1nairaland1:


I will be writing a thread on this at another convenient time

We are waiting for this thread pleeeeeasseee.

Thanks for sharing your experience OP
I have just one question; in your case, how did you manage to move into the cyber security space in Nigeria?

1nairaland1:


There are many pathways to migrate to other saner countries. I migrated through the Express Entry pathway.
https://www.nairaland.com/travel
This link contains priceless information that will help you

Ogbaba123:
Thanks for sharing your experience OP
I have just one question; in your case, how did you manage to move into the cyber security space in Nigeria?

I achieved that through self study, training where necessary, commitment and dedication.
I gave myself goals and worked towards achieving them.
I studied relevant books, did certifications and used them to position myself where I want to be.

More importantly, I had a mentor who was supporting me by providing the required guidance and encouragement along the way.
Most importantly, Jehovah is my friend, his mercies and grace are all over me and my family.

1nairaland1:


I way.
Most importantly, Jehovah is my friend, his mercies and grace are all over me and my family.

Thanks a lot. I’m aware of some resources but if you don’t mind please share some of the resources you used and certifications you took. Thank you

Thanks for sharing your story. I'm also very much interested in migrating and your story is really inspiring, I currently work as a security analyst for an MSSP, self taught in penetration testing and with a few certifications. I'd definitely love to connect with you for advice and any available opportunities in the nearest future.

femicashis:
Thanks for sharing your story. I'm also very much interested in migrating and your story is really inspiring, I currently work as a security analyst for an MSSP, self taught in penetration testing and with a few certifications. I'd definitely love to connect with you for advice and any available opportunities in the nearest future.

Interested in how you go about the bold.

talktofemi:


Interested in how you go about the bold.

I don't understand your question, please rephrase.

femicashis:


I don't understand your question, please rephrase.

Sorry. I will like to go the self-learning route for penetration testing. How did you go about it? Links, resources, materials necessary for self learning.

Thanks.

talktofemi:


Sorry. I will like to go the self-learning route for penetration testing. How did you go about it? Links, resources, materials necessary for self learning.

Thanks.

I have a bit of background in networking and most of my resources were from Udemy, Cybrary and Youtube.
There are way many resources available, it's really not being overwhelmed with the resources that might be an issue.

I will love to know what its like to work for those cooperate companies over at Canada as regards working in Nigeria......
I have worked with in some good companies here as an Admin Manager, and I can tell you that its not encouraging at all.......Was thinking if that same harsh treatment still exist over there in their workplace...

I love your story so much, and I can categorically tell you that I believe all you said. Canada/U.S still the best and I am planning to move there one day. U.K is a no no for me.

So motivating, God bless you for this. I tap into this blessings...

I am a part qualified accountant I'm considering taking CISA exams pls what are my chances of getting great jobs in Canada

1nairaland1:


Well, I spend some of some in Naira. I have people I support in Nigeria and also have some projects I am funding as well.
If you shell out a few thousand dollars, Naira don full everywhere - If you shell out a few million Naira, you go dey boil inside when you convert am to dollars

Please tell them o.

If you earn from your work or business abroad, you can shell out a portion and get a cool Naira payout for a project.

Mcslize:


You are simply lazy. I know lazy people when I see them. They give excuses for everything. Excuse upon excuse of why they can't do something.

Develop this attribute to always get things done. It will help contribute to your leadership attribute.

If you cannot read a 1 page write up that is not more than 1000 words, how can you even finish a pamphlet let alone 10,000 words medium sized book?

No mind am.

..........wondering if this thread needs updating

1nairaland1:
..........wondering if this thread needs updating

Yes, it needs.

Kindly update this thread.Thanks

Update

I cannot believe that it's been over 1 since I last updated this thread.

Well, a lot of things have happened over these months. Like Biggie would say - it's been topsy turvy.

Summarily, I got relieved by my company in June 2021. That was after they have kept me on payroll for about 6 months and were unable to close another project they were lining up for me. Although there was no project for me at the time, the company kept paying me over 11,000 monthly and also paid for some of my exams within the period.

During my exit meeting, the company were very sorry that they are letting me go. They mentioned that they will like to have me as one of their contractors, so that when the projects they are chasing comes through, we can reengage and I will deliver the projects as a contractor for them. I accepted the offer and after some coupe of days, they sent me a contract for retainership.

