In this week’s episode, I spoke with Chib, who’s a first-class computer science graduate, currently juggling a Master’s degree at Imperial with a software engineering role at a leading investment bank. Amongst other things, we discussed how she found her way into the tech space and how she manages to stay on top of her various commitments.

Using Notion to boost productivity

As mentioned, Chib is studying for her Master’s while also working a full-time job at an investment bank. It goes without saying that it takes a huge amount of discipline and organisation to successfully do this. In our conversation, Chib credited the app *Notion* as a particularly helpful tool in managing all aspects of her life, from finances to her academics. Notion has several features that make it easy for you to manage different aspects of your life such as the dropdown menus which allow you to separate aspects of your life into useful tabs.

I personally started using Notion after watching Chib promote it and various other people frequently mention it. Like I mentioned in the previous newsletter, "Success leaves clues", so if many people are attributing their success to using Notion, I'm more than happy to give it a try and I think you should too! So far so good.

My expereince with programming

Coding has become an increasingly valuable skill to have in the 21st Century as more and more firms are looking for employees who are competent at writing code. My first experience with coding came in university when I had to use Stata and LaTeX to run the statistical analysis for my final year economics dissertation. As well as present the research and results formally. Let me tell you, it's not easy. As a matter of fact, I'm still learning and will hopefully complete the dissertation soon. But like any skill, it takes time to get used to coding and it was interesting to hear how long Chib has been practicing her coding, both in and out of her course.

Chibudom managed to intertwine her programming skills with finance knowledge to produce a first-class dissertation on pricing an option. I’m sure some of you were wondering about the meaning of this financial jargon. Essentially, options are financial derivatives that give buyers the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell an underlying asset at an agreed-upon price and date. You can read more about options and financial derivatives below:

1. Investopedia
2. Corporate Finance Institute
3. Financial Times

Results don't come overnight (not in Chib case...)

While it may seem to some of you that all the opportunities that Chib has - from earning £40 p/h tutoring to working in an investment bank - have fallen in her lap, it is important to note that these are the results of consistent work. She started tutoring students after her GCSE results and years later she was able to teach a class of students from Nigeria. Similarly, her interest in tech started with helping out at her dad’s church with the technological side of things and now she is a first-class computer science graduate. This just goes to show that you shouldn’t despise small beginnings and remain humble, because with consistency comes growth.

On a similar note, it’s not enough to be consistent, you also need to persevere through setbacks. Chib described how she had to keep applying to several jobs, even after countless rejections. She didn’t let those rejections hold her back, but instead, they motivated her to forge a path for herself in which she could ultimately thrive.

Do you have any tips on using Notion for organisation and productivity?

I made a video on how I use Notion whilst at University on my Instagram page. I post regular content here which I advise people to follow if they're interested in tech and productivity: @chib.tech

Resources to learn how to code?

I'll recommend using SoloLearn, CodeAcadmey Go, Mimo and Code Playground.

Do you have any tips on becoming a tutor or teacher of a subject? How does one find paying clients and generate income through this?

I'll recommend using: MyTutor, SuperProf, Tutorful, Crimson Education and Campusmate (InterGreat).

Listen to the full episode on a platform of your choice: https://linktr.ee/valuablepodcast