Chesvic Hillary, Lagos

It’s around this time that I became interested in technical writing. Sharing knowledge with students was based around one-on-one sessions, or in small groups. I soon realized that topics I was discussing were of great interest, and I could share these thoughts widely if I wrote technical blogs.  

In 2019, I moved into a role at a start-up that was still developing their marketing strategy. Their Facebook page was quite bare, so I thought, why don’t I write about the company? I jotted down the most important aspects about their services and ended up being known as an in-house content writer!  

It was a value-added service outside of my day job and I loved it. I’d drop articles on their social media accounts, get some great feedback, and then write more.  

Writing put me in the eyeline of some of the top managers. They asked “Who is Chesvic? Let’s get him involved in other projects.” One article became a hot trending topic and within two weeks it ranked as the top tech blog on Google. A technology platform reached out and shared the article. It got tens of thousands of views and other technologists contacted me for advice. I realized, “Ok, I’m a decent writer, I can give something back here too.”  

It was around this time, in 2021, that I felt confident enough to apply to join the Andela network. Andela has this vision to nurture quality engineers, and their core values of excellence, commitment, and passion resonated strongly with me.  

In Nigeria, and across Africa, Andela is considered gold standard. The best engineers and developers I knew were accepted by Andela and I thought, “I’m just as good, I can do this!”  

Andela only works with the best companies, so getting accepted is like winning an award. I knew that I could take my career to the next level. And very quickly, I did, with roles at internet service providers and recently at a government-based organization.

Andela has this vision to nurture quality engineers, and their core values of excellence, commitment, and passion resonated strongly with me.”

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Your life just automatically improves once you’re in the network. You can get a well-paid job that helps you support your family, working with great people on exciting projects that you learn so much from. What I love about being part of Andela is their support and networking. The community is rich with different people who are willing to engage and share stories and ideas together. Having access to people you can relate to on a particular subject is incredible.

Until I joined Andela, I never thought I could get paid for being a published writer, but they have a community chat platform with different channels, and one day I decided to join one called Writing Opportunities. I discovered Andela’s writing program – Writer’s Room – where they encourage you to write technical articles on selected topics, and work with you to get them published on the Andela website. Above all, you get paid for it. I never thought I’d get the chance to get paid for my writing, but I’ve had several articles published with Andela so far, from topics like Soap, Node.js and even how to manage virtual meetings.  

I think about what advice I needed in the past, and how I can translate my learnings into useful tips that might help my readers. Since I’ve been published on Andela.com, I’ve had messages from all over the world, from people in the US to Switzerland. I love imagining that whatever articles I’m creating right now might be available forever, to help the next generation of technologists. It’s very cool.  

My wife is my best and fiercest writing critic. We’re happily married, with two young children, a boy, and a girl. She reviews every article I write, and I watch carefully as she reads, knowing within seconds if it’s trash or treasure.  

It’s always great to meet Andela team members and community members. Thanks to Victor Alade, an Andela Alumni and CEO of Raenest, I had the chance to travel to Nairobi recently for the Africa Tech Summit, and met up with some amazing Andelans, like Mike Ndimurukundo, the managing director of Andela Rwanda; Maureen Kamau, an awesome Client Success Partner that connects us with roles; and Patricia Ngetich, Andela’s Program Manager; as well as community members.  

Working for Andela’s clients improved the quality of my life by rightfully compensating my efforts and dedication. My horizons have been broadened and my soft skills have improved. I’m proud to call myself a global citizen, with the ability to work and adjust between time zones depending on the client location around the world.

In the next few years, my goal is to upskill and work my way into a Software Architect role, while developing my writing and getting more articles published. Whatever knowledge I gain, I want to be able to share that with other people. And I know that as I progress, Andela will be there to support me.

Connect with Chesvic on LinkedIn and read more of his work on andela.com.