I was in the job search market for 2 months, doing tons of interviews, rejecting many offers they do not align with my expectations and also not getting offers for some jobs I so desired.

During the job search period, I was earning stipends from my employment insurance account - over 2,000 dollars monthly. So that was able to care for some of my bills while I compensated with my savings.

In August, we moved into our new family home we bought in April 2021. Incidentally I also got a job offer in August ending following an interview with the hiring manager. It was the only interview I have ever had with a woman as the hiring manager. During the interview, she asked me how much I would like for the role, I told her I am open and flexible. She insisted that I mention my desire. I told her somewhere between $90,000, $100,000 or $110,000 (This were lower than my previous job which paid me over 135k. I went this way because she appeared to be a very nice soft spoken woman who incidentally looked like the notorious Monalisa, for those who know the Monalisa painting and most importantly because I have been out of work for about 2 months and needed a new job to get going towards my financial goals). She said she really enjoyed my time with her and will hire me for $120,000.

Well, it seemed like a beautiful start until I started and found out that this woman was a toxic woman with a whole lot of issues and sensitivities. Disappointingly, I was hired to start doing things I had little skills for and things that were not in the job description. This put me under undue pressure before my manager. My attempts to explain issues and challenges were not taken easily by her. Damn! See me see wahala for oyibo female manager hand.

I remember one funny experience I had with her. When I was employed, I was the only male in the team of 4. So few weeks in, she hired a senior folk in the team. During the introduction, I made one careless comment that "it's nice having someone I could discuss about 'men in cybersecurity' with". Women In Cybersecurity was a constant conversation within the team. Well, during my one-on-one meeting with my manager, she brought my attention to my statement about 'men in cybersecurity', and how that violates corporate policy and shows that I am incapable of working with women. hahahahaha! Wahala raised to power 2. I immediately went into defensive mode - explaining how harmless the thoughts were in my mind and how I have many women around me, so working with women was not any sort of issues with me. After all the rambling and defenses, she mentioned that she'll not report me to HR for the statement but I should apologize to the other females in the team, as they felt my expression were offensive to them.

I spoke with one of the females who was more like a handbag to my manager and she accepted the apology. I spoke with another female employee who was surprised that the manager felt that way with such harmless joke. She said I don't need to apologize, that it was a bit extreme for the manager to come down hard in that way.

Well, I got fired from the job in October. I felt very great relief leaving the job, it was like a heavy weight was lifted off my shoulders. One unfortunate thing with many of us as Nigerian immigrants, especially those who are new is not knowing when to quit for mental wellness reasons. I should have resigned when I found out that the environment does not suite my personality, before more pressures started piling up. This is what a typical smart person would have done - I was still culturally naïve. Once the pressure starts piling up, it may likely get worse.

Three months after I was fired my my Monalisa manager (Karen is her real name - there seem to be something about that name), I saw that the senior architect that was employed had changed his LinkedIn status to "Open to Work", and was commenting on some LinkedIn job postings. I reached out to another former employee who was concerned with my managers' actions and she told me she also left the company - as she had worse experience with the manager and I was lucky I left earlier. This gave me some mental relief, as I really questioned my capabilities and actions leading to my unfortunate experience.

Well, in November, I got tons of offers from the many interviews I was doing the past couple of months. I picked one of those offers paying over $120,000 + numerous benefits and started up immediately.

In December, my previous employer who I signed retainership with came back that they have successfully signed the project contract they were working on and want to present me for interview with their client - one of the biggest software development company in Canada. They asked me how much I need for the role. I told them $150 per hour. The manager I was speaking with said the customer's budget is $130 per hour and I should understand that they need to also earn revenue from that budget. I ended up charging them $120 per hour and I did the interview and was cleared to start the project in mid-January. Mid-January, they came back that the customer was not ready, that they need to move by one week. After the one week, they asked for February start and I told them that I cannot move the date and any further move will be charged in full - which I did until the customer was ready.

Since this will be a 13 months contract, I decided to keep it as a second job. I calculated the revenue from the job for the period and couldn't say no. That was like $960 daily or $20,000+ monthly. The 2 jobs have been progressing well so far.

