Adebowale

Let me tell you how I got into Microsoft and how to solve the "world-class skill gap problem" I commenced my Master's in Computer Science at FUTO in 2014 shortly after leaving the University. You know Nigerian parents na, after drumming "do your Master's!", you had no choice but to oblige, as the alternative - seating at home, wasn't practical. But it was at FUTO I understood what it meant for your destiny to slip out of your hands. It was at FUTO I got to hear that people were running Master's program for 4-5 years. I thought my case would be different. Oya na, after chasing lecturers to come and take lectures, and sorting one or two, I had to ask myself, "is this life?" I said toh, I began to apply like a mad man to intern software engineering positions, and finally happened upon the Microsoft 4Afrika program. Took a bus from Owerri to my hometown in Anambra because I just sorta KNEW I'd be called soon. A few days later, I saw an interview invite by 3pm, for an interview the following day in Lagos. 10am interview in Lagos tomorrow? I was at Obosi at 3pm. Ngwanu, I sharply selected some rumpled shirts, put in my box and headed to the park. Long story short, that's how I got to Ogun State by 10pm and lodged at the Redeem Camp in readiness for my interview the following day, which I excelled in. Now, I've got in right? But it was all rote work. Mostly CRUD operations on some contracted Government websites. I told myself that I didn't have a paper on "Cryptographic Systems" and another in "Multi-Agent Systems" as far back as 2013 to come here and be doing CRUD. I started posting my write ups every day on LinkedIn. 1 like there, 2 likes there. E consign their papa, I just kept posting. UNTIL ONE DAY. Someone set up a job interview at Microsoft. Nibo? Well, if this was a miracle, no wahala, we go run am. On the interview day, William fucking Adams, a Technical Adviser to the CTO of Microsoft, Kevin Scott, was at the other end of the screen. He started with, "Johnmark, I have your CV in front of me". My village people whispered, "ask him how he got your CV." OMO thank God for my mother's prayers. The interview wasn't even an interview. He was just talking about his travels, and life. I asked myself, "which kain interview be this?" Then he ended the interview with a question, "say you have unlimited money, what will you do to develop Nigeria?". Bro, both the ideas I had read in novels and sci-fi movies, coupled with my creativity, I sha talked for close to 10 mins. He replied with "hmmm". That was it. 3 days later, Chun Lu, my soon-to-be Manager messaged and said, "I'll call soon to discuss your offer". Na so I enter o. Me ke? I first called pops and moms, told them, "Master's nto!" They were really happy. Anyway, I got into the Microsoft within the Microsoft Leap team, who were exploring ideas around upskilling folks to get into tech, and also creating a sustainable pipeline in that regard. We had a clear model: 1. This is not the typical internship. This is an apprenticeship. We source for job applicants, train them and PLACE them in firms across Nigeria. To clarify, they didn't know it yet, but everyone who succeeded after applying for the 'apprenticeship' will become a full-time employee post-training, as agreed with those companies. 2. Target those who were not in the tech field and foster interest in the field, especially women. 3. Work with Universities, through their Student Unions, to get a fresh pool of potential applicants, do baseline tests to get the most quality candidates, and maintain a priority pool of talent. 4. Work with State governments to draw up state-wide hackathons and training programs for talent in their states, and repeat the ending part of (3) above. We didn't do so well in (2) and (3) however we saw real success because at least 80% of those trained became Seniors in local and International organizations in 5 years or less. Take note, we worked with the clear assumption that trained talent will definitely see better opportunities and leave, but we saw in real time that talent in the priority pool were always more than enough. The biggest bottleneck was (1), because we moved very slow sometimes. You know how bureacracy in top firms can be. Anyway, that's how to grow a pipeline. Emphasis is on training, partnerships, and maintaining a consistently credible pool of top talent. If top guns like @DONJAZZY or @davido, and even the Ministry of Education can come forward to support this in a way that isn't run on man-no-man and the Nigerian bureaucratic process, we will see our talent issues solved in no time.