For my newbies, save this. It may not work for everyone, but it's worth trying.
Doing this as a newbie with zero experience will make you regret life.
Painful, but true. Anyone who has ever entered the global remote space without proof knows that feeling. The confusion. The fear. The quiet tears you donât tell anyone about. I know it because I walked that road.
At the beginning of my journey, I was throwing applications everywhere, hoping something would stick. The replies didnât come. The silence felt louder every day. And the harsh truth slowly became clear. The international space doesnât care about your hunger. They care about your proof. Something they can hold. Something that says you can actually deliver.
That was the first wake-up call. I had none.
So I tried to âfixâ it the only way I knew. More courses. More certifications. More long nights trying to understand tools I didnât even know how to use yet. I became a collector of knowledge, but even that didnât move anything. I was growing, but my career wasnât.
At some point, exhaustion pushed me into clarity. Applying blindly wasnât working plus sending CV wasn't working, and experience wasnât falling from the sky. If no one was willing to hire me, I needed to find another route in. Something smarter. Something that didnât rely on luck.
That was when I realized the real door into this space. "People."
Not job boards. Not fancy certificates. "Just People."
I started paying attention to founders, small agencies, coaches, freelancers, anyone building something from scratch. They were the ones who still believed in giving chances. They were the ones who understood growth. I studied their posts. I commented with intent. I shared thoughts that added value. Not âNice one.â Not âGreat insight.â Real takes. Real opinions. Things that made people notice me without forcing myself into their inbox.
Slowly, the conversations started. First in the comments. Then in the DMs. Then on calls. Real calls. Voice. Energy. Presence. Text can be cold. But your voice can show confidence and sincerity before your CV ever does. That changed everything.
I positioned myself around people who actually hire. People who refer. People who talk. People who remember effort. It wasnât overnight, it took me months to figure this out. It wasnât easy. But it worked. I don't know anyone I'm just a random guy from the trenches who needed help
One random day, someone I barely even knew reached out and asked if Iâd be open to a role. No long story. No impossible requirements. Just a chance. I took the interview. I got the job. Seven figures in naira. Zero experience. And they paid me even during training.
That moment shifted my life. It proved something simple. You can sit in Nigeria, work from home, and earn well. But the path is not applying endlessly. The path is connection. Trust. Proving yourself through relationships before you ever prove yourself through a portfolio most newbies don't even have a portfolio.
If youâre starting with nothing, start with people. Offer value. Do small tasks for free if you must. Build a track record. Let someone say, âYes, Iâve worked with this person, and they deliver.â That single sentence is more powerful than ten certificates and a hundred applications.
That is how the ladder starts. One relationship. One chance. One referral. Before you know it, you begin to climb into bigger roles, longer contracts, higher pay. That was my story. One year in tech. Two years after uni. And my life changed from inside my room.
Itâs possible. But only if you approach it with sense and strategies
You can do both if you can but it's always harder for a newbie with zero.
But as a newbie who doesn't have experience just certifications you want to try this.
But at the end do what works for you.
One year in tech and Building in public without a mentor or guide.
Broke ones will rise again.