Pursuing Growth in a Tech Career
How to make the most of it!
Name: Ian Munene
Github: iantheninja
Who Am I?
60% of the estimated 200 million youth in Africa are unemployed with the number expected to double by 2045.
- Huffington Post &
Moringa School
- In Kenya, 85,600 jobs were created in the formal job market in 2016, enough to comfortably absorb the estimated 50,000 university graduates that enter the job market annually.
- Graduates reported difficulty finding jobs — taking an average of 5 years to find a job.
- Employers are reporting difficulty filling open roles.
- Moringa School study
Skills mismatch is the greatest contributor to unemployment in Kenya
What does this mean for you pursuing a tech career?
Project managers, application systems analysts and software developers were reported as the highest demanded professionals in the 2011-2013 survey on the IT sector in Kenya
There's a caveat to this statement!
What do I need to do to make the most of this opportunity?
Only thing you need to be a good software developer in 2020 is:
- Internet connection
- A laptop
- Review how we learn
- Learning should have a huge problem-solving component
- Do not stick to tutorials
- Build things
- Take up challenges: it's the only way you know growth is happening
- Hone your craft
2. Build things!
- How many of your projects remain partially finished or shipped?
- How many deadlines do you miss?
- What does not completing the last 10% of a project entail? value == 0
- feedback cycles
- testing
- implementation/coordination
3. Professionalism makes or breaks devs
- Learning to code/ being good at it requires discipline.
- You have to do it every single day.
4. Have structure: Be accountable to someone
Countless spaces you can work in:
- Fintech
- Agritech
- Health
- Consulting
- eCommerce
- etc
5. Understand your business dormain
- Google Developer Group
- Meetup Group
6. Join a Community/Network
QnA