Ndubuisi is a skilled backend engineer with more than 6 years of experience in building great software under his belt. He believes software engineering is magic and it’s hard not to agree with him.
What’s your name?
Onyemenam Ndubuisi
What do you do?
I currently work as a software engineer (backend) at Eden Life. I lead the backend development efforts for our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool. The Eden Life CRM is an internal tool that provides business intelligence, allowing different teams at the company to make better decisions. Basically, the CRM helps us meet our commitments of prompt delivery and quality assurance to our customers.
How did you get into software engineering?
I started the journey into software engineering in school. I studied computer science and we had an interesting lecturer called Mr Steve. He taught us Java, a programming language for the backend. This got me interested in programming languages and a possible career in the field. I got a laptop and started practising what I learnt in class. By my second year, I was already building applications and that’s how we’re here today.
How long have you been building stuff?
I’ve been building applications since 2015. In the second and final year of my National Diploma (ND), I was already building applications for other students in my department. They would come to me for their final year projects and I would help with them.
What happened after school?
After my ND, I took a 2-year break from school before I went to the university. I spent that time honing my skills and becoming a better engineer. It was after I started out at the university that I got my first job as a software engineer.
How hard was it to combine school, learning and work?
It wasn’t easy at all. Something had to give and that was school. I was already focused on my software engineering career and I knew it was more important. Luckily for me, my department was not strict on attendance, so I was mostly absent during the later years of my stay in the University. Many lecturers noticed and called me out for being a truant.
You were really lucky then. Did that absence affect your academic performance?
Definitely. As you would expect, my GP took a hit, but I still managed to graduate with a Second Class Upper (2:1). So I would say everything worked out fine.
Was it easy to land your first software engineering job?
No. It was really hard. I searched for a while. In software engineering, most entry-level jobs require you to have experience, but you also need an entry-level job to gain that experience, so it was like a chicken and egg situation. My situation was also worsened by the fact that I live in Owerri, a city where engineering jobs are very scarce.
Owerri. That must have been very stressful.
Yeah, it was. Most of the jobs I was able to land needed me to relocate to Lagos, but I couldn’t do it because of financial constraints and my school. So I decided to build Open Source projects. I collaborated with other engineers across the world to build projects for free.
With these projects, I got the needed experience. I worked on a Google Open Source project in 2019 and that was the first time I got paid big money for software engineering. Then 2020 came and the pandemic happened.
What happened then?
The pandemic was more or less a blessing because many companies started considering remote and I finally had a fair chance at a good job. I didn’t need to come to Lagos anymore. I joined Patricia as a Software Engineer and worked there for a while before I joined Eden Life.
What caught your interest about Eden Life?
It was the peculiar nature of the problem which the company was solving at the time that attracted me to it. As a software engineer, you’re as valuable as the kinds of problem-solving experience you have.
While some people choose to specialize in solving one type of problem like payments, social, etc, I like trying out different things. When I saw the job vacancy, I didn’t hesitate to apply because Eden Life was solving interesting problems.
Also, Prosper (unicodeveloper) was a co-founder. If you are a software engineer in Nigeria, getting a chance to work with Prosper is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You wouldn’t pass it up.
You can read about Prosper’s Eden Life here
Prosper is an OG. How has it been working with him?
It has been a great experience working with Prosper. I have not only improved in terms of technical skills. I have also learned soft skills around empathy, leadership and collaboration, especially in the context of engineering teams.
What do you enjoy most about working with Eden Life?
That’ll be the cross-team collaboration. I like the fact that every team works together without friction. There’s no such thing as working in a silo at any point. Every project usually involves at least three teams in the company.
In the previous places I worked, I usually just interfaced with only software engineers or designers. The product manager handled all the interaction with external stakeholders, but with Eden Life, you speak with everyone directly. That’s a sign of a company with a very healthy culture.
What do you find most interesting about your job?
For me, software engineering is all about problem-solving. It’s almost like magic. You’re literally creating something out of nothing. You put text in an editor and things start to happen. You can solve people’s problems. It’s like having magical powers.
So Software Engineers are Magicians?
Yes, exactly. Anyone that has the power to create something out of thin air is a magician to me.
You seem to really love your job. But if you weren’t doing this, what other career paths would you have chosen?
To be honest, software engineering is mostly a means to an end. People talk about passions and all of that but I think the last time I really had passion for anything was when I was young.
Apart from the problem-solving part which I enjoy, I’m mostly here to make money. If I wasn’t doing software engineering, anything else that would make me money is fine. My chosen career path is money-making. If I wasn’t doing this, I would probably own a business that makes me money. I’d still do that in a couple of years.
Spoken like a rich man. I think your love for problem-solving can be described as passion
I guess so. I haven’t thought of it that way.
Did you face any pushback when you picked engineering as a career?
Yes. Most people around me didn’t understand what I was doing so it was quite a lot explaining why I was on my laptop all day. I also spent 2 years at home. While other people went on IT, I spent my time at home honing my skills. This led to my family members asking me questions and suggesting other career options.
Did you ever reconsider your choice?
No. I didn’t. I knew what the rewards of mastering software engineering were so I persisted in my learning. I even had financial constraints but I just kept pushing because I believe in the “economic pursuit of less”. If I find out that I’m good at something, I just focus on it and zone everything else out. I knew that software would give me the kind of life I wanted.
What do you say is the hardest part of being a software engineer?
I would say understanding problems. If you don’t have a context of the problem, there’s no way you can build a working solution. You need to figure out the issue and then work backwards to provide the fix.
Apart from making money, what do you do outside work?
Hahaha. Not at all. If I was making money outside work, I wouldn’t be working. I try to relax a lot. I watch a lot of movies, I used to watch a lot of football but not anymore because I can’t find the time. I also love spending time with friends. I like partying too. I’m willing to travel miles just to attend a party.
Do you have any plans to move to Lagos?
Not really. I enjoy where I am. If I’m leaving Owerri, then I’m leaving the country. Lagos is too stressful and the quality of life is too low. I can go anywhere I want to in Owerri in 15 minutes. I can’t do that in Lagos. Things are expensive and the living standard is just not healthy.
Wow. Drag them.
It’s not a drag, I’m just stating the truth.
What would you say to young people that want to become software engineers? How can they accelerate their journey?
You need to learn the basics and remain curious, always. It’s important that you don’t become lax. Keep learning as much as you can and your time will come.
You also need to find a community. It makes your life easier. Above your consistency, you need someone to hold your hand and guide you. Ask focused questions and find people who are where you want to be. Study them and be like them.
You can read other Eden Life stories here.