Kindly Review Application - Exceptional Promise (2nd attempt)

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Hi all,
I am currently about to retry my application for endorsement. My first attempt (Rejected - Exceptional Promise was rejected even after appeal.

After taking a step back and looking through my evidence, I realize I could have put forth a much stronger application, I have just finished compiling my evidence so I’d appreciate feedback before submitting an application

My application
My recommendation letters are as follows:

Current manager (Director Of Engineering) at a popular social media company (let’s call it company A), talking about achievements in my team and some of the work outside of normal duties (interviewing candidates, mentoring new hires).

Previous manager from same company A, (Engineering Manager, Ex-FAANG, 15 years exp but no longer at company A), talking about achievements in my team and some of the work outside of normal duties (interviewing candidates, mentoring new hires).

Staff SWE + Tech Lead at FAANG (Mentor, was a mentor as part of a structured mentorship program organized by FAANG company, also a guest lecturer at Uni Of Oxford, Has given ted talks)

Mandatory Criteria

1. Evidence of high earnings.pdf
Contains current salary, bonuses, and equity at current company. Discusses how this compares to the average in the UK (significantly higher). Also contains the salary earned at a previous company. I also added screenshots of FAANG offers I had gotten that offered > GBP 100k (stock + base + bonus)

2. Academic Track Record
First class (and only first class in class) in STEM Bsc, 3 diff scholarships while in uni, evidence of being reached out to by recruiters while in college + a letter from a former lecturer (Ph.D. software eng, with some citations + significant industry exp) discussing some of these things above

3. Open source contributions + Stack overflow
4th highest contributor to an open source project with 10k stars, with screenshots of some of my contributions from GitHub. Attached Reference letter from the Maintainer (CTO, Co-founder of AI startup, raised over $100M). Also added links to stack overflow (133k+ impacted devs)

4. Engagement with the UN + Worldbank

  • I led a team to win a national hackathon organized by the UN + FAANG company in 2019 (evidenced by links on the official un.org site, and national newspapers). Went on a radio show to discuss what we built (the recording is linked also)
  • Invited to the World bank HQ to speak about what we built at an annual event with 1.3k physical attendees (298k live stream attendees). I added letters from the UN that showed this invitation + pictures at the world bank

Optional Criteria 2 - How do I demonstrate that I have been recognized for my work outside of my immediate occupation that contributed to the advancement of the sector?

  1. Re Use MC3 on Open source contributions + Stack overflow

2. Won Hackathons & competitions

  • Github hackathon I came 2nd in, + link to article on github.com, with my picture
  • UN hackathon from MC4, re-discussed and referred to
  • Robotics competition - led the team to compete & winning a robotics competition campuswide. Evidenced by links to media coverage in popular national papers, attached link to a video moving within the maze

3. Interest Group I Started During Covid

  • I started a WhatsApp interest group focused on computer science and landing FAANG offers, we focused on interview prep and built a web tool for scheduling mock interviews among members (evidenced on the Github repo + website which is still live)
  • Built a web tool that started a 30-day challenge to algorithm problems (evidenced by a screenshot of the group discussing these daily challenges + GitHub repo where I pushed solutions to these problems daily)
  • Discussed the impact of this group, as many members landed jobs at FAANG and investment banks too
  • During the group, we had people come to speak to members. Added link to slides from the presenter. Currently trying to get ref letter from one of the speakers then (SWE at FAANG)

Optional Criteria 3 — “How do I demonstrate that I have made a significant technical, commercial, or entrepreneurial contribution to the field as a founder, senior executive, board member, or employee of a product-led digital technology company?”

1. Reused MC1 salary evidence

  1. Descriptions of my contribution to some projects I’ve worked on at my current company and impact + recognition received for this work.

