Stand out with portfolio projects

(Transcript might not be 100% accurate)

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hi I'm Jennifer from entry level I am the growth associate and at entry level we help uh people learn Tech skills and get experience so that they can get hired um so I'm also with another Jennifer here today Jennifer do you want to introduce yourself oh yeah thank you very much Jennifer so I'm Jennifer J um I'm project manager now but very proud alumni your ventry level yeah that's awesome um do you want to say a little bit more about yourself like your hobbies or some other things you do in your spare time other than learning oh okay yeah I love to cook everything about the cook makes me happy that's awesome I actually got a jolof rice recipe and I I didn't have a lot of the spices but I also can't do spices so it was very good

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no problem I can even share some recipe with you if you want to oh okay I might ask you no problem so yeah I my SP I love to cook I love pets a lot I love with my pets dogs especially yeah and then I I have a small business at the side which I do I make fresh juices so yeah do that I I love entrepreneurship that's one of the things I studied as well before branching out in to into the teex B yeah that's really cool I find that a lot of and she L students they learn to get a job but then they want to start their own businesses in the future so I love that you're already doing that thank you okay so my first question for you is can you tell us what your Learning Journey was like from when you first started trying to break into TCT all the way to Landing a PM row okay

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all right so um like I said earlier I my background was not Tech inclin I had an accounting BC and then had an entrepreneurship and Masters so I was more of a business person but over time I realized that I needed some other thing to just you know just join to my business just like a remote job and it was clear to me that the text Bas was where I had to be if I needed a remote job that I wanted to do but I was not sure what particular course to do my sister had to she she's a HR person and she recommended product management to me that it is kind of trending it's easy for me to I don't need to code I don't need to do all the text all the Tex things it's just very easy for me to get through and I was like oh that's nice I would try to look look into it I was not sure how to go about it then because I knew that I needed to have the foundation like learn how to what it entails but I was not sure how to go

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about it but I had to look up online to see possible platforms where I could learn I found some tord um I can't remember the other one now but they really very expensive for me at the time so it was hard I just kept on SE and then one evening I was just on Instagram and I saw your video Jennifer yeah I saw your video I think you were talking about data analysis or something so I just clicked on Entry I wanted to see everything that entry level had and I saw that there was a product management cost so I clicked on it and I saw it everything looked really good and I saw that it was very affordable I was quite skeptical like oh this cannot be true this is very affordable you know so I just I just had I just kept it on hold I needed to be sure that this was not one of those frent things I was really really very skeptical but I came back again the next day and I said

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and I just said I just told myself you know what let me just give it a try so I I tried to register and I saw some um I saw a video you made with one of the alumni Michael I think Michael and I heard I I actually watched the video and I had listen to him that was what buil that's what built my confidence because it was so nice I had to connect with him on LinkedIn and he recommend yeah he was really excited and he was like he was going to help me if I had any anything I need to ask him so that built my confidence and I had to pay for the course and it was really great because the the timing was good you know from one model you have time to do your assignment your task and everything and then it was practical that's like the catch for me it was really practical because I I like to practical eyesee things basically I like to I like to feel be in the real world to you know experience things firstand so that was the catch for me it was it was practical I was was always very busy after

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listening to the lectures and reading all of that I had to practical eyesee it so it was really really great for me because I already felt like I was the product manager even before completing the course you know so it was I would say that it was a great one for me because I was able to to practical lie things that I had learned and it felt easy from coming from a business background it was really fast to catch up to be in that Tech space is really really quick because the modeles were great the lessons were very explanatory and they were hands on so I had to always Implement everything that I learned every model every session so yeah it was it was a great one for me and I'm really very happy that I did not I did not think of it of not being the right thing I followed my instincts and I just gave it a try and yeah we're here today I'm I'm really very happy so good to hear I love how you saw