In March, I got another recruiter persuading me to take his contract job which will add another $90 per hour to my wallet. I spoke with someone who worked with the client and mentioned that the job does not have too much pressure with it. I said YES! Remember I mentioned about someone who was doing 4 jobs and collecting $2,400 daily? I started the job and the dolls and trickling in gradually.

Like play like play - looks like my income monthly is over $45,000. That is over 22,000,000 naira monthly - you can do the annual math with the present exchange rate, which keeps getting higher everyday. The hunger for more is not going away. The new plan I have is to get into jobs that are not too hectic or demanding and would afford me more time to add another job to my plate. I am currently interviewing to fulfill that dream.

I met one Nigerian fella last weekend who told me that he knows another Naija fella doing 4 jobs as well, so many folks are really hitting it this time around.

I chose to update this thread today to motivate someone - to motivate you to keep your hands on your immigration plough - do not tire out no matter how difficult it seems.

I read about a twitter/nairaland thread about a big man earning 24,000,000 naira annually who left that along with his wife's good paying job to immigrate to masters and possibly immigration reasons. I think those who are kicking against the man are possibly blinded by the possibilities that lay ahead for that man and his family. People immigrate for many different reasons, so no need bashing the man. If you condemn him for leaving the 24,000,000 naira annual job to immigrate, be assured that he stands a chance to earn tons of money over what he's leaving behind, coupled with a lot of positives that come with living abroad.

1nairaland1:
Update

I cannot believe that it's been over 1 since I last updated this thread.

People immigrate for many different reasons, so no need bashing the man. If you condemn him for leaving the 24,000,000 naira annual job to immigrate, be assured that he stands a chance to earn tons of money over what he's leaving behind, coupled with a lot of positives that come with living abroad.

Thanks for the update ... or I would've completely missed the thread. Interesting read and much written between the lines. As quoted above ... people migrate for various reasons and earning millions in Nigeria doesn't mean that person wouldn't have a solid reason to migrate. We not knowing his reasons shouldn't make us condemn his move.
From your write up... you are a paper chaser period. Have you and the family ever gone on vacation since migrating? ....... I doubt it because after all .... time is money. Life is short and no one is promised tomorrow.... do make some time to chill and strengthen family ties bro... after all .... family is everything.
No doubt... opportunities abound abroad.... but ones hoping to tap in to your success should bear in mind that you are there legally as a Permanent Resident and have a skill and experience in great demand. Aside from that ... the side ventures ... plans to assist new migrants .. and whatever else you want to explore ... the opportunities are there for you to take all because of your immigration status .... which sooooo many overlook. Wayyyy too many of us believe all we need to do is arrive abroad by hook or by crook and the sky will be the limit. You have said so much in your write up ..... showing us the path you have taken and how you got on board.... the offers... the interviews ... what was taken into consideration in responding to questions and negotiations ... what is taken into consideration in deciding one job offer over another ... sooo much you have put on the table. You laid the table ... food is ready ... it is for us to get our forks and dig in ... help ourselves ... make the best of what is provided ... but we already know the summarize posse will show up demanding to be spoon fed....( can someone summarize this epistle?)
Again... very interesting write up.

1nairaland1:
Update

I cannot believe that it's been over 1 since I last updated this thread.

Well, a lot of things have happened over these months. Like Biggie would say - it's been topsy turvy.

Summarily, I got relieved by my company in June 2021. That was after they have kept me on payroll for about 6 months and were unable to close another project they were lining up for me. Although there was no project for me at the time, the company kept paying me over 11,000 monthly and also paid for some of my exams within the period.

During my exit meeting, the company were very sorry that they are letting me go. They mentioned that they will like to have me as one of their contractors, so that when the projects they are chasing comes through, we can reengage and I will deliver the projects as a contractor for them. I accepted the offer and after some coupe of days, they sent me a contract for retainership.

I was in the job search market for 2 months, doing tons of interviews, rejecting many offers they do not align with my expectations and also not getting offers for some jobs I so desired.

During the job search period, I was earning stipends from my employment insurance account - over 2,000 dollars monthly. So that was able to care for some of my bills while I compensated with my savings.

