tensazangetsu20:
One thing I would like to add especially for newbies. America isn't the only country with remote jobs. A lot of people just set their sights on the USA. See try everywhere. There are countries that absolutely do not send where you are from at all at all and their governments have made laws for indigenous companies to hire programmers. Europe, developed Asian countries like Japan and South Korea and even developing Asian countries like Vietnam have Millons of jobs and they don't mind hiring foreigners at all.

Also places in Latin America like Mexico, Brazil, Chile and co. The list is endless. A lot of people just have their sights set on working remotely with American companies. Just expand your options.

airsaylongcome:


Totally agree. It would be good if you can share resources for those looking to cast their nets far and wide. Personally, I prioritise Europe (UK) and North American markets because of timezones and a somewhat good knowledge of the work culture.

airsaylongcome:
@Lindner and other more experienced remote workers, can we create a community to provide advice to potential Nairalanders looking for advice on how to navigate the murky waters of IT Remote employment? I'm thinking of a Slack (or Mattermost) group where only invited folks can join. Using Slack/Mattermost (as opposed to having a thread here or creating a WhatsApp or Telegram group) will provide a way of restricting those who can join while allowing prospective remote workers get accustomed with Slack which is a major Collaboration/Communication software for remote work. The community can serve as a means of "giving back" while empowering prospects with info of where to source for remote work, how to go about applying and all other contributions we can give. This is an honest no-ulterior-motives suggestion

Lindner:


Yeah. The IT ecosystem is wide and deep. The best way to stay sane is to choose a niche based on passion and stick to it. I've done frontend, backend and full stack roles but it bores me to death. My newly found love is blockchain engineering especially decentralized finance. Perhaps because of my background in banking. Writing solidity codes that could potentially handle several hundreds of millions of dollars would send your heart racing knowing a single vulnerability could wreck the lives of thousands of people. It's like writing codes on drugs.

I really wish more people would consider blockchain development. That ecosystem is exploding and employers are desperate for talents. Unfortunately, it's when it becomes saturated, that's when you start seeing posts like "Help, I want to learn blockchain development". In 2020, the demand for blockchain developers grew by 512%. No other skill in any field had such growth and they're the highest paid also from statistics. With what I've seen in 2021, that growth is most likely going to be doubled.

tensazangetsu20:

Me I just use LinkedIn and apply to everything I see. It fucking works. Through LinkedIn I have interviewed with very big firms in Poland Portugal Vietnam south Korea and Japan but one day I just woke up and got a very huge pay rise from my boss. The zeal of looking for a new job just vanished but I am sure if I kept at it I would have gotten an offer.

frankfab:


I'm learning about Blockchain too. Let's connect

airsaylongcome:
So I will try my best to keep this thread active by raising points of discussion so that prospective remote IT workers can gain some insights. I must state (even though I agree it is biased) that I am not so into encouraging people from other careers to jam pack the remote IT market in Nigeria. A lot of people are now beginning to rush into this space as there is the perception that it is very lucrative. There are several other career paths other than IT that also recruit remote staff. Accounting/Bookkeeping is one of such. Same with finance. And even Pharmacy (for drug trials). If anyone feels offended by this discrimination from me, I apologise in advance. But that's just me

So, often; most remote jobs advertised (at least for the US markets) are for full time employees even though you may have to work remote. Recruiters will indicate if the openings are Remote-US only or open to international applicants. Full-time remote jobs outside the US are very difficult to get (based on my experience) because your employer will have to pay tax to the Nigerian government and most US businesses aren't interested in that because it adds extra level of work for them.

The other alternative is to be hired as an Independent Contractor which is where we as Nigerians have good chances of getting hired (if you are good o!)

@Lindner and @qtguru what has been your experiences regarding this? Do you guys currently work FTE (Full time Employee) or Independent Contractor?

tensazangetsu20:

Me I just use LinkedIn and apply to everything I see. It fucking works. Through LinkedIn I have interviewed with very big firms in Poland Portugal Vietnam south Korea and Japan but one day I just woke up and got a very huge pay rise from my boss. The zeal of looking for a new job just vanished but I am sure if I kept at it I would have gotten an offer.

