Stage 1: Endorsement Received - Details (Software Engineer)

Stage 1
1

I submitted my TechNation application on the 6th of July and got a successful endorsement letter for the Global Talent Visa on 25th of July. It took 19 days. I applied for Promise.
I was endorsed as an Exceptional Promise under Software Engineering.

My Profile

I am a self-taught software developer with no university degree.
I work as a self-employed software developer and entrepreneur.
I build and maintain my own products for free or commercial purposes.
I applied from Nigeria.

Personal Statment
I wrote about my achievements, how I got into tech, products I built, my open source contributions, my plans for the UK, and the city I intend to reside in.

Resume
I gave details and timelines of all the important products I have built since 2016 (I have not had any external employment).

MANDATORY CRITERIA

  1. Hackathon I won.
  2. Social media tool I built.
  3. Another social media tool I built.

OPTIONAL CRITERIA - OC 1

  1. SaaS product I built for B2B (early stage).
  2. Free product I built.
  3. Twitter bot.
  4. Another free product I built.
    [In addition to these 4 evidences, I also added evidence 3 and 4 under MC to OC 1 on the TechNation form. Making it 6 evidences under OC 1]

OPTIONAL CRITERIA - OC 2

  1. Open Source Java library I wrote with over 100 Github stars.
  2. StackExchange contributions with 5k+ reach.
  3. Contribution to an Open Source project. I submitted details of pull request and GitHub discussion answers.

I submitted a total of 10 evidences. I own and maintain all the products I built and submitted.

In building each evidence document, I provided descriptions, external links, screenshots of dashboard or usage stats, screenshot of code and Github link if available and details of revenue if applicable.

I hope this helps.

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Wow… Indeed every application is unique.
What I notice is that one must be able to demonstrate his value and prospect well in any category/option he uses.

Congratulations

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WOW!
Your application is so unconventional I must say. Congratulations!

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TN is looking for people with skills that fall within a specific spectrum (the TN guide describes this well). Each applicant will have a different set of strengths and weaknesses, this is why TN discourages the use of templates etc. As long as your story, your strengths and weakness all together place you within TN’s spectrum then you’re a good fit.

Applicants will fall into different “types”, just the way a football player’s skill set can be classified as a striker, set piece master, strong in the air, great defender, fast paced, excellent passing skills, a general all-rounder etc.

Anyways, this just how I see it with no evidence to back it.

Congratulations Neuron!

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congratulations. You have easily verifiable evidence. Contributing to opensource project is a strong evidence that cuts across most eligibility crietria.

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Thanks to everyone of you, I appreciate it.

@Al_Salvador
That’s amazing. Can we what is that Saas business you worked on?

The SaaS product has more to do with automation. Its monthly recurring revenue (MRR) is less than $450 MRR.
My biggest product is the number 3 item under MC, which welcomes more than 1 million monthly visitors.

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Oh wow! Congratulations Neuron.

I have a quick question, did all your LOR come from people within the tech space?

I’m curious cause I have a similar background to yours but most of the people I’ve worked with were either from the advertising or banking sector.

Any feedback will be highly appreciated.

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Tech Nation guide clear states “Three letters of recommendation from three different well-established organisations acknowledged as experts in the digital technology field”.

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Thank you for your feedback, much appreciated

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Yes, all from the Tech space.

You may also get recommendations from established people in Tech who know your work and accomplishments, even if you have not worked with them on a personal level.

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Hello Neuron, I am a full-stack developer with fewer years of experience than you
In fact, I have a little over a year experience but my growth has been tremendous… I have recently served as a principal engineer on an advanced ecommerce software development.

The TN approves that anyone with less than 5years or fewer years can apply for Promise.

I have 3 level high executive members where i can get my LOR from
My personal statement will also be provided

For my Mandatory Criteria, i intend to use my salary scale, and 2 projects i personally developed

for OC1 and OC2, i intend to use the projects i developed for my employer

My fear is that i do not have any prove of open source contribution like you and some other applicants

Do i still have a strong chance of making it if i provide evidences in my skill set and demonstrated project

My skillsets are HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, jQuery, PHP, custom WordPress development, Yii2, MySQL, Azure devops amongst others