Context: I did my first talk last month at Witty Careers at Campfire (S/O to Simi founder of @wittycareers and just BLACK GIRL MAGIC!) I’d like to share the written version of my talk here! So enjoy and I hope these words can help anyone who might be ‘feeling sorry for themselves’.

I am a Software Engineer and I have been working at an e-commerce company for the past two and a half years. I’m so honored to be able to speak at this showcase. So, S/O to the Witty team for this opportunity.  

I want to tell you about my journey into tech and four pivotal moments when during it. This talk is inspired by my favourite quote by Haruki Murakami ‘Don’t feel sorry for yourself…Only assholes do that’ a bit harsh yes but I want this talk to be a reminder…too sure at times feel sorry for yourself BUT don’t let that feeling overwhelm you. Boss up and seek the opportunities around you…and if anything, ask Google.

So…here are the four moments I felt sorry for myself

1. NOT TECHNICAL ENOUGH: My route into tech started from a joy of playing around with HTML and CSS on Piczo and despite getting a D in ICT at A Levels ha can you imagine. I persisted and got that golden 2:1 on a computer science degree, a sure fire way to get that graduate analyst role at a bank (that’s pretty much what we were told was success at uni) BUT it was not as easy as that…I got rejected from every interview I did after I graduated, getting the same feedback ‘you’re not technical enough’ and this something you’ll probably experience no matter what stage of your career you are at and its something you’ve gotta just accept.  In Tech things are ever-changing…and you’ve gotta be able to adapt just as quickly as Tech changes. Whether you went the traditional route or you’re just jumping into tech, this industry is full of endless learning which so fulfilling but also means you’ll never be ‘technical enough’ but that’s fine. I remember first starting my current role and the company were into the process of hosting all their services in the cloud and I was like sorry what…cloud? now finally getting comfortable with it and boom everyone’s favourite buzzword docker and I’m like…oh gosh back to square one again. So anyways, after being rejected by everyone after I graduated LOL I turned to the one person I knew would have an answer for me, google because GOOGLE always has an answer and it’s how I came across a Masters scholarship; toughest year of my life but boom I was ‘more technical. This was great right?…so I go and approached these companies again after graduating from my masters with more knowledge and feeling more confident, yet this brings me onto the next reason I felt sorry for myself ‘no work experience’.
2. NO WORK EXPERIENCE:  I was frustrated…’How am I meant to get work experience without getting work…experience’ BUT cool I accepted that’s the way the world works so instead of feeling sorry for myself I went back to my good friend Google because google always has an answer. So I searched for ‘work experience’ and because at this particular time of my life I was fed up, I had spent so long trying to become more technical I included ‘abroad’ in my search because I just wanted to travel haha and boom I came across Intern China. 
    
   Please anyone currently attending or recently graduated from a UK university look into intern china, one of the most valuable experiences I have ever done and it can also be free, so don’t sleep on that.  
   And again, this point just proves for anyone who thinks ‘oh how am I going to get into tech without a degree don’t worry about that’. There are many avenues for you to get valuable tech experience and support you landing a job, Code First Girls, Founders & Coders, GA Assembly…again do your Googles.
3. I DON’T HAVE A MENTOR: So BOOM, I’ve got my degrees, I’ve got work experience and I finally land a graduate role what else would I feel sorry for myself about. Well…how many of you had or have one fixed mentor to support your career progression? Of those who did, that’s so dope! 
   I used to be on a ‘urgent’search for a mentor. Because you always hear career stories on how throughout university and their career they an amazing mentor by their side had, whom found them opportunities, supported them and helped them network. Therefore, I associated having a mentor as a sure way to becoming successful in your chosen industry and got frustrated and sad that I did not have one.  
   Until it dawned on me, I can make anyone my mentor…in my head, they just won’t know there my mentor. So I took this approach and the engineer who sat next to me at work became my mentor (in my head) the architect, the platform lead, the QA whoever…I gained so much by just being open to what I could learn from those around me. It was also an easy way to get to know people in the business from different areas.   
    
   And in terms of networking…my spirit animal and women crush everyday Issa Rae said it best when she said “We have a tendency of trying to network up, but it’s really about networking across.” I used…and still use Google to search up people in the tech industry, I follow them on LinkedIn and shoot them a message sometimes they reply sometimes they don’t. Even though I found It hard I went to a bunch of meetups (I was in the corner a lot nibbling snacks mostly) but I met a bunch of dope people and even if it was just one conversation with someone I picked up gems and lastly I used Twitter a lot  to reach out and find a community of dope women in tech, many of the women of witty careers I initially just followed them twitter because I thought they were cool and I’ve learnt so much from them.   
    
   So yeah don’t get me wrong having that one fixed established MENTOR is dope BUT I know a lot of us especially in tech are looking for that dope senior female developer to inspire and support us…just don’t under estimate Bob in the next seat as he may the potential to pass on some gems, or that random tech girl twitter. So no more feeling sorry for yourself for not having a mentor. ANYONE CAN BE YOUR MENTOR in one way or another even if they don’t know their your mentor. 
4. NO PROGRESSION: So, this is my last and most reason I felt sorry for myself and it was because I was seeing no progression where I was in my career. I became comfortable…too comfortable really. Not gonna lie I sat in this feeling for a bit. Then I realised in moments like these you can’t just sit there waiting for someone to guide you’ve gotta take that uncomfortable first step and make it mean something. Whether it meant changing teams which is what I did, changing jobs, saying yes to a ‘scary’ opportunity, you’ve gotta own your objectives and at work everyone is your objective. 

Simi Awokoya

 ALWAYS remember…your journey is your own, its easy to start comparing but it’s fine just stay consistent, everything you’re going through is preparing you for everything you asked for.  
When I look back at all these moments I felt sorry for myself I really didn’t think much of it, I just knew I didn’t not want that feeling sorry for myself moment to be my FINAL destination.

There will always be more opportunities out there and if you don’t believe me ask google, because that’s what I did. 
– Me

Here’s the link to the filmed version.

Till next time.


xo