Lindner:


I can confirm that LinkedIn is effective and it's global at the same time. I could remember interviewing with a Netherland and Czech based company through LinkedIn.

Lindner:


For real. This is the best time to get into blockchain development. Even if you dont need a job, you can freelance or work with bug bounties and get paid for finding bugs. I literally declined a job offer last week.

johnsavy:



Thanks for this cue. What resources can one begin the journey into blockchain as a beginner?

islamics:

Yes it does.
Na make Oga qtguru con make the link available and make he coordinate with the other Boss to move it forward.

Lindner:


Blockchain resources are not as prevalent as contemporary software development but you can find a lot on youtube. Just search for whatever you want.

Lindner:


Blockchain resources are not as prevalent as contemporary software development but you can find a lot on youtube. Just search for whatever you want.

genaro2000:

I saw this on Udemy, it seems to be the best one I saw based on the reviews. https://www.udemy.com/course/the-complete-solidity-course-blockchain-zero-to-expert/

johnsavy:



Thanks for this cue. What resources can one begin the journey into blockchain as a beginner?

genaro2000:

I saw this on Udemy, it seems to be the best one I saw based on the reviews. https://www.udemy.com/course/the-complete-solidity-course-blockchain-zero-to-expert/

Nabi2000:
Heyy, so I’m an entry level frontend developer, i have little to no experience apart from my side projects. I just wanted to know how possible it’ll be to get a remote job with little experience and what platforms I can use, I’ve applied for a few jobs and got replies from a few companies. But most of the time i get like I get rejected because of experience even though I feel I’m a fairly competent developer for an entry level . Also if i could get suggestions on how to go about applying for jobs and what platforms are most effective that would be nice. Also I’m providing a link to my portfolio so I could get feedback on anything I need to improve on [url] https://binatari.github.io/portfolio2/[/url]

tensazangetsu20:

Your portfolio looks nice from a design standpoint but your projects are not impressive. You are a guy build more hardcore stuff.

Nabi2000:

� there are male and female projects?? I’m going for a frontend role so I thought developing more front facing websites would be the way to go, I was trying my best not to put the average Netflix site or todo list in my repo. But what would you suggest, I’m really open to any suggestions

tensazangetsu20:

Lol women have it much easier getting roles than men. I have seen women who have to do lists on their portfolio getting very good high paying roles. Yeah build hard shit like an E commerce site, don't say there's a lot of E commerce site you can do it Jamstack and use WordPress as a CMS and use react to serve the data. You can build a blog using stuff like sanity and react. Make sure the designs are nice and good looking. You can use frameworks like chakra or material UI to really touche up things and animation libraries like framer. That's how you differentiate yourself.

tensazangetsu20:

Lol women have it much easier getting roles than men. I have seen women who have to do lists on their portfolio getting very good high paying roles. Yeah build hard shit like an E commerce site, don't say there's a lot of E commerce site you can do it Jamstack and use WordPress as a CMS and use react to serve the data. You can build a blog using stuff like sanity and react. Make sure the designs are nice and good looking. You can use frameworks like chakra or material UI to really touche up things and animation libraries like framer. That's how you differentiate yourself.

Lindner:
I've engaged with some developers on nairaland about this topic and out of frustration, I just surrendered.

Since the pandemic and the popularization of remote work, it's no longer news that western tech companies now look to source talents from Africa and Some parts of Asia. The rationale is to cut cost.

A recruiter that recruits for some of these tech companies recently told me that they no longer disclose potential salary budget to candidates from Africa, especially Nigeria.

She mentioned that they are always shocked at the salary expectations of candidates. She went further to state that 9 out of 10 candidates from Africa request for between 20% to 80% below the budget of the companies( Even though the company is already saving a lot by recruiting from Africa). And the fact that she mentioned Nigeria specifically got me a little angry.

Why tf will you guys be asking for $500/month for a software development role no matter whether its entry level or not? What values do you place on yourself? Just because you live in Nigeria? A cleaner does not even get paid $500/month in those companies. Do you feel good knowing the colleague you'll be working with is earning ×5 of what you're being paid and you're probably even adding more value. Don't you get angry?

The painful part is that some of these companies didnt even offer to pay you these miserable salaries, you requested it yourself.