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my video and then now you're here talking to me about the experience um the person you mentioned Michael when he was talking about the remote job I interviewed him too and it's just like wow I love it um you also said earlier before you were a little bit skeptical so um what got you over that that made you enoll even though you were kind of sure about it okay so um like I said I I actually tried to register I think somewhere along the line I listened to to the interview you had with Michael so I think it's a good thing because from the interview you felt real Michael was was very satisfied he had landed jobs already and there was his testimonies were good so that was that was a plus for me because I heard from a real person now it was not just all those things we see on Instagram it

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was it was a real interview so I think that's one of the cat it's a good thing that we you have opportunities to to interview your alumni because it it builds confidence and Trust for other people that might want to take on the offer so that was what cleared my cleared my doubts yeah and I had to connect with Michael personally I connected with him on LinkedIn and he was he was you encouraged me that yes I could give it a try that's so to hear cuz sometimes I don't know um if the interviews help but it sounds like it really does so it's amazing it does it does personally um it helped me a lot than that's why uped to do an interview as well so I can be a source of inspiration for others oh my gosh I hope the people watching this um I hope you're inspired as well and of course I'll it's okay to leave you LinkedIn so they can reach out to you too right no problem no problem

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okay awesome um okay let's move on to the job related stuff so how did you end up like what did you do after en L okay so just after um we rounded our models before reviewing the portfolios I already started to scout for jobs I I knew that I had to do something after that like I needed to work in a real company and be able to put in my skills so um the good thing is that the job I learned was from somebody in the community Discord Community yeah you know it's a good thing that we have a community so it's that's one of the good things about the communities because you can net you never can tell who's there who the person to help you tomorrow or you know so that's the good thing about communities because he helped you network so this guy posted that he needed some painful intents for I think he mentioned a couple of roles and there was product management role in it so I had to reach out to him and told him

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I'll be interested if there is still vacancy in the company and he said okay I should send my CV to he sent me the HR details for me to send my CV and good enough I had already put put my portfolio together so it was ready already I was just waiting for um the submission date before I could submit my portfolio but I had already put it together so I submitted my resume alongside my portfolio so I'm sure my portfolio was a cut because the hiring manager would have said okay this person knows what she's doing because she has a portfolio already so so yeah it was it was it was a plus for me I didn't just submit my resume I attached my portfolio that I okay I had experience while learning I was able to do some things I had hands- on experience so yeah and I got called for an interview which I did I was interviewed and I was offered the role so I I was very happy because I had something to

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show I had my portfolio to show alongside my resume and not just that the the person that links me up to this job was also a member an entry level student yeah so entry level has done a lot for me from giving me the opportunity to learn Network and now I have a job so I'm I'm really very happy really very happy I think it's it's a good thing for everyone to be part of the community because you never can be too sure you can see job offers there you can connect with people yeah and it's a good thing to be in the community oh my gosh that's so good to hear I'm so excited for you because like all the connections oh so you said something about um the hiring manager like when you wanted to show your portfolio so kind you can stand out did they ask for

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a portfolio or did they just ask for I just went I just went the extra mile so I just had to show that I you know I've done something because I I know that when it comes to um this Tech rules what the hiring managers want to see most times is what you can do it's not just about your resume have you been able to have Anon experience on this particular field so it was just me just going the extra mile to say you know what I have a portfolio I don't just have book knowledge I've done something I've been able to apply my skills in real life experience so I just went the extra mile and it was a plus for me yeah that's so good to hear that's why we include a portfolio project in every single one of our courses that's amazing and congratulations on learning the RO you oh I love the community because I feel like people look out for each other as entry lover Al um so yeah yeah that

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kind of um relates to my next question which is what advice do you have for other students okay so um like I said my I'll start from the fact that um probably before you you Embark you can try to listen to testimonies of other people who have been there because there will be advised and all of those things that was one of the things for me I was able to listen to Michael's story I connected with him already and I could already navigate through what I needed to do one of the things I would advice is that you first of all look to how to connect with people that have been there before like past alumni or people that have that experience already so you can have you can have people to call back to like sort of mentors or something to help you through and then be very active in the community because I was able to learn my job there because I could see I was reading every post I was dropping and I could see when somebody was like

