June 27, 2022 Building A Tech Community In Africa With Code_Abbey – The Topcoder Nation Show #17

Job opportunities, upskilling, and mentoring are traits that identify the endeavor that this young gentleman is leading in Africa. Meet Abiodun (Code_Abbey), born and raised in Lagos; he aims to close the gap between the tech talent in his region and opportunities, leveraging Topcoder as a medium to make it happen.

Abiodun loves live music and the beach, but when he is not enjoying those pleasures in life, he dedicates his time to spreading the gospel about data science and job opportunities. Alongside his partner in crime Robinson (Rokit12), they run a weekly meet-up in Twitter spaces where they lay out the map for developers to land gigs in Topcoder, as well as other opportunities and learning resources.

Abiodun himself walked the path to landing a gig in Topcoder. As he progressed through the interview process, working the gig and completing it, he spotted an opportunity to bring this experience to his local community in Lagos where tech is rising, talent is abundant, and opportunities thrive.

“I wasn’t expecting it to be that seamless. I had to work remotely from Nigeria with a team in the United States and it felt seamless. I was guided, the job was clear and well stipulated”

— Abiodun on his first gig experience in Topcoder

One of the things he loves the most about Topcoder is the community. He found himself surprised about its existence, and the fact that he would be given access to a group of like-minded people in discord who share his passion for technology and love of helping others.

This was a humbling, down to earth session with a young gentleman who genuinely loves people and helping others. In his excitement during the show, he shared the dirty little secrets of finding job opportunities for entry-level developers, how to build a good profile and actual work experience to assemble a solid resume. Enjoy these gems. 

TAKEAWAYS

These lessons, tips, and advice captured my attention, they may also help you:

• He promotes Topcoder gigs in a weekly Twitter space. Along with Rokit12, they provide guidance and mentorship to entry-level developers looking for work opportunities.
• Transitioned from a designer role to love data science.
• Started co-founding companies from a young age in the shipping and delivery industry.
• As an entrepreneur, he learned to turn ideas into reality.

Topcoder Nation Show #17 is up on YouTube. See timestamps below for a summary.

TIMESTAMPS: GATES TO WISDOM

• Early interest in founding a tech community for Africa: 02:35
• Sharing the gospel through Twitter spaces along with Rokit12: 05:25
• Pursuing a data science career: 07:50
• Working with teams and achieving the impossible from startup experiences: 10:45
• Landing a gig in Topcoder as a newbie: 14:00
• Finding a community in Topcoder: 21:07
• Spotting an opportunity to spread the word about Topcoder: 22:05
• His motivation for building a tech community in Africa: 29:15

AMA 

We held an AMA (ask me anything) with Abbey. Curious community members asked questions for him to ponder. Watch the video from 35:19 to check out the replies to questions such as:

• How do you land a legit tech internship opportunity as a learner?
• How do you manage your daily time while working remotely? 
• What is the most difficult thing about landing jobs at Topcoder?
• Have you mentored new TC members? If yes, what was the outcome for them and you?
• When starting a challenge, how do you overcome the anxiety that you might not get paid despite a quality deliverable?
• What things would you do differently if you had the chance to go back to when you began coding/freelancing?

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Peace out.

TOPCODER NATION

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