FROM BEING A WAITER TO A SOFTWARE ENGINEER- SEUN AGBEYE

From his teenage years, Seun had always desired to become a Software Engineer but his story starts with him being a Waiter.

Seun began his journey by attending the WAVE training which he heard about through an alumnus friend. Before joining the training, he was preparing for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination while working as a part-time Waiter at parties when he heard about the training. He decided to apply to acquire the necessary skills to make himself employable as a high school graduate.

Training at the Yaba center was fun and challenging; "fun because I was exposed to new things and got to acquire work etiquette that I didn't possess, and it was also challenging because the program sought to produce the best candidates for employer partners so expectations from the trainees were high'', he said.

Seun job shadowed at Golden Tulip in Festac Lagos and found the experience exciting because he had the opportunity to see how things worked in  the hospitality industry. After his job shadow, he received a job offer from the second interview he attended.

While he started from the hospitality and retail industry 5 years ago, he made a career switch after attending a Coding boot-camp in 2017 named where he gained the Engineering skills needed to kick-start a career as a Software Engineer and has been in the tech industry for 3+ years.

Currently, Seun works as a Software Engineer in a Virtual Health Company in Toronto, Canada, and in these challenging times due to the current pandemic he is glad to be part of a virtual health care company that is bringing medical care to people without having to go to the hospital and he also likes working from home.

Although his training at WAVE was tailored towards the hospitality industry, the skills Seun learned at WAVE such as Housekeeping, Waiting, Teamwork, Emotional Intelligence, and Empathy when attending to a customer/client, e.t.c are still useful at his current job because he interacts with people.

"I’ve always wanted to be a Software Engineer as a teenager, so I’d say I am currently doing the job I have always dreamed of. But I do have dreams of becoming a Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence Engineer. Being able to set SMART (specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and time-bound) goals for myself is one of the major skills I learned at WAVE. 

I believe this skill will help me finish my studies at the University of London in the next 3 years towards becoming a Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence Engineer, while simultaneously working as a software engineer and working towards becoming a senior software engineer by the time I am done with my studies.

Having been in the workforce since he was 17 years old, my family is proud of what I have been able to achieve and support my current and future endeavors. I'm able to support financially with rent and food supplies.''

He had a few words for job seekers also; "When in a search for a job, always take courses or acquire skills that will make you employable, when you get rejection emails, don’t be discouraged, instead, rework your resume, gain more skills and keep applying. And, when you do get an invite for an interview, research the company, don’t just do superficial research. Go through their social media, read articles about the company, prepare questions, do mock interviews, and wish yourself good luck. If you don’t get the job, repeat the process again because the more interviews you get, the more interviewing experience you gain, and the higher your chances of landing a job".