Ukot Umezinne migrated to Canada with her family in 2020. As part of her bold move to Canada, she fearlessly explored the possibility of switching careers and ultimately decided to embark on a new journey in sales. Transitioning from a learning designer, dedicated to crafting educational experiences for students, to a career in (Software-as-a-Service) SaaS sales, Ukot shares her inspiring story of how she harnessed the power of her transferable skills to excel in her new career. She tells her full story here:
I migrated to Canada with my family in 2020. The move was challenging, as it is for most people, but we are grateful that we made this decision and stuck to it. From getting jobs to finding a house and settling our children into a new school system, we have scaled these hurdles through grace, and everything has worked well.
So, while preparing for our move to Canada and having decided to switch careers to SaaS sales, I signed up for a tech sales boot camp. This intensive program provided me with a deep understanding of the tech space and equipped me with the necessary skills for a career in SaaS sales. Inspired by this experience, I created a comprehensive course targeted at young tech-savvy people in Nigeria. The course aimed to create awareness about SaaS sales as a viable field for remote work, where individuals can work for international organizations and earn in foreign currency.
Also, I came to appreciate how my experience as a learning designer with strong oral and written communication, client relationship management, and systems thinking skills was seamlessly transferred into my new job in software sales. The training and presentation skills I developed as a learning designer have come in handy for educating clients and helping them realize how these solutions would solve the challenges they are experiencing. I also brought with me the flexibility learned on the job and the capacity to adapt to changing market trends and technological advancements.
Looking back, I realize that I may have underestimated the value of my experience from Nigeria when I was searching for my first work opportunity in Canada. I was under the impression that I needed ‘Canadian experience’ to be considered for a job, which may have led me to downplay my own experience. This mindset affected how I presented myself to others and may have caused me to sell myself short. In hindsight, I would have been more confident in my abilities and my experience and not allowed the perceived need for Canadian experience to overshadow the way I presented my skills.
My message of encouragement is simple yet powerful. You are your best advocate. Speak up in the spaces where your voice needs to be heard; be bold and assertive; speak the truth in love. Excel at what you love doing, and give your best every chance you get. Go for your dreams with confidence, because as Tunde Onakoya, Nigeria’s Chess maestro, once said, ‘big things can happen from small places’.
Ukot tells her story from Toronto, Ontario
