Charting New Paths: A Tale of Skill Building and Community Leadership in Tech

Introduction & Background

Fortune Ikechi is a Docs and DevRel Engineer with three years of experience in the tech industry. His role involves the intersection of documentation and developer relations, a vital aspect of technical communication and community engagement.

What led to your career break?

It was a personal choice based on my current skillset and idea at the time.

How did you initially feel about this break?

Anxious, mostly. I didn't have enough skills or know a lot of people. 

Did you focus on any specific activities or goals during this period?

Learning new skills, writing more, and even leading a community.

What were your main strategies for managing this transition, both professionally and personally?

Professionally, I was learning more about what I'd be doing in the said role, applying to over 5 jobs each day, outlining my achievements every day, and personally, speaking to more people who also wanted to transition.

How did you maintain your connection with the tech community, if at all?

I was still involved in leading the community and also after my term expired, I was still very active on virtual channels (Slack and WhatsApp).

Looking back, what is one key lesson you learned from this experience?

Jobs are a numbers game, the idea is to figure out what the jobs want, the major experiences you need to be able to handle it on a day-to-day basis and learn more skills if you do not have sufficient experience. Also, learn the basics of whatever you are going into. 

What advice would you offer to others who might be in a similar situation?

As said before, job hunting is a numbers game, apply to a lot, pray, upskill, build more stuff, improve existing things, and try to do something beyond work, could be learning how to play a game, mentoring folks on what you want, leading a community or being a core team member in one, these things add up tbh.

Here are some images I'd love to also share: