A Quick Background Story

2019 was quite gloomy for me. I lost my precious dad that year and it seemed like my world was crumbling. It was the year I also felt most frustrated about my job role. I was a Relationship Manager (think of it mostly as being in Sales and Marketing) in the Bank. That was the second bank I worked in. For someone who is ambitious, my career growth would be stunted and I would live a miserable life. I had 2 options; stay in the job role and drown in self pity or intentionally do something about it. I chose the latter.

At the time, I'd been seeing news and articles about the future of work and how one needs to skill-up to be able to do the kinds of work that was required in that next 5 years and beyond. And you can bet that I saw a lot of job roles that would be relevant (Software programming, Design, etc) but I was unusually drawn to data analytics and I began thinking of ways I could reskill. Of course, I saw a lot of online courses and guides. But I was stuck, most of them were very theoretical to me. While I am not a big fan of mathematics or statistics, I understand basic arithmetics and how numbers work. It would also be worthy of note that I am a graduate of Biochemistry (You probably did see that coming, lol)

The First Step. My Day 1

After much online research, I was struck, I found something that resonated in the Harvard Business School Business Analytics Course. It was an 8-week online on-demand video course delivered by Harvard Professor of Business Analytics, Jan Hammond. After going through the syllabus, I was more than convinced in my spirit that I had found the course I should take. I loved the delivery mode and the constant way each concept was applied to real life situations of major businesses in the US (Disney and Caesar’s Palace)

Sweat. Tears and Blood

Those 8-weeks drilled me. The worst happened just about 1 week into the course; my apartment was broken into and my laptop was stolen. Then anxiety set in and I panicked a lot. I cried most of those nights. I felt unsafe and missed my pops.

I wrote to the school and they were gracious enough to extend my deadlines. I remember days I would disappear from my workstation and lock myself in an empty office room or in the car just so I could meet my course assessment deadlines. 

I completed this course later in July that year and my mind was opened; I already know the concepts and how it is applied in business to solve problems. Now I needed to master a tool to use on my datasets. In the course we had used Microsoft Excel to learn everything - Regression, Hypothesis testing etc.

Your Circle of Influence - The Place of Good Friends

So I spoke with a friend (Shout out to Arinola, if you get to read this, I love you deeply) who was a monitoring and evaluation officer in the health industry at the time and used MS Excel very well and was honing her skill at a learning center. She pointed me to the same center and my weekends were gone. I mean, I had to resume physically (this was pre-covid era, lol) at 9am and would not leave until 4pm every saturday, to learn. After about 5 full classes, I took my Microsoft Excel Specialist certification exam and I’m glad I passed. 

Against all Odds 

Little spoiler; on the day of the exam, VIO Officials (Vehicle Inspection Office) tried messing up my day. I had scheduled the exam for 12pm on a Friday and as I drove out from my office at around 11am, headed for the centre, I was accosted by the officials and asked for my vehicle licence, which I had by the way. But because I was running late and heading for an exam (plus I did not want to disappear from the office for too long, I only took a 1-hour permission), I panicked and couldn't provide my licence. These men were ready to tow me and the car to their office! If you’re a Nigerian reading this, you know what that means and the distress that can cause you. I’ll leave you to imagine the mental stress. Lol. But one of them was calm enough to give me breathing space, so I gently looked through the docs again and I presented it to them.

What Next?

For me, my curiosity did not stop. I was working in Ibadan. I barely see or hear places/communities where the future-of-work skills are being discussed. So I was on the lookout. It was as if Instagram and Google Ads algorithm were working overtime on all my profiles because everywhere I turned, I would see an ad speaking to data analytics conferences or a masterclass. So I came across one, but a physical one, to be held in Lagos. I got up that rainy Saturday morning and headed to the bus park (I dreaded driving in Lagos, lol). That session opened my mind to understand the entirety of what Data Science was and how it is different from Data Analytics. It was the first time I was understanding stuff like Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Machine Learning and Internet of Things, practically. It fueled my passion more. 

A Little “Breakfast” and Additional Skills

Through it all, I had started applying to jobs. I remember seeing a data analyst job post with a manufacturing company in Ibadan then, I defied all odds to get to that Challenge /Lagos-Ibadan Expressway axis, to go submit a CV physically and upon getting there, the receptionist served me breakfast. Lol. I never got called.

By this time, I had reached out to my colleagues from the first bank I had worked to tell them that I was open to coming back to that bank.

Again, my lovely friend introduced me to a wonderful guy in church who had studied statistics and was great at using tools such as R, Python and Power BI to mention a few. He trains corporate and individuals alike on Data Analytics and I jumped at it. That was the beginning of another brief learning of Python and Power BI.

A Marketing and an Interview Call

I was on my usual marketing call that Tuesday. I had gone to solicit deposit from a customer in Dugbe market when I received a call from my former colleague that the bank was conducting an interview at Ringroad that I should just go there (meanwhile, I had missed an interview from that same bank, the interview date had clashed with the day my team had to travel to Lagos to present our Monthly Performance Report to Management. It was held bankwide. There was no way I could ditch that for the interview).

So, when this call came in, I knew it was my second chance. Without thinking, I headed to Ringroad as advised and because I knew some familiar faces, I begged an ex-colleague to print my CV for me and I wrote my name on the attendance sheet. It was 5pm. I was number 33 on the list and the last person also. 8pm and it was my turn. Although I was exhausted, I still had some enthusiasm in me. Upon presenting hard copies of my CV, the HR personnel recognised me by name and remembered my exit process when I was leaving the bank the first time. It had been a pleasant one.

The Interview. Not an Interview. 

While I understand that some of the readers of this piece come from diverse backgrounds with different perspectives, this part of my story wouldn't be complete without me attributing it to God’s grace. So I will reiterate, God’s grace saw me through here.

I sat down and the interview panel only saw the Business Analytics course I had taken and they were pleased, curious and most importantly, the HR official was excited. One of the staff on the Panel asked me only to tell them about the course and boom… I was there teaching them business analytics and what I’d learned. They were enquiring actually, so they could do the same or a similar one - from the application process to fees and course methodology and its applications, I left no stone unturned. The HR guy then concluded our chat with “Tayo, I will schedule you for a call with the team in Lagos, we are seriously looking for a skilled candidate to fill a vacant position at the head office”.

A Sunday Call and a Next-day Interview

I received a call on a Sunday from the HR personnel asking if I could make a trip down to Lagos the next day and have an interview with the Head of Retail Banking at the time. I jumped at it. I met other candidates and we exchanged pleasantries (more like “may the best man/woman win” in my head). After a brief meeting with the Head, I was directed to a team lead on another floor to take a skill assessment test and that was where victory came. I took my test and even had to point the assessor to some MS Excel tricks i used in tackling the dataset and he was impressed. 2 weeks later, I received my offer.

Resumption, Role and Job Description

Even though I had interviewed to be a data analyst, my offer carried a Product Manager Title and again that sent me on another research journey. I found a school and enrolled in the product management course and that opened me to software product management. While I was in the bank, I could not do so much of software product development but I sure did a lot of Data analysis as I doubled as the data analyst on the team. But I yearned to become a digital product manager and in a more agile environment. 

While I was here, I took on other portfolio careers in the tech space (what you would call side hustle), some were paid and others unpaid but what was important for me was the learning experience.

Current State

While I diligently fulfilled my role as a product manager, another friend (that I had met during the induction period in my second coming to the bank) reached out with an opportunity to be a product manager in the fintech space, at a unicorn and an institution we can call the father of all Fintechs in Nigeria. Yes, you guessed right - Interswitch.

Since my resumption in April 2021, I have not looked back but I look ahead into what the future holds.

Lesson Points

That you made it to this section of the article tells me you are tenacious and willing to make that move. So I won't disappoint you. Here we go:

1. Reskill/upskill
2. Never burn bridges
3. Your circle of friends matters. It’s time you re-examined your circle. Forge new alliances if you have to. This is very important.
4. You alone can discourage yourself, no one and nothing can, unless you give them the permission.

Now read point 1 again and let me know your reskilling or upskilling needs