How Do You Make Your Career Truly International?

@AjanleKoko.In Nigeria Ericsson is busting a lot of engineers out of the carriers and converting them to 'hired guns', contractors who work anywhere in the world, from Azerbaijan to Zimbabwe, for mouth watering fees (sometimes up to a thousand Euros a day).

Haba!, Nigerians earning that much?

I think your choices are good. For audit I presume you mean CISA. Not a bad certification to have under your belt. I also like the British Computer Society thingie. I have never heard of it though.
Start from the IIBA's CBAP certification. IIBA is the International Institute of Business Analysis. Canadian-based, I think.
Check out their website on http://www.theiiba.org. Although they have a rigid 7,500 hours or 5 years business analysis experience, I imagine they would have some sort of track you can use to start the upskilling process.
I'm also considering writing the CBAP examination this year. So you are in good company.

I would also recommend that you start looking at BPM as well. You can learn about some of the BPM methodologies like Six Sigma and LEAN Six Sigma. Those ones are basically courses that you attend to get certified. Although I don't know of any organization using Six Sigma in Nigeria, but it's still a good one for international look and feel on your CVs.
Hope this helped somewhat.

Yep, That much.
Was offered about 650 Euros a day for an African gig (for one of the Orange ops) last year, but I declined.
The money is net of taxes and other expenses. They were offering accomodation, tickets, and a $50 a day feeding allowance.

I also would like to seek your opinion, would a 3 months intership with UN attract human Resource ppl in Nigeria companies?

Well informed thread

Well. . . it's not really about investment I would say. Usually you do things like that for the experience and possible exposure. No be everything you go fit leverage, and that kind of thing is not what I was referring to in the OP.

What kind of investment are we talking about, in any case? What's the internship about, and where is it located? Are you paying your way there?


Yes and no I would say.
I can't remember which post it was, that I made some comments regarding the international job pool. These Filipinos and Indians don't necessarily have much better schools than ours, or smarter candidates, and neither do developed markets rely solely on their indigenous labour force anymore. For companies like, say, Cisco, to increase their market share and maintain leadership in their respective markets, they use certification on their own standards as a yardstick and a tool for ensuring the preponderance of their products in the market. If there are enough people that know how to fix it, people will buy it.

Some certifications are good enough to get you the international exposure. It's a matter of supply and demand, really. It's not really about world class company per se, but what you yourself can put on the table. Now I'm not in any way a Finance person, but I'm sure that if you were to hit the CFA track, for example, and ace all the exams, even here in Nigeria, some of the top companies will still hear what you have to say.

What I am saying is that many of us Nigerian professionals in Nigeria are very slow and reluctant to upskill ourselves in our various fields of endeavour. Sometimes it's caused by plain ignorance, as most of us don't even know what goes beyond our 9-5 anyways. People who work in Procurement in Nigeria see themselves as purchasing officers or clerks, rather than procurement or sourcing professionals. New tools and concepts in supply chain are alien to most, who see procurement as a job they just work for the monthly wage.

Sometimes we're affected by the intimidation of the older hands in the profession, who like to employ profligiacy and territorialism to keep the young and upcoming at bay, since they don't want to be exposed as the mediocres they are. That happens in almost every first-generation institution in Nigeria, banks and oil companies.

Sometimes we feel that these certifications are not in demand, i.e. we wait for a 'pull' by the market, rather than 'pushing' the market. Nigerians seem to be great at passive followership, and don't necessarily try to challenge the current paradigm. Then people get frustrated and confused after working the same job for a couple of years. They don't get better at the job cos they don't have any new skills to bring on board.

Yesterday I was pleasantly surprised to hear about a 19 year old chap from Covenant University here in Naija who has just become the youngest CCIE in Africa. This is a certification that a lot of my friends are always sounding like it's almost impossible to pass. You can't tell me that this chap will not go places whether in Nigeria or elsewhere. And what kind of experience would a university student have? I also recently saw a YouTube stream of a 12 year old Russian boy making a presentation on JQuery at the JavaOne conference. Contrary to what people would want to say, I wouldn't call these guys geniuses, just bright exposed children.

Sorry about the length. I'm not exactly known for cliche, sadly.
I don't know the guy's name. Someone told me the guy was one of the recently graduated CU students. Will try to find out tho.

@poaster. Do u know how an Hr person can b international. What do u know about PHR/GPHR from human resource cetificate institute (HRCI).

@ Ajenlekoko pls advise me on this: am seriously in planning my masters degree to be in Instrumentation Engineering and would want to know the opportunities open for me after my studies. I also want to know weather I can work in Telecom industry and in what capacity. Pls reply.

Sorry guys, just came back from vacation. Will do my best to respond to all though . . .


There must be some international HR qualifications. Besides, I think HR as a field has many subs, such as recruitment/resourcing, compensation and benefits, training and development, etc. Start from where you want to be first, then the international bit will come.


dude, the whole point of this thread is how you can pursue an international career! Not working in Nigeria alone.
You've identified something, why not go for it? IT is a very rewarding field, and there are millions of relevant certifications, even that are pertinent to accounting.


Bro, all opportunities are open to you. When you start your MSc, you'll know more about instrumentation and the scope. You can of course work in telecoms, if you specialise in that area.


You have to either get a job first or go back to school to specialise further, depending on your area of interest.