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okay there's a vacancy for product managers are you interested so I was able to see that um opportunity and also to to put in the work so I was able to during Michel's interview he mentioned that he had three badges I think critical thinker or something I can't remember the three badges you know that inspired me because I was looking forward to earning three badges as well I told myself that I was going to earn badges so I'm and luckily I was I earned three badges as well I earned critical thinker badge on time badge and I I'm not sure I remember the third badge now so I was really happy because it was something that was going to help me stand out during my interviews I could always tell my hiring manager that I'm a critical thinker I I know how to deliver tax on time so I would advise that you try you aim to be the best of whatever you want to do if you can have badges is good because it will help you stand out

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during your interviews that can be one of your strength that can be one of the things you use tell your hiring manager that you know what I'm I'm good at this I'm good at this just one of the skills to just add up to what you have so yes I I'll just encourage them to link up with people that have been there already be very active in the community aim to be the best of whatever you're doing aim for badges try to stand out and be dedicated to whatever you doing put in the work because definitely you would always stand out I tried my best to put in the work I tried my best to follow through I was avoiding any any form of deadlines I Tred to always submit my missions before the next deadline so I won't be I won't be tagged or have a red or you know have something that just that just clows me I was always trying to be at the top trying to get things done as they come so yeah yeah I think that's just basically it

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just try to put in the work and yeah things will happen right yeah I love how you were such a dedicated student and it paid off for you like you did the research and then you were so active in the community and then you got the badges that's amazing but how many hours did you commit to just like learning on entry level per week oh okay so um I usually had time to learn from in the evening because I run a business so I would always learn 2 hours 2 hours 3 hours top yeah wait so two to three hours every evening yes every evening oh my gosh you're such a dedicated student because like I already have a job so I I think I do two to three hours every week when I took an entry Lev course um but I still got my portfolio so maybe it's not as good as yours but

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[Laughter] um um yeah well thank you so much Jennifer for sharing your story I I think you inspired me as well I'm gonna go finish my python course because I missed the deadlines I'm rooting for you oh thank you that's another thing I love about the community because I did the ux design course and then I posted my certificate on Discord and then suddenly my phone was blowing up because everyone was saying congratulations to me and I felt so special yeah everyone's so nice um I don't know if they knew I worked yeah but I don't know if they replied because they knew I worked for entry level or if you they thought I was a student but either way I felt special um yeah so to recap some of the main takeaways here your advice to other students was connect with people especially entry level alone because they'll help you grow faster be active

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in the community and put in the work because the badges can really help you and I believe if you get badges it'll mention the skills that the badges represent in your reference letter and you can share the reference letter to how you manage this as well yeah awesome thanks so much Jennifer um I'm gonna put links to your LinkedIn and everything in the notes um do you have anything else you want to share not exactly I'm I'm just really very excited I'm glad that I did not miss this opportunity because I'm sure I've been very very upset with myself now that I missed an opportunity like this but I'm really happy that I could I could see the opportunity and I grabbed it at that time um I think I would always recommend entry level to anybody who wants to I'm ready to be an ambassador for entry level because I'm I'm super excited because the opportunity I had from um taking the course was really great he it made me um

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I just enjoy what I'm doing now you know today I actually even just got a Kudos from my Project Lead he tagged me um out of the box thinker so I was just happy that oh I just got another badge so that's so funny you now you're comparing the job to entry level instead of entry level to the job oh I love that and congrats on the Kudos I'm glad that you found the RO that you love yeah thank so much yeah I hope this inspires other students to take the leap as well because I always I I feel like people are like scared because they're like oh I don't know if I can commit the time so I'll do this later but then later never comes but I think you just gonna like you have to make the time like you run your own business so you just like worked in did entry level in the evenings so you really have to make time for your growth

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if you really want to growly thanks so much for sharing your story I'll include the links to your LinkedIn so people can connect with you um but other than that our website is entry l.net so if you want to check out the product management program or any other tech programs um just go to entry l.net um yeah that's all thanks for being here and thanks for sharing your story thank you so much Jennifer I w't for I hope you don't forget to to um collect Jello fries recipe yes I will message nigeran sounds good