to my mentorship.
- letter of recommendation from founder and CEO of another edtech company I taught in. (does it matter that they are paid jobs?)
From this feedback it shows that I failed to meet any of the criteria which I found surprising.
None of my LORs were colleagues. My LOR1 was my former supervisor and line manager. My LOR3 was the founder and CEO of a product management school I taught in.
I made sure all my evidences were a 3page limit, even from the extracted copy of the submitted application. They were all 3 pages. I admit I had to shrink some of them to all fit in.
On the media recognition, my focus was on what the company was doing and since the news article had my name on it as the head of products I had to attach it.
On the salary evidence, I feel like the reviewer ignored all other monthly benefits and benefits in kind like company car listed. It seems they also converted the amount to pounds which comparing it with the current naira value amounts to almost nothing.
On OC1, i provided enough information on the products in market, and also proof of innovation from products I have worked with.
On OC2, i tried to attach all the relevant links to show that I taught in different product management schools including testimonials from students.