Nigerians and Africans in general are given to exploring opportunities for greener pastures. However, integrating into the new environment in most cases is a hard nut to crack. Mainstream Careers’ provides the needed antidote to settling down to a life of appropriate value especially in tech. Fred Ojigbani PSM, PSPO, SPS, MBCS, Founder and CEO of Mainstream Careers Limited in this interview with BrandCrunch fields questions of how an immigrant professional can seamlessly transition into global career opportunities and life of value via the company’s proved and tested solutions. Excerpts
You’ve been abroad for a while, what are the challenges immigrants especially professionals face as relates to settling down to good jobs, what are the impediments?
From our research, the top two challenges faced by immigrants are lack of experience in their desired tech field as well as lack of local experience in the country of destination.
Our mission (bridging the skills gaps in the world of tech and promoting inclusivity by making world-class practical trainings accessible by all) addresses these top two challenges, and more, by offering the migrants an opportunity to gain education and hands-on experience in their desired tech field, with us; whilst also offering them the all-important local work experience, local CV writing support, interview preparation support and mentorships, including on the job mentorships.
Our learners have found the access they have to our network of professionals to be invaluable. We have a team of well experienced and certified trainers who bring a wealth of up-to-date knowledge, experience and exposure to our learners.
Briefly tell us about your emigration to the UK.
I was born in Nigeria where I lived and completed my education up to Bachelor’s degree level. I also completed my compulsory 12-months National Youth Service and thankfully, gained employment with Stanbic IBTC Bank in Lagos. I worked with this prestigious bank until 2009 when I resigned my employment with them to pursue an MBA in the UK. I arrived in the UK in February 2009 for my 12 months MBA programme; this was the beginning of my journey in the United Kingdom.
As a Nigerian immigrant to the UK, I experienced first-hand, the difficulties in securing professional employment without any prior local experience or expertise in the field of interest. This was a serious course of concern for me as I had invested quite heavily to obtain an MBA but still could not do much with it as employers were seeking prior local and relevant experience.
How does this experience impact the foundational concept of Mainstream Careers Ltd as an organization, and which particular sector or service does the company prioritize in its operations?
I decided at this point to “take on the challenge” and create an opportunity for migrants like myself to gain hand’s-on experience in tech fields, which would then further support their professional job search efforts. Thankfully for me, I was eventually able to secure a professional tech role due to an internship I had completed with the NHS – this was a door opener for me!
I put a tech project together, replicating the processes, tools, techniques and the team I experienced at my client’s. I trialled this set up on a few of my close friends and it worked very well as it helped them to get into the professional tech employment they desired.
At this point, words spread really fast and attracted more and more individuals to this rather unique and effective set up. Today we have helped over 5,000 individuals gain the skills and experiences required for a professional employment in the world of tech; with over 80% of them being migrants just like myself, from Nigeria, Ghana, India, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, South Africa and several other countries. We currently have over a dozen tech trainings on offer, ranging from Project Management, AWS Cloud Computing, Data Analytics, Business Analysis, Agile Scrum, Product Management to mention but a few.
How is your company helping Nigerians and others in diaspora to integrate into their new environment in the UK?
Our offerings help solve the top two challenges faced by immigrants who want to commence or continue a professional career here in the UK – lack of experience in the desired tech area and no prior local work experience. These two challenges lead to major difficulty in integrating into the UK work environment.
We have offered guaranteed work experience opportunities on UK live projects to migrants, which provides them with the all-important local work experience as well as experience in their tech area of interest. The additional support we offer, such as CV guidance and mentorships, have further helped migrants settle faster in professional employments here in the UK, rest of Europe and in the Americas. Over 5,000 learners have benefited from our programmes and have very positive feedback for how we supported them through the journey of settling in the UK work environment.
There are companies offering project management training and career path enhancement programmes, what differentiates or is unique about Mainstream Careers?