In August, we moved into our new family home we bought in April 2021. Incidentally I also got a job offer in August ending following an interview with the hiring manager. It was the only interview I have ever had with a woman as the hiring manager. During the interview, she asked me how much I would like for the role, I told her I am open and flexible. She insisted that I mention my desire. I told her somewhere between $90,000, $100,000 or $110,000 (This were lower than my previous job which paid me over 135k. I went this way because she appeared to be a very nice soft spoken woman who incidentally looked like the notorious Monalisa, for those who know the Monalisa painting and most importantly because I have been out of work for about 2 months and needed a new job to get going towards my financial goals). She said she really enjoyed my time with her and will hire me for $120,000.

Well, it seemed like a beautiful start until I started and found out that this woman was a toxic woman with a whole lot of issues and sensitivities. Disappointingly, I was hired to start doing things I had little skills for and things that were not in the job description. This put me under undue pressure before my manager. My attempts to explain issues and challenges were not taken easily by her. Damn! See me see wahala for oyibo female manager hand.

I remember one funny experience I had with her. When I was employed, I was the only male in the team of 4. So few weeks in, she hired a senior folk in the team. During the introduction, I made one careless comment that "it's nice having someone I could discuss about 'men in cybersecurity' with". Women In Cybersecurity was a constant conversation within the team. Well, during my one-on-one meeting with my manager, she brought my attention to my statement about 'men in cybersecurity', and how that violates corporate policy and shows that I am incapable of working with women. hahahahaha! Wahala raised to power 2. I immediately went into defensive mode - explaining how harmless the thoughts were in my mind and how I have many women around me, so working with women was not any sort of issues with me. After all the rambling and defenses, she mentioned that she'll not report me to HR for the statement but I should apologize to the other females in the team, as they felt my expression were offensive to them.

I spoke with one of the females who was more like a handbag to my manager and she accepted the apology. I spoke with another female employee who was surprised that the manager felt that way with such harmless joke. She said I don't need to apologize, that it was a bit extreme for the manager to come down hard in that way.

Well, I got fired from the job in October. I felt very great relief leaving the job, it was like a heavy weight was lifted off my shoulders. One unfortunate thing with many of us as Nigerian immigrants, especially those who are new is not knowing when to quit for mental wellness reasons. I should have resigned when I found out that the environment does not suite my personality, before more pressures started piling up. This is what a typical smart person would have done - I was still culturally naïve. Once the pressure starts piling up, it may likely get worse.

Three months after I was fired my my Monalisa manager (Karen is her real name - there seem to be something about that name), I saw that the senior architect that was employed had changed his LinkedIn status to "Open to Work", and was commenting on some LinkedIn job postings. I reached out to another former employee who was concerned with my managers' actions and she told me she also left the company - as she had worse experience with the manager and I was lucky I left earlier. This gave me some mental relief, as I really questioned my capabilities and actions leading to my unfortunate experience.

Well, in November, I got tons of offers from the many interviews I was doing the past couple of months. I picked one of those offers paying over $120,000 + numerous benefits and started up immediately.

In December, my previous employer who I signed retainership with came back that they have successfully signed the project contract they were working on and want to present me for interview with their client - one of the biggest software development company in Canada. They asked me how much I need for the role. I told them $150 per hour. The manager I was speaking with said the customer's budget is $130 per hour and I should understand that they need to also earn revenue from that budget. I ended up charging them $120 per hour and I did the interview and was cleared to start the project in mid-January. Mid-January, they came back that the customer was not ready, that they need to move by one week. After the one week, they asked for February start and I told them that I cannot move the date and any further move will be charged in full - which I did until the customer was ready.

Since this will be a 13 months contract, I decided to keep it as a second job. I calculated the revenue from the job for the period and couldn't say no. That was like $960 daily or $20,000+ monthly. The 2 jobs have been progressing well so far.

In March, I got another recruiter persuading me to take his contract job which will add another $90 per hour to my wallet. I spoke with someone who worked with the client and mentioned that the job does not have too much pressure with it. I said YES! Remember I mentioned about someone who was doing 4 jobs and collecting $2,400 daily? I started the job and the dolls and trickling in gradually.

Like play like play - looks like my income monthly is over $45,000. That is over 22,000,000 naira monthly - you can do the annual math with the present exchange rate, which keeps getting higher everyday. The hunger for more is not going away. The new plan I have is to get into jobs that are not too hectic or demanding and would afford me more time to add another job to my plate. I am currently interviewing to fulfill that dream.