    • Impact includes $X, XXX daily increase in revenue and also an increase in engagement
    • Recognition includes - Messages from folks commending work, perf review comments, comp increases

  2. Descriptions of my contribution to some projects I’ve worked on at my previous company (fintech comp) and the impact of the work

Concerns

  1. Are 2 LoR from the same company (considering that LoR 2 has left the company also) a problem? I am considering asking someone else for LoR if this is a problem

  2. In MC3, I added links to my stack overflow where I have written answers impacting over 133k users. However, this is with only 2 answers I have written. I believe this shows the high impact of the 2 answers but I am concerned TN may argue that the SO contributions are not consistent, like they did in my first application.

  3. In MC4, I do not have a recording of the team’s panel where we spoke.

  4. Is it okay to reuse evidence? I have seen samples of people doing this on this forum and still getting endorsed.

  5. In OC2, Under 3, Is it too “informal” to use WhatsApp screenshots?

Please I’d appreciate feedback on any way I can strengthen my application and answers regarding the concerns above.

Thanks in advance!

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@ask4jubad @Maya @Francisca_Chiedu I’d appreciate your feedback here :pray:

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You degree certificate is not suitable for MC. Your stackover maybe more suitable for OC2 that’s the category it was liste though you could use it in MC too. For MC4 do you have pictures and can you get reference letter from the organiser, also add the program of event of you name is listed there. For OC3 also add a reference letter that validates your impact.

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Thanks for your feedback, I’d take out the degree cert for MC

For mc4, I can reach out for a reference letter but I already have an invitation letter from the organizer. Will the reference letter be stronger in this case?

For OC3, I’d add that. thanks!

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I don’t see a concern with the academic degree quite honestly since it is in addition to and not the only piece of evidence under MC.

Besides, it is backed by a reference letter.

Yes, you can reuse evidence. But, it must be suitable for the criteria that you are reusing it for. For instance, mentorship is valid for MC and OC2.

My opinion is you can add the link to the WhatsApp group and add a prompt for the assessor if they would like to check out the group.

Then work on the previous comments too.

If you like, since you work in Fintech, you can read about Kyle https://technation.io/news/stories-of-exceptional-talent-kyle-uk-visa/ to get some ideas.

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Thanks @ask4jubad for the helpful comments. I’d take them into consideration before submitting. Do you have any thoughts about my choice of recommenders? Specifically about the fact that they’re both from the same company?

Please let me know if you have any opinions about the overall application strength or any other feedback!

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@alexnk @Godzilla also please if you have any opinions I’d highly appreciate them. :pray:

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I would advise to get recommenders from different organizations.

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Invitation letter doesn’t confirm you spoke at the event. You may be invited and not accept or attend the event so it is not so strong.

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Overall I think you had done great research and put the relevant evidence together for a promise route. Additionally I think @Francisca_Chiedu had answered it all. :slight_smile:

Best of Luck for your application

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Hi all!
Thanks for the feedback and all the help. I got endorsed earlier today

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Hi, Congrats @ogty
just need to under this case…
You had just two answers on Stackoverflow with over 133k reach, right?
And was ur StackOverflow account more than 5 years old… because mine is five years, considering whether to add it or not.

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I believe you can add stackoverflow even if the account is more than 5 years old. I believe the expectation is that the answers you’ve written on StackOverflow is < 5 years

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Congrats i believe i will try to file my application again based on your format.

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I doubt his format may work for your. He repeated evidence across criteria. I believe he submitted his before April 12, now you need unique evidence.

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I see will read the Technation guide properly this time. Thanks Francisca.

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You are welcome. I believe you will get endorsed. Take your time to read the guide and clarify any point you don’t understand m

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I actually submitted it after April 12 & so I had to use unique evidence. The evidence above isn’t the final list of my evidence, I will make a separate post about my final list of evidence & other things later this week

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Hi, Francisca,
Could you give me your email? I have questions to ask . pls biko

My name is Ayodeji: ayordav@gmail.com

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Ask your questions in the forum. So that others can learn from the responses.

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