Mainstream Careers prides itself in providing unparalleled, customised, and continuous support to its learners. Majority of our past learners have confirmed that this “hand-holding” experience as the reason they decided to take up their tech trainings with us rather than elsewhere. Additionally, all our tutors are practising tech professionals, who are, not just certified, but bring an up-to-date experience to the classrooms. Our tutors are carefully selected and are all passionate about what they do as well as about impacting knowledge and supporting the learners through to employment.We have the pedigree, we have the structure, and we have the success stories to show for them – all of these put together, stand us out from the crowd.
The Internet of things IoT, AI are manifestations of technology reshaping professions and mode of doing things, what is Mainstream Careers ltd. approach to preparing clients emigrating from less tech oriented part of the world to fit into their new tech driven environment/roles?
Technology is driving a lot in our world today – from Artificial Intelligence to invisible payments, to voice/motion driven actions, to mention but a few; it has changed how we interact and live our daily lives. These technological transformations present a huge opportunity for tech professionals to build a career on as well as maintain/manage them. Whether it’s technical professionals such as Cloud Engineers, Developers, etc or non-technical professionals such as Project Managers, Business Analysts, Scrum Masters, Data Analysts etc, there is a huge demand for tech professionals to support these tech transformations and we have taken advantage of these opportunities by adequately exposing our learners to these new ways of doing things and the associated tools.We offer current, professional, lucrative, and enduring tech career pathways to immigrants. Some of these tech skills can also be layered on existing specialisations such as Medicine, Marketing and Communications, amongst others, eliminating the need to start a new career altogether.
Could you tell us how your career trajectory berthed Mainstream Career Ltd. and how has it helped clients get desired solutions?
I have over 15 years’ experience working in various consulting positions across the energy, charity, health, and financial services sectors. More specifically, I have consulted for FTSE 100 companies such as Barclays Bank, Lloyds Banking Group and the Royal Bank of Scotland and have been involved in various major programmes, including EDF Energy’s £2bn Smart Metering Programme.
The experiences I gained from these global leaders have influenced our deliveries and offerings at Mainstream Careers as our learners’ desire to ultimately work in organisations in similar industry as described above. We have replicated the teams, tools and techniques used within these organisations thereby offering our learners first-hand experience of these industry best practices, even before they get on the job.
I obtained my Bachelors degree in 2004 and then proceeded to obtain a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from the Coventry University Business School, United Kingdom. I was recognised as the Business-Person of the year (Bronze) at the SME Northamptonshire Business Awards, 2023.
Are there certifications, awards or recognitions by competent government agencies or organizations attesting to the company’s prowess in offerings/ standards?
We have made finalists at the SME National Business Awards, UK. The finals will take place at the prestigious Wembley arena, London on Friday, 6th December 2024.
In May 2024, we were announced gold winners of the innovation category at the Northamptonshire SME Business Awards. This is in recognition of the effectiveness of our innovative programmes in helping individuals and organisations with their tech training needs.
In June 2023, we were also recognised as the silver winners of the innovation category at the highly esteemed Northamptonshire SME Business Awards.
Is Mainstream Career’s signature CPD proprietary, how does this tool benefit of the client?
Mainstream Careers is a member of the globally recognised CPD service, who have assessed and certified our programmes. With this, we are able toissue our learners with certificates of continuing professional development from the CPD, upon successful completion of our programmes. This is well recognised by employers globally, as it informs of the candidates’ continuing professional development; an attitude that is well sort after by employers.
Any other interest you’ll like to share with readers?
Information is power and can be accessed via association. Your network and circle play a huge part in the career you build in the UK. We have worked with thousands of migrants and helped them, not just to access invaluable information, but also worked with them to translate these into lucrative careers that they used to support their families, both home and aboard.
The easiest path is not necessarily the best path and surely isn’t the only path. A good test for a considered path might include – “where will be in 10 years’ time if I continued on this career pathway” and “how much satisfaction and pride I obtain from the career”.
Anyone can do anything, and thankfully tech has something for everyone – technical or non-technical. Associate wisely!