I met one Nigerian fella last weekend who told me that he knows another Naija fella doing 4 jobs as well, so many folks are really hitting it this time around.

I chose to update this thread today to motivate someone - to motivate you to keep your hands on your immigration plough - do not tire out no matter how difficult it seems.

I read about a twitter/nairaland thread about a big man earning 24,000,000 naira annually who left that along with his wife's good paying job to immigrate to masters and possibly immigration reasons. I think those who are kicking against the man are possibly blinded by the possibilities that lay ahead for that man and his family. People immigrate for many different reasons, so no need bashing the man. If you condemn him for leaving the 24,000,000 naira annual job to immigrate, be assured that he stands a chance to earn tons of money over what he's leaving behind, coupled with a lot of positives that come with living abroad.

Thanks for coming around to update us on what is happening in your life. it is a great sort of encouragement for us all. Are you based in Ontario? what would you advice those that might be desirous of transitioning to IT?

Warm regards.

1nairaland1:
Update

I cannot believe that it's been over 1 since I last updated this thread.

Well, a lot of things have happened over these months. Like Biggie would say - it's been topsy turvy.

Summarily, I got relieved by my company in June 2021. That was after they have kept me on payroll for about 6 months and were unable to close another project they were lining up for me. Although there was no project for me at the time, the company kept paying me over 11,000 monthly and also paid for some of my exams within the period.

During my exit meeting, the company were very sorry that they are letting me go. They mentioned that they will like to have me as one of their contractors, so that when the projects they are chasing comes through, we can reengage and I will deliver the projects as a contractor for them. I accepted the offer and after some coupe of days, they sent me a contract for retainership.

I was in the job search market for 2 months, doing tons of interviews, rejecting many offers they do not align with my expectations and also not getting offers for some jobs I so desired.

During the job search period, I was earning stipends from my employment insurance account - over 2,000 dollars monthly. So that was able to care for some of my bills while I compensated with my savings.

In August, we moved into our new family home we bought in April 2021. Incidentally I also got a job offer in August ending following an interview with the hiring manager. It was the only interview I have ever had with a woman as the hiring manager. During the interview, she asked me how much I would like for the role, I told her I am open and flexible. She insisted that I mention my desire. I told her somewhere between $90,000, $100,000 or $110,000 (This were lower than my previous job which paid me over 135k. I went this way because she appeared to be a very nice soft spoken woman who incidentally looked like the notorious Monalisa, for those who know the Monalisa painting and most importantly because I have been out of work for about 2 months and needed a new job to get going towards my financial goals). She said she really enjoyed my time with her and will hire me for $120,000.

Well, it seemed like a beautiful start until I started and found out that this woman was a toxic woman with a whole lot of issues and sensitivities. Disappointingly, I was hired to start doing things I had little skills for and things that were not in the job description. This put me under undue pressure before my manager. My attempts to explain issues and challenges were not taken easily by her. Damn! See me see wahala for oyibo female manager hand.

I remember one funny experience I had with her. When I was employed, I was the only male in the team of 4. So few weeks in, she hired a senior folk in the team. During the introduction, I made one careless comment that "it's nice having someone I could discuss about 'men in cybersecurity' with". Women In Cybersecurity was a constant conversation within the team. Well, during my one-on-one meeting with my manager, she brought my attention to my statement about 'men in cybersecurity', and how that violates corporate policy and shows that I am incapable of working with women. hahahahaha! Wahala raised to power 2. I immediately went into defensive mode - explaining how harmless the thoughts were in my mind and how I have many women around me, so working with women was not any sort of issues with me. After all the rambling and defenses, she mentioned that she'll not report me to HR for the statement but I should apologize to the other females in the team, as they felt my expression were offensive to them.

I spoke with one of the females who was more like a handbag to my manager and she accepted the apology. I spoke with another female employee who was surprised that the manager felt that way with such harmless joke. She said I don't need to apologize, that it was a bit extreme for the manager to come down hard in that way.

Well, I got fired from the job in October. I felt very great relief leaving the job, it was like a heavy weight was lifted off my shoulders. One unfortunate thing with many of us as Nigerian immigrants, especially those who are new is not knowing when to quit for mental wellness reasons. I should have resigned when I found out that the environment does not suite my personality, before more pressures started piling up. This is what a typical smart person would have done - I was still culturally naïve. Once the pressure starts piling up, it may likely get worse.

