I had the opportunity to speak to SS1–SS2 students at Emarid College, Port Harcourt, about the many career paths available in technology and how they can begin exploring them early.
The Idea and why I bothered
Isn't it strange that a student in secondary school barely hears the words "product designer" or "cloud engineer"? I mean, not just for the books, but also as a career they actually consider while applying to universities.
It'd be better if a student, before getting into university, knew about technical roles like cybersecurity, DevOps, and cloud engineering and could then think through which one best matches his personality and interests before choosing what to study.
Yes, exactly! That was the whole idea behind this.
I'm Wisdom Ehirim, a Software Engineering student at the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO).
The problem we are trying to solve is simple to state. Most secondary school students in Nigeria can name maybe one or two tech careers. By the time they discover what's actually possible, they're years behind peers who started earlier.
So I built a 90-minute talk to interrupt that, and Emarid College was the first school. Here's how it went; this article covers my approach, the challenges, and what I would say to others.
The approach: don't talk about careers; talk about products instead.
Initially, I had designed my slides to cover just careers all the way through, talking about them and what they mean. But I realized that these are students entirely new to tech.
So instead of repeating technical jargon, I built the session around a single idea that runs through the whole thing:
"Working in tech" is not one job. It's a whole building full of rooms. You don't have to love all of it - you just have to find your room. The same way you can't reduce football to just being a striker.
1. Kill the misconceptions first
Before explaining anything, I put up the lies students tell themselves, with the truth beside each one:
- "I'm not good with computers; tech is for people who can code." → If you can use WhatsApp and Instagram, you already think like one.
- "I don't have a phone or laptop yet." → Most courses start on your phone. YouTube is free.
- "Tech is for people good at math / science students." → Tech needs problem solvers. That can be a writer or a designer.
This slide caught the attention of most students, and even after the session, some of the boys had questions about whether mathematics was essential.
2. Make it familiar before making it technical
I showed a wall of logos; Moniepoint, Paystack, Kuda, Chipper, Snapchat, Instagram, and others and asked, "Do these look familiar? Then I showed the faces behind some of them, including young Nigerians, and left one empty box on the slide with a line: "That's your box there."
This was the engaging part, because I believe it helped them picture themselves as people who could be in it.
3. Split the careers into technical and non-technical
The entire idea was to present the various careers to them, and these students aren't all technical. I also believe that these people have skills and personalities that match particular careers.
- Technical - web development, mobile development, cloud engineering, DevOps, cybersecurity, data analysis, AI & machine learning.
- Non-technical - product design, technical writing, product management, developer relations, no-code development, digital marketing.
My job wasn't to make them like one or prefer another or tell them which one to choose, because that's funny considering the present tech market.
I majorly focused on presenting all to them and letting them choose instead.
4. Explain the hard ones with everyday language
For web development, I used the Emarid College website's own login screen as the example, a site they already knew and built on that. I did have trouble going in depth with some of the explanations, though.
5. Then prove it with a live exercise
After all the roles, I put up WhatsApp and asked the room: Figure out every role involved in building this. The idea was to see whether they could look at WhatsApp and spot who built which features.
To a great extent, they did well. They got the "cloud engineer" role right and linked it to WhatsApp backups, and the product design too. Then the obvious one was the mobile developer. Then they paused there....
6. End on how to actually start.
The last section was track-agnostic, because these four steps work for any path:
- Pick one career. Just one.
- Find resources that match it: roadmap.sh, freeCodeCamp, YouTube, and CS50.
- Join a community: Google Developer Groups, DevCareer.
- Build something small. Borrow a laptop if you must. Bring the passion or just make a move.
But it wasn't entirely easy...
- Explaining technical terms was difficult Some students had never heard "frontend." Others already knew a bit. Talking to both at once without losing either is genuinely difficult.
I felt mentally restricted from going in depth, but then, obviously, you can't teach a full career within an hour.
The surprises
After we concluded the session, we got only a few questions, and it made us feel as though they weren't interested. But the off-session conversations were far more personal.
Students opened up about their fears and how best they should begin. One even said he was inspired by this and would like to do something similar when he graduates.
"What is your motivation?" has to be one of the most memorable questions I was asked by a teenage boy named Prosperity. I don't think I gave him a definite answer, though.
Advice for other tech volunteers
If you're a developer or student thinking of doing this in a school, here's what I'd pass on:
- Don't lecture. Build a thread they can follow. A list of careers is forgettable. One idea that runs through the whole talk is what they remember.
- Answer their objections before they raise them. The misconceptions slide did more than any career slide. Students disqualify themselves silently; say the lie out loud and kill it.
- Localize everything. Use the school's own website. Name Nigerian companies. Show faces that look like theirs. They may be inspired by Elon, Mark, or Bezos, but it sends a whole different message when they realize that people within their age and race did these things too.
- Translate every technical term, or cut it. If you say a tool name, give it one plain sentence or don't say it at all.
- Make them do something in the room. The WhatsApp exercise turned passive listeners into people actively using what they'd just learned. Participation beats inspiration.
- End with the smallest possible next step. "Go and learn to code" is overwhelming. Pick one path and follow one tutorial for one hour" is doable. Lower the bar until stepping over it is easy. I believe I was a bit vague on this one while teaching the students.
What's next
Emarid College was the first of the schools planned under The Tech Mould this cycle. I'd like to continue from here.
If you run something similar or want to, please reach out. I'd love to learn. Have you ever volunteered in a school or introduced students to tech careers?
What approaches worked for you, and what would you do differently?
Wisdom Ehirim
Co-facilitated with Faith Okereke.
Tags: #career #beginners #community #education
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