Seeking Review: Exceptional Talent - Tech Applicant

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Hi everyone,

First of all, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to this amazing community. The insights, shared experiences, and thoughtful discussions here have been a guiding light in navigating the Global Talent Visa process. It’s truly inspiring to see how everyone comes together to support one another’s journeys.

As I prepare my application, I’ve laid out the plan below, and I’d be incredibly grateful for your thoughts, advice, or suggestions. Your feedback could make all the difference, and I deeply appreciate the time and effort you dedicate to help others.

Background:
I am a Senior Software Developer with over 8 years in the technology sector. My professional journey spans diverse roles, including working on-site and remotely for leading companies, as well as co-founding a design and development company.

Work Experience:

  1. Company A (Indian Company): On-site for 1 year and 5 months.

  2. Co-Founder: A design and development company for 1 year and 6 months.

  3. Company B (UK-Based): Remote work for 2 years and 7 months.

  4. Company C (Indian Company): On-site for 1 year and 8 months.

  5. Company D (Korean Company, Current): Remote work for 2 year and 2 months.

Letters of Recommendation:

  1. CEO of Company D (Current Employer). (Talks About OC3 1 and 3)

  2. A prominent member of a community forum where he knows my work for over 6 years. (Talks about OC2 2)

  3. CEO of Company C (Former Employer). (Talks about MC 1)

Mandatory Criteria (MC)

  1. Company C Work:
    Developed two tools and APIs for a mobile app.
    Achievements: Increased the platform’s user base to 10 million, with 50,000 daily visitors to the tools I developed.

  2. Open Source Contribution Tool:
    Developed a tool downloaded by over 900k users, with thousands of active users.

  3. Speaker at Prestigious Tech Event:
    Spoke at an event with 300 participants, earning the “Best Speaker” award for insightful contributions.

  4. High Salary:
    At Company D.

Optional Criteria 2 (OC2): Significant Contributions to the Field

  1. GitHub Contributions:
    Over the past 5 years:
    Contributed 6,000 commits on GitHub, earning 44 stars.

  2. Digital Community Forum Engagement:
    Provided thousands of unique replies on forums.
    Shared advanced problem-solving techniques, technical advice, and innovative code snippets, many unavailable elsewhere.

  3. One more Open Source Contribution Tool:

  • Developed a tool downloaded by 50k users.

Optional Criteria 3 (OC3): Innovation and Impact

  1. (Current Company, Company D):
  • Led the complete development of an educational platform similar to Udemy.
  • Achievements: 140k students enrolled, showcasing its success and utility.
  1. Company B Work:
  • Built a robust eCommerce platform generating 45,000 orders annually with 780,000 visitors each year.
  • Integrated advanced features like automated shipping and personalized card designs.
  1. (Current Company, Company D):
    Developed an AI-powered platform.
    Achievements: Contributed £3 million in sales, highlighting its significant impact on revenue.

Summary:
My journey reflects a consistent ability to innovate, lead, and make a measurable impact on the organizations I have been part of. My tools and platforms have driven significant user engagement and financial success, earning recognition in the global digital community.

Questions for Guidance

  1. Dashboard Evidence Limitations
  • I can include screenshots of sales data and other metrics from the dashboards I’ve worked on. However, due to company policy, I cannot provide direct access to these dashboards.
  • Would an additional letter from the CEO validating the metrics suffice as strong evidence?
  • Are there any other alternatives I should consider to strengthen this aspect of my application?
  1. Proving Individual Impact Amid Team Contributions
  • Many of the achievements I’ve outlined, such as driving significant sales and user engagement, are collaborative efforts involving the sales and marketing teams.
  • Given that the Tech Nation (TN) criteria focus on proving personal exceptional contributions, how can I clearly demonstrate my role and distinguish my individual impact?
  1. Lack of Public Acknowledgment in Company News
  • As a developer, my work is typically not credited publicly in the companies’ news releases or announcements.
  • What alternative evidence can I use to showcase my contributions and the direct impact of my work on the organizations’ success?

Any guidance, examples, or suggestions you can share would be immensely helpful.

Thank you for taking the time to read through my application. I would deeply appreciate any feedback or suggestions you may have to enhance the plan outlined above.

@hsafra @Maya

1 Like
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@Francisca_Chiedu @pahuja

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@alexnk @airah

Sorry for tagging in a reply. It seems that new users can only tag two users per post.

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In my opinion, your list looks quite solid with good numbers: however, you are going for exceptional talent, so the bar is higher and it all depends on how you can present your contributions and the impact of these numbers clearly.

A correction: OC3 is about impact, not necessarily innovation (that’s OC1).

I went for exceptional promise, so do keep that in mind, but to answer your questions:

  1. I’m not sure which of the evidence this points to, but the assessors don’t need direct access to the dashboards. screenshots are your best shot to show that the numbers are real (ensure to capture it fully and clearly as data coming from a website if it’s from one).
    If you can add a supporting letter that backs up your claims and also supports you as an exceptional talent, by all means, add it.
    Other things to add: if you worked there as a software engineer and you contributed code-wise, you definitely need screenshots of those.

  2. Most achievements at companies are collaborative efforts, especially as software engineers (in my opinion). I’d advise you demonstrate your individual contribution and impact by clearly showing which product features/launches you spearheaded or heavily contributed to (through GitHub PRs, reviews, and contribution graphs screenshots) and how they directly tie to the significant sales and user engagement you’ve mentioned.

  3. I think the same goes here as I mentioned in (2). Yes, it’ll be definitely be in your favour if you had media mentions, especially going for exceptional talent, but if you can demonstrate the impact and value of your work through company data, clear GitHub/code contributions, and strong supporting letters from public leaders and experts, that’s still a good shot.

I’m sure other members will provide their feedback, especially regarding specific criteria, but overall, I think you just need to work with what you have achieved and present yourself in the best way possible.

Another thing I’d like to mention is: if you can get a recommendation letter from the UK-based company you worked with, it may be worth considering for a main recommendation because you worked there longer than others (and it’ll demonstrate that you have already contributed to the UK digital tech sector in a way).
I’m also not sure if I missed it but I don’t see your co-founder work anywhere. It’s definitely worth adding, especially going for exceptional talent. Do check what criteria it might fit (MC or OC3) and consider adding it as well.

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Hi @Siya

This is a good set!

Answering your questions:

  1. You don’t need to provide dashboard access because anyway TN assessors are not required to open external links. Use dashboard screenshots and yes a support letter will help.
  2. You need to clearly highlight your contribution in the whole project journey that led to the impact and your letters need to talk about your impact and not a team impact.
  3. You can try to get support letter from execs mentioned in those news releases.

Good luck!

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I think you start with a good set of evidence here. Here are my comments below.

  • please be ready to explain and perhaps get those references to mention your contribution as a leader which helps the company to achive the numbers. Some people may just been rejected as they did not mention, as assessor thought they might be JUST a small part of the team, not leading to achieve.

-What alternative evidence can I use to showcase my contributions and the direct impact of my work on the organizations’ success?
ans: in your case that you do not have public presence, you may use the reports, bonus, salary incremental, anything which is value to show that you are exceptional. Also if you can show benchmark, it will be additional benefit. Please note that this idea may help your application a bit, but not a lot though.

    • Given that the Tech Nation (TN) criteria focus on proving personal exceptional contributions, how can I clearly demonstrate my role and distinguish my individual impact?
      ans: I think you may be refering to OC2 which is comtribution to the community. If that is the case, it is not relevant to you. If you talk about OC3, it is the business impact which you contributed to, and shows the good KPIs from your contribution.

I hope this helps @Siya