Three months after I was fired my my Monalisa manager (Karen is her real name - there seem to be something about that name), I saw that the senior architect that was employed had changed his LinkedIn status to "Open to Work", and was commenting on some LinkedIn job postings. I reached out to another former employee who was concerned with my managers' actions and she told me she also left the company - as she had worse experience with the manager and I was lucky I left earlier. This gave me some mental relief, as I really questioned my capabilities and actions leading to my unfortunate experience.

Well, in November, I got tons of offers from the many interviews I was doing the past couple of months. I picked one of those offers paying over $120,000 + numerous benefits and started up immediately.

In December, my previous employer who I signed retainership with came back that they have successfully signed the project contract they were working on and want to present me for interview with their client - one of the biggest software development company in Canada. They asked me how much I need for the role. I told them $150 per hour. The manager I was speaking with said the customer's budget is $130 per hour and I should understand that they need to also earn revenue from that budget. I ended up charging them $120 per hour and I did the interview and was cleared to start the project in mid-January. Mid-January, they came back that the customer was not ready, that they need to move by one week. After the one week, they asked for February start and I told them that I cannot move the date and any further move will be charged in full - which I did until the customer was ready.

Since this will be a 13 months contract, I decided to keep it as a second job. I calculated the revenue from the job for the period and couldn't say no. That was like $960 daily or $20,000+ monthly. The 2 jobs have been progressing well so far.

In March, I got another recruiter persuading me to take his contract job which will add another $90 per hour to my wallet. I spoke with someone who worked with the client and mentioned that the job does not have too much pressure with it. I said YES! Remember I mentioned about someone who was doing 4 jobs and collecting $2,400 daily? I started the job and the dolls and trickling in gradually.

Like play like play - looks like my income monthly is over $45,000. That is over 22,000,000 naira monthly - you can do the annual math with the present exchange rate, which keeps getting higher everyday. The hunger for more is not going away. The new plan I have is to get into jobs that are not too hectic or demanding and would afford me more time to add another job to my plate. I am currently interviewing to fulfill that dream.

I met one Nigerian fella last weekend who told me that he knows another Naija fella doing 4 jobs as well, so many folks are really hitting it this time around.

I chose to update this thread today to motivate someone - to motivate you to keep your hands on your immigration plough - do not tire out no matter how difficult it seems.

I read about a twitter/nairaland thread about a big man earning 24,000,000 naira annually who left that along with his wife's good paying job to immigrate to masters and possibly immigration reasons. I think those who are kicking against the man are possibly blinded by the possibilities that lay ahead for that man and his family. People immigrate for many different reasons, so no need bashing the man. If you condemn him for leaving the 24,000,000 naira annual job to immigrate, be assured that he stands a chance to earn tons of money over what he's leaving behind, coupled with a lot of positives that come with living abroad.

Hello sir, I've been a keen follower of this thread and also see the need for Nigerians to consider their options abroad due to the endless opportunities that abound.
My intention of writing you is to implore that if possible, at your own leisure time consider the need to mentor young Nigerians who care to take up this career part.
I'm a 500Level Law student Under 25, I've been home bound for 5months+ now. I would love to pivot into this field and would appreciate if you're available for mentorship, even if it is 1hr30m of your time a week thats enough. Thank you sir.

Cc 1nairaland1

Quite inspiring thread, thanks for sharing

Bossman25:
I will love to know what its like to work for those cooperate companies over at Canada as regards working in Nigeria......
I have worked with in some good companies here as an Admin Manager, and I can tell you that its not encouraging at all.......Was thinking if that same harsh treatment still exist over there in their workplace...

I love your story so much, and I can categorically tell you that I believe all you said. Canada/U.S still the best and I am planning to move there one day. U.K is a no no for me.

Why is UK no no no for you?

I have not seen any U.K job that's why. If I do I will probably accept it.

Mfree:


Why is UK no no no for you?

So happy you were able to pull through the challenges that came your way.

Now you are in a better position to jollificate.

More $$$ to your bank account!

Congrats from a fellow Cybersecurity Analyst @1nairaland1.