Sometime ago, on another thread here on NL, on the same topic of remote job compensation, some folks came to the thread with alot of justification why $500/month is a good offer. They cited exchange rate, poverty rate in Nigeria, how there's no job and every other pathetic reasons why they should slave away to a western company. I can't even begin to reason the ones that are hawking their "skills" here on NL offering to build a full fledged e-commerce site with integrated payment solutions for 10k naira.

I don't care what you say, if you know your shit and have good self esteem, you can earn as much as $4k/month. Before you come here and start reciting all the impossibilites in your books, know that I'm writing from a position of knowledge. I have statistics and real life examples to substantiate this figure. I myself have been working remotely even before the pandemic.


I wouldn't have bothered to even write, but this development is now coming back to bite some of us just because we answer the name Nigerian.

Lindner:


I think I know this tutorial. It's very good. I think it was done in 2017. It includes everything including frontend and web3. The only problem is that 4 years is a really long time in blockchain development. Most of the frameworks and tools are actively being developed. What you used last month may break this month. But altogether it's a good resource.

genaro2000:

Thanks for your prompt response sir. I saw on the course that it was updated last month(you can cross-check), but can someone comfortable with reactjs do the course, although the course said no programming knowledge is required(am thinking it could be marketing gimmicks).
If not this which will you recommend.

qtguru:


join.slack.com/t/koding-school/shared_invite/zt-x7wxcatg-_iU4vvtdTJ7mNvsBlvajxg

Here is the link for anyone who wants to join, I can't manage the group anymore, so I leave it to the community, I will just post videos and help those who are interested ? All the best bro

islamics:

All the best too Boss.
I guess the other Oga here can reignite the workspace.
Oga Lindner and Oga Airsay, what's your say?

Lindner:


If you know react, it means you know some JavaScript. Also, most blockchain DApps use react as the frontend. You should find understanding Solidity easy as against someone without any coding knowledge. Most of those tutorials typically say you dont need any prior knowledge but I advise against it. You'll really enjoy it if you know the fundamentals.

islamics:

All the best too Boss.
I guess the other Oga here can reignite the workspace.
Oga Lindner and Oga Airsay, what's your say?

Bigshoe2028:
Hunger is the number factor that most dev collect rubbish in name of salary,

Most of us were deceived when we dey small say hunger na bad thing but ask urself have u seen anybody the cause of dead is hunger

Lindner:
I've engaged with some developers on nairaland about this topic and out of frustration, I just surrendered.

Since the pandemic and the popularization of remote work, it's no longer news that western tech companies now look to source talents from Africa and Some parts of Asia. The rationale is to cut cost.

A recruiter that recruits for some of these tech companies recently told me that they no longer disclose potential salary budget to candidates from Africa, especially Nigeria.

She mentioned that they are always shocked at the salary expectations of candidates. She went further to state that 9 out of 10 candidates from Africa request for between 20% to 80% below the budget of the companies( Even though the company is already saving a lot by recruiting from Africa). And the fact that she mentioned Nigeria specifically got me a little angry.

Why tf will you guys be asking for $500/month for a software development role no matter whether its entry level or not? What values do you place on yourself? Just because you live in Nigeria? A cleaner does not even get paid $500/month in those companies. Do you feel good knowing the colleague you'll be working with is earning ×5 of what you're being paid and you're probably even adding more value. Don't you get angry?

The painful part is that some of these companies didnt even offer to pay you these miserable salaries, you requested it yourself.

Sometime ago, on another thread here on NL, on the same topic of remote job compensation, some folks came to the thread with alot of justification why $500/month is a good offer. They cited exchange rate, poverty rate in Nigeria, how there's no job and every other pathetic reasons why they should slave away to a western company. I can't even begin to reason the ones that are hawking their "skills" here on NL offering to build a full fledged e-commerce site with integrated payment solutions for 10k naira.

I don't care what you say, if you know your shit and have good self esteem, you can earn as much as $4k/month. Before you come here and start reciting all the impossibilites in your books, know that I'm writing from a position of knowledge. I have statistics and real life examples to substantiate this figure. I myself have been working remotely even before the pandemic.


I wouldn't have bothered to even write, but this development is now coming back to bite some of us just because we answer the name Nigerian.