In an illuminating interview conducted by The Guardian’s Ifeanyi Ibeh, Olalekan Adekola, a distinguished software engineer based in Lagos, Nigeria, shares his transformative journey into the world of technology. With five years of professional experience and a background in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the esteemed University of Lagos, Olalekan reflects on his passion for computers that began in secondary school and evolved into a thriving career. From delving into introductory programming courses to navigating the complexities of digital electronics, he emerged as a remote software engineer with a global impact. In this conversation, Olalekan delves into his insights on mentorship, unconventional paths into tech, challenges faced by newcomers, and the nuances of remote work in different timezones and cultures.
For those who don’t know you, who is Olaleka Adekola?
I’m Olalekan Adekola, I’m a software engineer based in Lagos, Nigeria. I have five years of professional work experience. I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the prestigious University of Lagos.
I have always been fascinated with computers from my senior secondary school days but there were very few resources to understand how they worked. During my second year in the university, I took an introductory course to computer programming, which was my first experience with writing computer code. Though it was mostly confusing for me at the time as I could not wrap my head around the concepts. In my fourth year, I took a course on Digital Electronics, where I worked on some electronics projects with the popular Arduino platform. This was when the idea of computer programming started to make sense to me. I started to explore the other possibilities and I found web development very exciting. I leveraged the internet to learn as much as possible. I took courses on Udemy and enrolled in Freecodecamp in 2017. I landed my first local gig in 2018 and I’ve never looked back. I’ve since transitioned to working remotely and competing in the global landscape.
I’m very passionate about mentorship and community building. I have a group of mentees in my local community who I’m guiding through the process of becoming software engineers from scratch. I have also participated as a mentor in the Andela Learning Community, I’m a member of Developer Circles Nigeria: React JS and I attend Developer meetups to network with like-minded folks.
What are the first steps you recommend for someone with no tech background to consider a tech career?
I recommend frontend web development. All you need is a basic understanding of how the internet works, a notepad and a web browser. I personally endorse the web development route because it has the lowest barrier to entry, it is less daunting and very beginner-friendly. You can start there and work your way to up to more advanced levels.
Online courses on platforms like Udemy can help accelerate your learning journey. Not only do you find well curated and easily digestible content, you’re also part of a community of fellow learners. I strongly recommend The Web Developer Bootcamp course on Udemy.
There is a lot of controversy in the tech community around this. I tell beginners to ignore the controversies and focus on getting started.
How can professionals from non-tech fields identify their transferable skills and transition smoothly?
For professionals from non-tech fields looking to transition, they need to identify skills and relevant experiences from their current career that are transferable into tech. A common misconception is that every role in tech requires writing code. This isn’t the case as there are some roles in tech that do not require coding.
An individual with a marketing background can transition into a product management role. While they will need to undergo the relevant training and skill development for product management, their marketing and research skills are definitely transferable and will ease the transition. The same thing also applies to a Customer Support person looking to transition to a Tech support role.
My recommendation is to look for the tech-equivalent of their current role within the same industry as domain knowledge and expertise is an advantageous factor.
Beyond the areas you mentioned (bootcamps, courses), what are other unconventional or hidden paths to break into tech?
I recommend attending tech conferences and networking events. This can help you connect with professionals in the field and gain insights into the industry. You can also find apprenticeship and volunteering opportunities there.
Also, if you have a tech-inclined business or idea you’ve always wanted to work on. You can break into the field by building it out. There will be some knowledge gaps but things will align as you go forward, as long as you’re committed to learning and putting in the work.
What are some common challenges faced by newcomers and career changers, and how can they overcome them?
The biggest challenge for many people is where to start and what to learn. There are tons of resources on the internet, many languages and frameworks. My recommendation is to pick a path and stick to it. For example, if you start with frontend web development, ensure you understand it quite well before trying out another route like Mobile application development.
It can be very tempting to want to explore the newest programming language or framework, I struggled with this as a beginner too. There’s no need to feel left behind when there’s a new framework in the tech community. Many of the concepts within programming languages and frameworks are quite transferrable, so having a solid grasp of one will help in understanding the others better. I find Roadmap.sh to be very useful when picking a learning path.
Another common challenge is uncertainty and self-doubt. A lot of people who are new to tech fall victim to self-doubt. They believe they aren’t learning fast enough or good enough, they’ve set unrealistic timelines for themselves e.g I have to learn and master frontend development in four weeks. I attribute a lot of this pressure to false advertising and half-truths by Youtubers and LinkedIn posters.
A lot of these things take time to learn and understand. Some programming concepts won’t make sense the first time you try to learn them but with continuous revision and practice, they become clearer.
You mentioned core concepts. Could you share some specific examples relevant to different tech domains?
In web development, we have many frameworks for responsive web design, e.g Bootstrap, Semantic UI, Material UI etc. The underlying concept here is to design websites to be accessible and visually appealing across different devices. Many of the concepts learned in Bootstrap are transferable to similar frameworks.
Databases implement efficient methods for storing, retrieving and managing data. Though there are slight differences in their internal implementations, they share a lot of similarities. Having an understanding of the fundamental principles will help you grasp other tools faster.
The concept of Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) is quite similar across different programming languages e.g Java, C# and Python.
There are always new tools and frameworks in the market, understanding the core concepts and the problems the tool was designed to solve will keep you above the competition.
Beginners and experienced folks do not need to panic when they don’t understand certain core concepts. Software engineering is an ongoing journey of learning that spans a lifetime.
How can continuous learning be fostered in a fast-paced environment, especially for busy individuals?
Joining study groups is one of the most effective methods to foster continuous learning. In one of the companies I worked with, we had a study group where we picked a software engineering book and read one chapter per week. Then we meet once a week to share notes and discuss what we learnt. There are lots of study groups on Twitter. You can even create one amongst your friends or co-workers. It’s a very good method of facilitating continuous learning.
Investing in online courses is another effective method. Udemy has a huge catalog of educational content. You can find courses on anything that interests you— and they’re usually at discounted cheap prices.
Read technical articles and blogs. Those 5-10 minute articles can be really useful in gaining superficial insight into new tools or frameworks or techniques. Most big tech companies also have engineering blogs, if you’re curious about how they implemented a feature, they may have written about it.
Beyond technical skills, what are some key soft skills crucial for success in the tech industry?
Effective communication skills: You must be able to communicate technical/non-technical concepts in a concise manner, both verbally and written.
Teamwork and collaboration: You have to be a team player, contribute ideas, get involved in team discussions, share knowledge and support your colleagues. Don’t be a silent observer, be an active participant.
Networking: It takes more than just technical abilities to succeed in the tech industry, you have to be able to build and maintain professional relationships within and outside your immediate work environment. Industry events e.g meetups and conferences are good places to meet people
Developing a balance of technical and soft skills is essential for a well-rounded and successful career in the tech industry. Employers often value candidates who can not only excel in technical tasks but also collaborate effectively and contribute positively to the workplace culture.
You mentioned simplifying the job hunt. What are some actionable tips for newcomers to stand out, especially remotely?
The job market is more competitive than it used to be, so shooting the same resume across several job openings isn’t going to yield favorable outcomes. You should tailor your application to meet the requirements of the job description.
I recommend having a master resume which contains all your past work experiences and projects. When applying to jobs, you have to create a new resume and pick the relevant experience and skills required for that job posting. Google Docs makes this easy as you can easily duplicate an existing document and edit as necessary.
For newcomers with no prior job experience, It is highly recommended to have a portfolio that showcases the project you have built during your learning process.
For experienced folks, I recommend having a list of potential employers you’re interested in. Read and research about them, understand their core product, consider problems they’re likely to experience, then build a Proof of Concept (POC) solution around it. With this you can send a direct pitch to the CTO, Engineer Managers or Recruiters of the companies on LinkedIn, and apply to their job openings and talk about the solution you built and the problems it solves in their current product in your cover letter. This approach positions you ahead of the competition, as recruiters can discern a well-researched and thoughtful application from a generic one.
Networking is also crucial; job opportunities often emerge within your professional network. Leveraging these relationships can be advantageous for your career.
What are some unique challenges and opportunities associated with remote work in different timezones and cultures?
Some of the challenges are:
Communication Barriers and Cultural differences: Although a vast majority of global remote teams speak English, this isn’t always the case. I’ve worked in a team whose primary language was not English. I’ve had to use google translate to follow up with discussions. This leads to loss of context sometimes. Different languages and cultural communication styles may lead to misunderstandings.
Cultural holidays can also impact project timelines. I’ve experienced members of my team from a certain region being Out-Of-Office(OOO) for an entire week because of a country-wide holiday.
Time Zone differences: During the course of my career, I’ve worked with colleagues in different time zones from GMT-8 to GMT+8. The timezone in Nigeria is GMT+1. This makes collaboration complex as it becomes difficult to have sufficient overlapping working hours and real-time communication.
Limited Technological Infrastructure: Inconsistent access to reliable internet and power supply affects productivity for remote workers.
The opportunities are:
Exposure to a global market and talent pool: Remote work provides the opportunity to partner with a varied talent pool possessing diverse skills and viewpoints. It enables a comprehensive understanding of various markets.
Flexibility: You can take advantage of the time zone differences to choose flexible working hours. In practice, you don’t have to work 8 hours at a stretch. You can work for 4 hours then take a break till your colleagues in a different timezone come online, then you can overlap the remaining 4 hours with them.
Better pay and opportunities: Opportunities on the global landscape are more abundant than your local environment and the pay is usually more rewarding.
How can individuals and teams effectively collaborate and communicate remotely to maintain productivity and build strong relationships?
Asynchronous working patterns are an effective way for collaboration and maintaining productivity. Team members do not need to be working simultaneously or in real-time. This allows individuals to work at different times based on their schedules without need for immediate responses. To get the most value from asynchronous work, Teams must incorporate clear documentation and well-defined workflows and responsive communication. Having a weekly or biweekly 30 to 45-minute one-on-one sessions with your teammates can help build and maintain strong relationships
What are some tools and resources you recommend for optimizing remote work efficiency and well-being?
I recommend investing in an alternative power supply like an inverter and high speed fiber internet. You should also include a portable mifi router as backup. Ensure you also use a password manager like 1Password for security purposes. You should also invest in good workspace furniture e.g Ergonomic chairs and desks.
For productivity tools and time management tools, I strongly recommend RescueTime. For communication and collaboration tools, these are highly dependent on what your employer uses. In most cases it’s usually Slack, Microsoft Teams or Google Workspace.
Also consider using coworking spaces. Remote work can be very isolating and the lack of physical human interaction can be quite exhausting. It’s also a good opportunity to meet people and network.
While working remotely, how can individuals stay competitive and network on a global scale?
Individuals should curate efforts into building their public profile and online presence. LinkedIn is well suited for this. Connect with professionals in your industry and engage in discussions.
Contributing to Open source projects is also a way to get visibility on a global scale. A lot of people have gotten job opportunities from being contributors to open-source projects
Engaging online communities and participating in virtual events and conferences can help expand your network on a global scale. I recommended using Twitter because of its incredible network effect. The authors of many tools we use in the tech ecosystem often share insights on Twitter. Follow them, participate in those discussions, ask questions. Like I said earlier, Don’t be a silent observer.
