From Underpaid Software Engineer Trainee in Lagos to Senior DevOps Engineer in Poland
Written by Princess Wilson
P.S. For security reasons, we changed the character’s original name.
Festus Okoye is a first-class graduate of the University of Benin. Right after graduation, he took professional courses and learned Google cloud computing and several programming languages such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Unfortunately, he could not secure a good job that could pay his bills.
“Before joining the Fellowship program, I moved from Abuja to Lagos to work for a company as a graphic designer and web developer. But, the office was at Lekki, and the stress of transport, coupled with accommodation issues, was a problem. Additionally, the salary was not enough to pay all the bills; it wasn’t really easy.”
While battling these challenges, he learned about the Fellowship program from a friend that works at The Bulb Africa.
In speaking on why he chose the program regardless of his existing programming knowledge, he said, “I choose the Fellowship program because while I had learned a lot of programming languages to an extent, I realized that there’s a need to connect and interact with people. With the program, I was able to work on group projects and build my network and connections. This is the main reason why I came to the fellowship program.”
His decision to join the fellowship program was also fuelled by his passion for creating solutions and, of course, earning big as a software developer.
Joining the DevOps track, Festus was able to learn more and build upon his existing knowledge. He deployed a logistics micro-service application that tracked the movement of all logistics vehicles in real-time.
Additionally, he describes the Fellowship program as a defining moment in his life. “Joining the fellowship program, I’ve been able to create and build lasting relationships that helped define my career path. I’ve met awesome individuals whose names I may not be able to mention, but they’ve been helpful in securing job opportunities in Nigeria and Europe.”
These lasting relationships and communities formed during the Fellowship have been key to his success in tech. Festus graduated in July 2022 and landed a job opportunity shortly after. “I secured a senior DevOps role in a company in Poland, and I’ll be relocating in March 2023.”
Festus Okoye’s journey is proof that Fellowship at The Bulb is more than just a place to learn and build in-demand skills, but also a place to build life-changing relationships and grow your network. We wish him the very best in his career!