I’m moving…. AGAIN?
Call me Kwaku the traveller cos I do be travelling… but not this time. I’m actually moving.
By now, most (if not everyone) reading this blog knows I've moved to Sydney, Australia. When I first posted about arriving in Australia on WhatsApp, I think some people thought I was just visiting Australia because I have been travelling A LOT this year. In just 9 months of this year, I've been to 6 countries, including Singapore and Australia, which is A LOT! If you didn't already figure it out, the reason I was travelling like a headless chicken in summer was because I sorta knew I was leaving the UK. So I wanted to get the most out of that location proximity and visa while I could.
Few people fully understand how and why I made the move, and posting this on Twitter revealed this very jarringly. Especially since the tweet referenced me having worked in Cairo, London and now Sydney all by the --- very ripe (I quickly rued my choice of "very ripe age" as opposed to big/small age, cos some people on Twitter can be very very weird/marriage obsessed?) --- age of 23.
The most popular question I've been asked since I posted about moving to Sydney is, how did I do it? "It" being: work in Egypt, the UK, and now Australia; 3 continents, 3 countries, of which 2 of them are a bit unconventional choices for the average Nigerian. And even just landing one would be a dream; talk more of landing 3 within just 4 years of leaving university and at 23.
A few people didn't believe that part π€£. Asking questions like, how are you 23? When did you finish uni if you're 23? When did you finish secondary school? If not for some restraint, I'm sure some would have even asked when I was born π. They shouldn't worry. I'll be 24 soon. Perhaps that'd be more palatable for their minds π . But more seriously, I thought it was pretty well established now that the average person finishing uni from most private universities is 18/19? Some federal universities are even producing teen graduates. This isn't much of a big deal in quarter to 2024, naaaaa.
I recognise that this blog may come across a bit shalaye-eyyy & I know I don't have to explain myself, especially to strangers online who don't care and really are just asking intrusive questions for whatever reason (positive, nefarious or just for aproko). But, I try to approach strangers with an assumption of good faith, and I believe there may be some people who honestly want to know how I managed to travel and work in 3 continents just 4 years out of uni. A few people have asked me via DM and replies to "show the way", and this is precisely that.
I'll just preface with saying that it's doubtful (nearly impossible) to recreate my career journey precisely the way it happened, nor should anyone really want to, because today is different from when I did what I did. I'm mainly sharing this for people to learn from my story, open people's minds to the possibilities they can tap into, and share some lessons I picked up along the way. Also for anyone just curious, I'm naturally curious, and I wish I always get my curiosity fully satisfied. I'm also a firm believer in the golden rule; thus...
Let's break all the rules of all CRS (Christian Religious Studies) textbooks and just put the moral lessons first, shall we π
General advice on how I did it:
I was in the right place at the right time (call it luck or being blessed, this part I didn't have full control over); I was prepared; I had the right skills required and had done some research to put in suitable applications for the opportunities. Also, I had missed out on other opportunities that meant I was free to take up these opportunities, and I FAILED at other things that gave me the experience and put me in the right place mentally & physically to take these opportunities.
To the question of how I worked in Egypt, the UK and Australia, this is well documented on my LinkedIn and Twitter btw, but let me connect the dots.
Egypt
In 2019, was very fortunate to be part of a program called the Development Finance Internship program done by SEO Africa in partnership with the Ministry of Finance that aimed to get young Nigerians internships at top Development Finance Institutions like the World Bank, IFC, African Development Bank, African Export-Import Bank (AFREXIM Bank) (which I ended up interning at) and several others.
OGs of this blog know that this internship made me miss my CU graduation. So, while I graduated from CU in July 2019, per this tweet, I didn't attend the ceremony because I was in Egypt.
How did I know about this program?
I was sent an email to apply, and I got an interview, was selected for the program, and was eventually assigned to AFREXIM Bank in Cairo, Egypt. It was about a 3-month internship.
Interestingly, I even got to be part of this mailing list because I had applied for a Goldman Sachs internship in 2017 that I did not get. Pointing to the fact that failure in one thing put me in the right place to know about the next opportunity.
I learned about the original Goldman Sachs internship at Covenant University, talmbout being at the right place at the right time. 1 of the advantages of attending CU was (is?) we found out about several opportunities from formal channels, fellow students and lecturers. Not every university has this privilege.
UK
Also, in 2019, as I posted in this tweet, I was blessed to be selected for the Development Trust Africa scholarship at Loughborough University, which covered my full tuition for my Master's degree in Finance and Investment. I found out about the scholarship from my project supervisor in final year. Shout out to Dr Efobi!
In 2020, I landed an internship through the 100 (now 10,000) Black Interns program to work in an asset management firm in London. The 100 Black Interns program at the time aimed to get young black people internships in asset management.
I learned about the 100 Black Interns program on my Loughborough Church workers' WhatsApp group π . Shout out to Redeemed Christian Church of Group (RCCG) Loughborough, particularly Sis Uju, for posting the opportunity. If I wasn't part of the choir (thus a church worker), I wouldn't have found out about the program any other way. Talk about being in the right place at the right time.
After the internship in 2021, I landed an Investment role in London working in Asset Management.
Cut to 2023; as explained in this tweet, the company I was working for in London had a job opening in Sydney that I was interested in. I applied, and after a few interviews, I was offered the Investment Analyst role and took it. Which leads me up to today.
Anyways, chileee... in case you didn't know, Singapore has no transit visa requirements. There's no such thing as a Singaporean transit visa. So I freely transited through there from London to Sydney. And their airport is soooo beautiful. 10/10 would recommend.
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