Breaking into tech is hard enough when you’re in a major hub.
It’s even harder when you’re applying from across the world.
I recently spoke with a developer from Nigeria who applied for over 100 jobs before getting her first break.
No FAANG internship. No insider network. Just persistence.
What finally worked:
Building personal projects to prove she could ship
Following up after applications (almost no one does this)
Learning to communicate impact, not just list skills
Her first role was an internship via a job board — nothing glamorous, but it opened the door.
Six years later, she’s a Senior SWE building global SaaS products and mentoring 200+ devs.
Her advice for people trying to land their first SWE role:
Build in public. Share your progress. Network intentionally. Create your own projects. Show how you solve problems, not just that you can code.
I wrote up the full conversation (with her detailed strategies) — I’ll drop it in the first comment for anyone who wants to read.
What about you — what was your breakthrough moment in getting your first SWE job?
I recently spoke with a developer from Nigeria who applied for over 100 jobs before getting her first break. No FAANG internship. No insider network. Just persistence.
What finally worked:
Building personal projects to prove she could ship
Following up after applications (almost no one does this)
Learning to communicate impact, not just list skills
Her first role was an internship via a job board — nothing glamorous, but it opened the door. Six years later, she’s a Senior SWE building global SaaS products and mentoring 200+ devs.
Her advice for people trying to land their first SWE role:
Build in public. Share your progress. Network intentionally. Create your own projects. Show how you solve problems, not just that you can code.
I wrote up the full conversation (with her detailed strategies) — I’ll drop it in the first comment for anyone who wants to read.
What about you — what was your breakthrough moment in getting your first SWE job?