Rome wasn't built in a day they say, I can say same as the career I have chosen. Being a developer in Nigeria first off is not easy as there are so many day-to-day struggle we go through.
The Struggles
Imposter Syndrome: According to Wikipedia Impostor syndrome (also known as impostor phenomenon, fraud syndrome or the impostor experience) is a psychological pattern in which an individual doubts their skills, talents or accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear.
I always doubt my skills even when given accolade till date, I even doubt my code 😂😂 even when they are bug free. I am only calm when my Apis have been consumed. I got to find out that imposter syndrome is normal to have because even the people we look up to go through it. The most important thing is believing in ourselves and knowing that the ideal candidate is only in a job description. Even the creators of some frameworks we use don't know everything it can do. So why beat your self up.
I have read so many articles from different developers about imposter syndrome and it looks like we are all in this together.
It is not what you are that holds you back, It is what you think you are not
Electricity: Remembering when we started remote work because of the pandemic and buying fuel like water because of lack of electricity is something I will never wish any developer go through. But guess what? They are already going through it. It got to a point my company didn't believe me any longer when I said there was no light. My generator at home over heated and caught fire 😢😢 as a result of always being on (story for another day). I work in an organization where you can't make excuse that a project was not delivered because of power shortage.
Dealing with electricity in Nigeria is the worst way to build a career that has not started because you might get tired and can easily get demotivated, Even as I construct this article, electricity is still a big problem to Nigerian developers.
Getting a mentor that cares about your success: I remembered when I was new to coding I struggled so much trying to get a mentor, I had to signup on a mentorship platform just to get someone to put me through some things, but I still didn't get anyone. This is one of the reasons I give it up to She code africa mentorship program, I wasn't privileged to know about them earlier enough in my career, I would have done somethings differently. We need to continue pushing ourselves to prove to ourselves that we are in control of our actions and not having a mentor is not a genuine reason to give up on our dreams and aspirations.
You need someone who allows you see the hope inside yourself - Oprah Winfrey
Always wanting to learn everything: This is very funny to me because I was guilty. Then, I will wake up, pick my system and google top ten programming languages to learn in 2017, the first on the list I will start learning it 😂😂🤦♂️ I can't believe I did this. The truth is jack of all trade is a master of none, pick a programming language learn it and be a master in that field such that you are too good to be rejected. Learning all and not mastering is a time waster.