How to make it to Andela Fellowship Program

I have been privileged to be part of the Andela boot camp, starting from the application process, home study, interview and down to boot camp. I must confess it wasn’t an easy journey but I learned a lot in the process and got to understand the Andelans better. I have also been privileged to be part of the Android Learning community Program ALCwithgoogle 1.0 Android beginners track and ALCWithgoogle2.0 Intermediate Android Development and also part of the ALCWithMicrosoft Front-End web Development Track.

You might want to know why I am doing all these programs. And the answer is simple, I love to learn and I love to take advantage of opportunities that would help me improve on my skills and prepare myself for the future ahead…and very importantly ever since I step foot at Andela right from the interview to boot camp, I fell in love with Andela, I had never thought of working in a tech company, judging from my educational background coming from the accounting/financial angle I have always had companies like KPMG, PWC, Deloitte, E&Y, those are the big four in the financial Accounting sectors, not until I was invited for interview, which later saw me through the boot camp, my love for tech increased beyond doing it at my leisure but more technically focused.

What you should know before Applying for Andela Fellowship

From the knowledge, I gathered in 2016 when I first applied for the Andela fellowship program here are some things you should know;

1. You should be passionate about tech

2. You should be technically prepared(very important)

If you notice on the website they said no technical skill required to apply. Yes, they are right no technical skill required to apply but you would need the technical skill to scale through the boot camp successfully without much struggle. Else you will struggle throughout the boot camp worst case scenario you might be kicked out at the end of the first week.

How to stand a chance of been invited for Interview with Andela for the Fellowship Program

1. Apply early enough as soon as the application opens

2. Be sure to go through the home study thoroughly, finish everything and learn beyond the scope of the home study if possible.

3. Take the Saberr test (Psychometric test)

4. Take the online test. When taking the test be sure to be consistent while using a particular language for the codebase. Preferably JavaScript, even in the Home Study, you will be advised to focus on JavaScript, so don’t try to combine both JavaScript and Python together when taking the home study, if you are taking the codebase question in JavaScript stick to it and also apply ECMAScript2015 where necessary.

5. When given deadlines/ timelines for the online test try to meet the deadlines.

What to Expect at the Interview

The interview could be less than an hour, you will be given the opportunity to select a convenient time and day for your interview. Choose wisely and go prepared.

1. You should expect questions like tell us about yourself?

2. What project have you worked on before?

3. Have you worked in a team, what did you guys work on, what was your role in the team and what was the challenge you face as a team and how did you handle it.

4. You might be asked to show some of your work online

5. And if you say you are passionate about tech, what have you done with that passion. LOL.

6. You might be asked to explain what you understand by the EPIC value and what each of them means to you.

7. Then for the technical section, this has to do with code reviews, the code you submitted online during the home study test, you will be required to explain the code. That means you shouldn’t do copy and paste while taking the test you should understand what your code does and how it works.

8. You might be required to write some code as well. Mostly algorithms. Solve some problem with pen and paper or with a laptop

What to Expect at the Boot camp?

A lot has changed at Andela, they now have more fellows as compared to when I last visited at the boot camp in Nov/Dec 2016. They have moved from their office at Yaba and now at the EPIC tower. I was privileged to also have visited the EPIC tower, my cohort was the first to launch the EPIC tower, throughout the second week of the boot camp we were at the EPIC tower, and it’s a nice working environment.

While I was at the boot camp focus was on JavaScript but now in addition to JavaScript, you should be familiar with react, angular, node.js because most projects you will be given are centered on it. Andelas are big fans of JavaScript.

How to succeed at the Boot camp

You will be grouped in a team and made to work as an individual, so while at the boot camp you should be able to collaborate which is the “C” part of the EPIC values.

When given a task, you should be timely enough in your submission, no code sharing, your integrity plays here as well and also seek feedback where necessary, these things are very important to stand a chance to be selected, and you should be able to combine your technical and soft skills properly.

Conclusion

Be passionate about what you are doing, and open your mind to learn new things at the boot camp, render help and seek help where necessary, be a team player and enjoy the process…I wish you the best in your journey to becoming a world class!

Thanks for reading. You might also want to check out my other post on Things I Learnt from the Andelans.

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