I believe that the purpose of software is ultimately to make people’s lives better. Standing on a soapbox and proudly declaring this now, in 2019, is sure to cause the most colorful Captain Obvious memes or fervent eye rolls, but the truth is that I didn’t always harbor this conviction.

But they say that “experience is the best teacher” and I was fortunate enough to have an experience educate me and fundamentally change the way that I saw things.

The rest of this post is about that experience, why I didn’t see things that way beforehand, and how I now maintain a user-centric approach in the world of software and product development. …

Often, when reading about Andela, you’ll see “EPIC” used throughout.

The acronym — which stands for Excellence, Passion, Integrity, Collaboration — are the values that drive the way that we at Andela work globally, regardless of timezone, country or office.

And within each department and team, we use these values to guide how we operate while incorporating nuance and context from our respective roles to best determine how to apply them in every scenario.

The rest of this post is about how we apply it within my team.

What my Team does at Andela

I lead a team within Andela’s Technology Department comprised of Product & Design leaders who work cross-functionally to bring forth technology solutions that help the company scale. Like many product teams, we’re constantly and concurrently working along each stage of the product development lifecycle…

This month, April 2018, represents my 3rd year of living in Nigeria while working for Andela. Every year, around this time, I go back to the very beginning of my journey with the company and reflect on how it all began: with a job post, a resume and cover letter. I no longer have a copy of the job description, and my resume has since evolved, but in this post, I’ll be sharing that cover letter.

I have long believed that one of the most important things that you can do to increase the likelihood of getting an interview (and ultimately a job) is to personally connect with the hiring team via a personalized cover letter. While resumes highlight what you’ve done, cover letters can tell a better story about why a hiring manager should pay attention to you, and how you’d be able to apply your past experiences to the company’s future. …

Product Leadership — it’s not just for the market.

Do a quick search for Product Leader or Product Manager and glance through the first page of results. I’d wager that most of your results focused around building products for businesses and customers in the market.

Those product roles are rewarding, necessary and important for the growth of a company. However, there’s also a less common, but equally important type of product role, where the focus is inward-facing: internal Product Leaders.

As companies become more information-based, these roles are vital in helping them succeed.

Internal, External… What’s the difference?

The main difference between external and internal Product Leaders are their…