These Tech Pros Landed Gigs At AfroTech — Here’s How It Went Down

Alaere Jituboh is on the foundations and digital care team at GoDaddy. She’s involved in contributing to GoDaddy’s design system, which gives designers and engineers guidance in creating smooth user experiences and digital products, as well as uncovering pain points and building solutions for the help center on GoDaddy.com.

She started her design career with internships, working at small and mid-size agencies and startups doing graphic and visual design. She honed those skills before pivoting to UX/product design. 

The shift aligned with the opportunity she found at AfroTech. “I came across the GoDaddy booth and opted to participate in their speed portfolio review, which is like speed dating but for portfolio reviews. They were drawn to my work almost immediately. From there, I got offered an opportunity to interview,” she says. 

Jituboh went through three rounds: a recruiter interview, a portfolio review where she presented previous work and explained her design process and a final conversation with potential teammates. A day later, GoDaddy offered her a position.

The full-stack designer says she enjoys the job and the workplace culture. “I can be me while doing good work here and not worry about how I’m perceived despite being Nigerian and Black. They allow me to take up space unapologetically, and I love it.”

“Be open, be curious and let your passions lead you. Remember: it’s more about you interviewing them than it is about them interviewing you. So don’t be afraid to ask the tough questions and walk away if you feel it’s not a good fit.”

Prior to working at GoDaddy, Kosiso Akporji was a pharmacist. After six years in the field, she got laid off. Akporji used the free time, which she saw as an opportunity, to enroll in a coding bootcamp and learn the fundamentals of computer science and programming.

At AfroTech, Akporji says the recruiter wasn’t sure if she would be a good fit because her work experience wasn’t in tech. “But she was impressed with my story and what I had done. At the time, there weren’t any opportunities for someone with my background. But she kept me in mind when something came up, which did in January 2021, and here we are.”

During the application process for the engineering position, Akporji had a non-technical interview with a hiring manager and two technical interviews with her current manager.

She spends her workday writing and maintaining the codebase for the domain purchasing experience team at GoDaddy.

Like Jituboh, Akporji appreciates the GoDaddy work environment. “I love the culture here. It was created with people in mind. I also love the work-life balance GoDaddy offers, and people here are so nice and willing to help.”

“Be open. When I walked up to GoDaddy’s booth at AfroTech, I had no idea about the company. I just wanted to get comfortable networking with people I was unfamiliar with.”

 GoDaddy will be at AfroTech again this year. Drop by the booth at Mae Jemison Hall – B36 in the Expo Hall to meet recruiters, hiring managers and execs. Visit the company’s careers page and experience #GoDaddyLife on Instagram.

 This editorial is brought to you in partnership with GoDaddy.