Inquiry about Eligibility for Tech Nation's "Exceptional Promise" Endorsement

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As a 28-year-old Nigerian with a background as a Lead, ATM Product Manager at a financial institution, I have gained extensive experience in IT product management and have been involved in several successful projects, including the development of the ATM Biometrics Solution, ATM Camera Monitoring Solution, and ATM Journals Archiving Solution.
I am reaching out to the discourse forum, to seek your advice on my eligibility for the Tech Nation Exceptional Promise endorsement. Specifically, I am curious if my role as an ATM Product Manager in a financial institution would be considered as meeting the criteria for “exceptional promise” in the tech industry.

In addition to my 3+ years work experience, I hold a Masters in ICT and am a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and SAFe Product Owner Product Manager. I am now in the process of applying for the Tech Nation Exceptional Promise endorsement and would greatly appreciate your insights on my eligibility.

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Do you work in a neobank ? You may not be eligible of you work in a commercial bank.

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Thanks @Francisca_Chiedu for your response.

It’s a commercial bank, but I’ve always worked on digital products.

Also considering my certifications, qualifications and accomplishments in the IT product management within 3years, shouldn’t that make me fit more into the “exceptional promise” much more than the primary business of my organisation…I’m also involved in volunteer activities and some online product management book review sessions.

Kindly advise.

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Your qualification doesn’t matter. I suggest you read the tech nation visa guide.

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Ooh thanks for the clarification.

I’ll read more and revert with any further inquiry.

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@Yas1
Thank you for calling my attention to this via WhatsApp chat. I think the question has been answered by @Francisca_Chiedu . I will provide a bit more insight from my perspective.

The visa is not so much about your qualification as professional (UK Skilled Worker Visa is for this) as it is about if you stand out amongst other product managers (in your local ecosystem).

Recent updates on the guide makes it clear that “Technical applicants (i.e. programmers) from non-technical organisations are eligible.”. This means you could hypothetically qualify working in a commercial bank. However, what I have seen in practice is that it is more difficult for you to show the impact of your work and that you stand out from the army of tech talents the bank employs. It is easier in a fintech. Difficult not impossible. Do you stand out ? How? Do you have evidence? verifiable documentary evidence?

Further more, my understanding of your role is that you were deploying and maintaining existing enterprise solutions rather than building new products. I would be curious to know if the bank opted for an home grown solution that you built or they deploy industry solutions. In my experience, (and I guess the experience of the assessors ) the latter is typically the case for banks because of degree of risk. The visa is designed to attract those that are in the fore front of developing the innovation.(for the industry solution in this case).

If the reverse is your case, then you need to show strong evidence (documents not letters) of how you have saved cost (impact),deployed something you developed (innovation) and possibly how you are driving this in the wider ecosystem (recognition).

Lastly, what do you do outside your day to day employment ? The visa guide emphasise this too. They are interested in attracting people that would build the UK tech ecosystem. People say the best predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour. One of the key indicator is what you have done / are doing in your local ecosystem. You would need to talk about this too in your personal statement and evidence that back it up.

I can’t say whether or not you qualify. This is left for the assessors to determine. I however hope the above helps you to put your best application forward if you decide to proceed. Should you not be successful, you will get detailed feedback. This feedback can also help you continue to build your career in the “right” trajectory.

Something else, I suggest you read the Visa guide twice. It will take you minimum of one hour to read each time. First time, read the whole thing like a story book. The second time, read it with a pen and paper. Weigh your profile against the different examples / tips / requirements in the guide. Note documentary evidence that you have for each line or work you should be doing now so you can show the evidence in the future. This will help your process.

I hope this helps ?

Reminder, this is not legal nor immigration advise. It is simply my opinion.