Finding My Place in Tech: How Stutern Propelled My Career.
— Hakeeb Bashorun: Product Designer at Bayzat, UAE.
Stutern, for me, was an opportunity to find my footing in the technology industry.
As an undergraduate, I was very curious about how web pages work. I got my first job working with a Telecommunications company, at that time, I already knew about writing HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), and Front-end code. During my time at the Telecommunications company, I was torn between remaining in Electrical Engineering and doing what I really enjoyed, which was tech. Stutern, for me, was an opportunity to get into the technology industry.
I had an interaction with the team at Stutern after they launched the very first Nigerian Graduate report in 2018. It was fun going through the interview process with the team, it made me super excited about joining the program; one other thing I found very interesting was how Stutern was going to introduce us to relevant employers after the training programs.
Going into the program, my expectations were to learn User Interface and User Experience (UI/UX) Design and have a great portfolio which was critical for finding UI/UX Design jobs. Those expectations were definitely met. We had eye-opening conversations with a number of people that made me understand what it meant to work in tech and I was able to connect with the experiences of how they were creating value and working on exciting projects.
I enjoyed working on challenging projects assigned to me and there were also sessions on soft skills in the course of the program. Although this was not the core focus of the program, it was a valuable added bonus.
After the program at Stutern, I got different job opportunities to work as a Product Designer at a few organisations. I was able to land a job at Signal Alliance, in Lagos Nigeria where I was part of a small team that was responsible for building products from scratch.
Six months into my time at Signal Alliance, I left for Cowrywise also in Lagos, Nigeria. Cowrywise was genuinely an amazing learning experience. I was responsible for building web and mobile apps. It was really interesting because it was easy to see the impact of the work I was doing and that pushed me to learn more and to commit to my job. I was really interested in being of value to any organization I work for.
My pivot to my current company, Bayzat in the UAE was not something I planned. Someone from Bayzat reached out to me on LinkedIn. Not too long after, I had a couple of interviews with the company and I got the job.
Unlike my past experience, my current company is very product-focused and I had to learn a lot about product management in addition to my proficiency in code and product design. At first, I struggled a bit in contributing to the product strategy and product vision. I had to study, ask for help, and observe people just so I could improve. Being embedded in an organisational culture like that forced me to develop my product skills. Working at Bayzat has taught me to be much more product-focused when thinking about designs.
My advice to anyone getting into the program is to show a lot of interest in whatever track you sign up for. You should get really excited about it because of how it would help you genuinely do something valuable, and help you grow as a young professional. That is what happened for me and I am certain it would be the experience for everyone coming in as well.
