Hello,
I am 32 yo and started programing since 14. I am a self learner and programing is far from being a passion, it is my life. Through the time, I programed using, QBasic, QuickBasic, Visual Basic, C++, C, HTML, JS, CSS, PHP and Python. Actually I only use the 6 last.
I live in democratic republic of the Congo, in the heart of Africa. In my country, developer jobs are quasi-non-existent. My wish is to work remotely. But, many remote Jobs I find online require being USA resident.
My Wish is to have an employer accept me working for approval even for 3 months. I learn quickly and I can add new languages to my fingers if required.
Thank you.
Africa is uneven in its (under)development. Your part of Africa is less well developed than say, Cairo, Johannesburg, Lagos etc and yet huge opportunities exist in these areas. If you are entrepreneurial (and I strongly urge you to be) there's a goldmine sitting unexplored at your feet right now, and all you have to do is start digging.
A few suggestions.
In my country a couple of years ago, students who wrote their high school exams had to go and check their results on a physical board at a designated site. Someone came up with the idea of having all the results posted online as well as digitizing the enrollment process. The students pay the equivalent of $2 to use the service and almost a million enroll every year.
Think about the process of registering a company in the Congo? Could you migrate it online? What about searching for real estate title documents? School management software? Sundry government processes? There are many possibilities. I have no doubt that these same problems and more exist in the Congo.
I am presently working on an idea similar to those listed above (cant say anymore at present, many Nigerian developers visit this site! competition!) and it shows a lot of promise; I can assure you that there are many similar opportunities waiting to be exploited by skilled people like you.
Look inward. Look downwards. At your feet. For the goldmine.
I remember getting physical results for SSCE and NECO exams and I would gladly have paid the $2.
I'll also add that the startups in the US/Europe can provide sample problem/solution combinations for you. You won't be able to just clone ideas, but you'll be able to evolve them for your local market.
Good luck.
PS. It makes me happy to meet fellow Nigerian engineers. I don't meet many in my day to day.
There are tons of startups looking for remote devs. Most times to the employers the pay is really cheap, but when converted to your local currency you are a millionaire and you can live the good life and pursue bigger opportunites like I did. Spend the money by investing in yourself. Buy programming books, pay for courses. Just keep getting better.
Most of Africa is shut-out from the technological advancement happening in the world but you can be a part of it by taking advantage of the internet, using your financial resources to learn a lot and fill knowledge gaps in your skills. You will discover once you start seeking out remote dev opportunities that there is a lot to learn.
I'm also kind of annoyed at the companies that say "we allow remote work, but you have to be in the USA". Feels like kind of a cop out.
Also, you might want to look at some of the other African nations like Nigeria which no doubt need programming/web work. Not sure how easy it is to find jobs there, but maybe that's a job board you could create? You're probably not the only one with this problem, and might be a win-win-win for you, african companies, and other developers.
It just means that the company doesn't want to deal with legal and accounting/taxation overhead of hiring outside of the country.
Comments on submissions only stay open for 2 weeks but these threads show up on the first weekday of the month, so the January one will be soon.
Have you tried talking to business owners to see if they have problems that can be solved with software? Being good with computers and able to program is a really large advantage if most people around you are not in that position.
A friend had much success with a payroll system in China. All done in English, satisfying the compliance need for international companies which had a small presence but kept getting fined and in trouble with their home offices because they weren't in compliance with local law when the law quickly changed: tiny HR division, etc. China does not lack software engineers, but it does rely on manual solutions which software solutions quickly solve.
Not saying do payroll. Just saying do something that solves a lot of people's problems and can start generating some revenue quickly.
Try picking up short term contract freelancing work, and then hopefully some of those clients will become regulars. I used to bid for dozens of projects a week on Elance, but now most work comes from a few regulars.
In general you could look at open source projects that have companies hiring remote people behind them. If you find a good project with a good company behind, work on the project, and there is a good chance that you will be hired.