Tech Entrepreneur's Transformation: Benita Riagbayire's Evolution from Pet Blogger to Tech Industry's Mythical Marketing Phenom
In the fast-paced world of technology, honesty during job interviews can be a game-changer. Benita Riagbayire, a law graduate turned marketing and tech whiz, has experienced this firsthand throughout her impressive career.
Riagbayire's journey began with her first tech job at Cloudley, a Nigerian cloud engineering startup based in Delaware. Despite learning programming languages like Flutter, HTML, and CSS, she decided to shift her focus to digital content after five months, finding it more engaging. Her first paid digital content job was a freelance gig writing about dog breeds on WordPress for ₦15,000 ($9.8) a month.
Riagbayire's honesty shone during her interview at Chekkit, a health tech startup, where she worked as a social media marketing role. She candidly admitted that the role was different from the marketing she had done previously, leading to her being offered a lower-level role that accommodated her need to learn on the job. However, her candour paid off, as her efforts at Chekkit drove a 40% spike in app downloads.
Riagbayire's past coding experience, law degree, and moot court experience in data privacy are valuable in her current role at Oyster HR, a startup valued at over $1 billion. Here, she focuses on the technical backend of lifecycle marketing, managing user lifecycle workflows, ensuring GDPR compliance, and troubleshooting automation tools.
Being honest about your skill level during a job interview offers several benefits. It establishes trust, sets realistic expectations, showcases self-awareness and a commitment to continuous learning, and ensures a better job fit. However, there are potential risks to consider, such as the perception of inadequacy, overemphasis on weaknesses, missed opportunities, and unrealistic expectations of perfection.
To mitigate these risks, it's crucial to balance honesty with confidence and a growth mindset. This involves acknowledging areas for improvement, emphasising strengths, and showing enthusiasm for the role and the opportunity to learn and contribute to the organisation.
Riagbayire's experiences at Figg Africa, a crowdfunding platform, and Oyster HR illustrate the importance of being honest in job interviews. At Figg Africa, the team was smaller, piling an avalanche of responsibilities on her plate. Despite this, she advises against lying during an interview about qualifications, as it may not work, especially for technical roles.
In conclusion, Benita Riagbayire's journey in the tech industry underscores the benefits of being honest during job interviews. Her candour, self-awareness, and commitment to learning have led her to success at various tech companies, including Chekkit and Oyster HR. By balancing honesty with confidence and a growth mindset, job seekers can navigate the tech industry with confidence and achieve their career goals.
- Benita Riagbayire's journey in tech started with a job at a cloud engineering startup, Cloudley, where she had a brief experience with programming languages before shifting her focus to digital content.
- Riagbayire's honesty was instrumental in securing a role at Chekkit, a health tech startup, where she admitted that the job was different from her previous experience, leading to a lower-level role but eventually driving a 40% spike in app downloads.
- In her current role at Oyster HR, a successful startup, Riagbayire leverages her past coding experience, law degree, and moot court experience in data privacy for her work on the technical backend of lifecycle marketing.
- To navigate the tech industry with success, job seekers can follow Riagbayire's example by being honest during job interviews, balancing honesty with confidence and a growth mindset, and showing a commitment to learning and continuous self-development.
