My Pivot Journal is a Ventures Africa weekly series documenting people’s career transitions from one industry to another, especially to tech.
Victoria’s decision to switch careers came after she would spend long hours commuting the streets of Lagos working a low-income job. What she did not see coming was that her newly decided career in customer service would unintentionally lead to an interest in design. After two years of deciding what to do with her new interest, she found her path in tech. Here is Victoria Johnson’s pivot journal.
How it started
I studied Estate Management at Covenant University. After graduation, it was hard to find my footing in the employment pool. I had to take some licensing examinations with institutions in the estate management body if I wanted to have value and get a good-paying job in the industry. This was a challenge because at the time I had financial constraints. So for every real estate job offer I got, it was either as an Intern or as an errand agent. I eventually got one but it was stressful. It required me to go to work from Ojodu Berger where I lived, to Epe, which is an almost 2-hour journey. I figured estate management was going to be a struggle before I could figure things out. So I considered a new career.
My first attempt at a new career was in customer service. I applied for customer service jobs and had to take some training online. I even applied for a master’s degree in business administration at the University of the People, an online University. My first job in customer service was in an IT firm. I was the customer service rep for their e-bulk SMS product. It was an interesting phase of my life because that’s how I got introduced to tech.
Epiphany
As a customer service rep, I got to interface with different types of customers. While I attended to customers, I realized some of their challenges with the product were not customer service related; they were technical problems. Many customers just couldn’t find their way around the platform. I reached out to my boss to discuss this. What I didn’t know was my boss had been observing me. One day he called me to a meeting. He gave me the assignment to write and express what I thought an ideal customer experience should be like while using a bulk SMS product. After the first assignment, he introduced me to Figma. It was the first time knowing about Figma. Yet with no resources and just a blank canvas, he told me to design something on Figma.
Transition
The first thing I did when my boss introduced me to Figma was to Google What is Figma? It lead me to the Figma YouTube channel. I spent a lot of time exploring the Figma YouTube channel. They have amazingly easy-to-understand tutorials that will help any beginner understand how to navigate Figma. It is one of my favorite channels to visit to this day.
My boss kept giving me assignments till I got better at using Figma. Then he introduced me to front-end development, with basic HTML and CSS. He gave me an API snippet to study. I was to use that API snippet to resolve a customer problem with their e-bulk SMS product. Looking back, I think taking those basic code courses helped me better understand user interface design. At first, it was all jargon to me but I got through it by asking a lot of questions, a skill that has been my saving grace. Eventually, I figured it out and resolved the problem. I spent the next year, sending that API statement to every customer as a solution suggestion. Even if it wasn’t related to their problem, I was the first thing I would tell them to try. It was all I knew, and I took pride in it.
For the next two years, I juggled learning HTML and CSS, learning how API works, and how computers respond to different prompts and commands. I spent a lot of time on YouTube, joined Slack communities like UX Mastery, dabbled in Photoshop, and grew an interest in branding logo designs. One would think I would go straight into product design after that experience. But no it actually took me two years to figure out that I wanted to do product design- I was introduced to Figma in 2018 but only truly started my tech journey when things got clearer for me in 2021. I wanted to understand this new world and make an informed career switch. I knew once I started, there was no going back. And even though I had all these exploring the tech space unintentionally, I knew nothing about people taking tech courses and structured learning experiences.
It was in 2021, I had my first structured learning experience. I stumbled on the Zuri internship program on Twitter. I applied for the product design course and got in. At Zuri, we were provided with a lot of resources and platforms we could get resources from like Udemy, Coursera, and Skillshare. One of the course that stood out to me was the Google UX design course. That is where I learned the different frameworks in design. It was exciting. I had taken 2 years to affirm my interest in tech, so when I started the Zuri internship, I had to make the best use of it. After the Zuri training, I enrolled at Pixels design school. Pixels design school helped me build my portfolio as a beginner in product design. One thing that helped my entire transition is asking questions. Once my curiosity was piqued, I asked a lot of questions. My siblings are in the tech space – one of my brothers is a creative designer and the other is a front-end developer. They also had a lot of friends in the tech space. So, I leveraged their experience by asking all the questions I could.
How it’s going
I am a product designer at One ID Tech, a digital ID solution that allows users to store ID documents for better data security and privacy, and also 1-click access to businesses and services. I get to work directly with the co-founders, CTO, product managers, and lead engineers. I am currently the only product designer at the startup. This means I have to attend to both product design needs and content needs. My day usually starts with a to-do list because having so many things to attend to can be stressful. I have learned how to prioritize my tasks based on timeline and importance.
I love what I do. Seeing a product I designed come to life. Last year, One ID tech launched its first product. And my highlight from the launch was seeing comments like, “Wow, who designed this? The interface is really nice.” Two weeks ago, we won a pitch competition and my boss kept talking about how the panelists were very impressed with the pitch deck design, which I also designed. So, even though there are times when I face pushback, seeing that I am doing something right keeps me going.
Career hack
Invest in structured learning.
Spontaneity in your learning process is a nice flex to have. However, it is not measurable. Structured learning helps you know how far you’ve come and what depth you have. Instead of piling courses that you might not finish, It is more productive to invest in structured learning. there are several free and paid programs. This should not be mistaken for boot camps that last for two to six weeks. Structured learning platforms give you access to mentors and coaches whose experiences you can learn from. The tech space is more competitive than ever, and the bar has been raised. So you can’t solely depend on courses and expect to be a seasoned designer in two years.
