“I want you to go for the event, you’ll meet women who are into tech”; were my friend's words to me a couple of days ago as he invited me for the She Codes Africa Abuja Event. I thought to myself, “this guy is here again bragging about tech as though it’s everyone that can work in tech.”
A series of unforeseen events made me a little late for the meeting and the only reason why I decided to come for the event after all was to see what they really were doing there. Really, my friend had hyped up women in Tech and I really wanted to meet those women and know what they were up to in the tech world. I was super-glad when I got there and met the first speaker, Mr Chinonso Ani giving a lecture. Here are a few things I learned from his lecture. I didn’t get much details of his lecture because I got there late. However, I got some lessons which I'll be sharing with you.
You need a Trusted Advisor
A major point he buttressed on and which I saw as very necessary is the need for a trusted advisor. A trusted advisor is someone who you can discuss your learning process and progress with, someone you can turn to for help in your learning journey. A trusted advisor doesn’t necessarily have to be in the tech space; however, they have to be someone who understands your learning process and can give inputs where and when necessary and also offer insights into your work.
I found this to be a noteworthy advice even for other facets of life. Lately, it’s been quite a daunting task for me to keep up with my learning schedules and I had kept it all to myself thinking I’d get it over with someday. Mr Nonso’s point helped me realize that I needed to talk to a trusted advisor.
This lesson also made me remember the fact that you can’t do life in isolation, you need people.
Self-Care
This is a much-ignored aspect in the lives of many techies especially Nigerians. We had Miss Esther Umoh, one of the executives of She Codes Africa (Abuja Chapter) talk to us about self-care. Telling the story of a prominent man (having no prior illness or physical ailment) in Abuja who suddenly slumped and died she emphasized the need to rest and be intentional about check-ups.
I am really glad that this is mentioned in a career event like this. I believe humans have to put in the hard work, there’s no other way about it. However, know yourself; know when your body has taken enough and needs a break. Know how to get the work done and know when to get some rest.
Have regular check-ups and don’t ignore the vital signs your health is giving you.
Non-coding Careers in Tech
Okay. Okay. I was totally unprepared for this. Prior to now, I thought all tech careers involved coding of some sort. It came as a pleasant surprise to me when our 2nd speaker came up to speak about non-coding tech careers. It was at this point I had to bring out my notepad and take some notes because I knew I had a lot to take in front this session. Moreover, it’s my lucky session where I get to hear the speaker from the beginning of her session. To be honest, the speaker; Miss Eziamaka Nwakile did good justice to the topic.
The first non-coding tech career she talked about was Business Analytics. She explained in details the job roles, background experience required and the average pay for the role in Nigeria. She also gave similar explanations for other non-coding tech careers including User Interface and User Experience where she used the analogy of Real estate.
She explained that User Experience has to do with the skeleton of a house; the uncompleted frame work of a building. She went on to explain the details of User Interface likening it to fixing in fittings in a house, interior design, paintings and what have you. Product Management (I fell in love with this as soon she got into the details of it. Look out for me in the world of product management soon), Project Management, Data Analytics to mention a few.
The Non-coding career in tech that got me all giddy is Technical writing. I think I have heard of it before but never gave it much thought. Miss Eziamaka Nwakile explained that it had to do with "decomplexifying" technical subjects. I did my research on it and found it to be a path that I am unconsciously already on, I need only be more focused on it. It really made me feel like, "there's a place for me in tech after all".
I decided to be intentional about following the path of technical writing and this article you're reading is my first step towards that. She also mentioned some other non-coding tech careers including Tech Blogging, Growth Hacking, Technical Recruitment, Content Marketing Management, Web Analytics Specialist amongst others.
You need an Accountability Partner in Tech too
After the lectures, there was a final session where Mrs Brown Ofonime, the Team Lead of the Abuja Chapter of She Code Africa asked for feedback concerning the learning community; she asked members to give comments concerning certain challenges they might be facing in their learning journey and why they didn't interact much on the social media platforms.
A major point someone raised and which everyone agreed to is having an accountability partner. This will be someone with who you can discuss your learning progress, tell your challenges and together you can tackle the problem.
I also had the opportunity of meeting an amazing software developer,Kachi last weekend who's helped me to make this article come out of the archive.
I am glad I was a part of the She Codes Africa Abuja hangout. A special thank you to Ada Nduka Oyom the founder of She Code Africa and to all the amazing women volunteering to create opportunities for females in tech. I look forward to more insights and insightful experiences in the tech world.
Written by Temiloluwa Okunade -Tech Enthusiast (Technical Writing)