If your dreams don’t scare you, they are really not worth doing —

Odunayo Eweniyi
TAIWO OJOYE
11 JUN 2017
Joy Marcus
Odunayo Eweniyi, 23, is the Chief Operations Officer at Sharphire Global Limited and the co-founder of PushCV, an online recruitment platform. She speaks about her career

What is your educational background?

I attended Louisville Girls High School, Abuja, where I obtained my Senior Secondary School Certificate and IGCSE. Thereafter, I went on to Covenant University, Ota, where I bagged a first-class degree in computer engineering. I hope to get a master’s degree in business administration soon.

What is your current position?

I am the Chief Operations Officer at Sharphire Global Limited. It is the parent company of Africa’s most innovative Internet start-ups including PushCV, Piggybank and FrontDESK. At Sharphire, we build products that solve real problems and make life easier, focusing on the labour market. What we hope to achieve is very simple- to create awesome start-ups that will make huge positive impacts on the labour market.

What is your job description?

As the chief operations officer, my job is to plan, direct and oversee the company’s operational policies and goals. My job involves helping the company execute long-term and short-term plans and directives. I measure the effectiveness and efficiency of our operational processes both internally and externally and find ways to improve upon them. I get involved in developing and implementing growth strategies which ensure quality compliance of all services offered by our company. I also coordinate with the human resources department and my co-founders to recruit skilled talents and keep the best employees. I provide a system for employee salaries and benefits, and make sure our employees feel valued. I also ensure communication between the management team and the staff for the benefit of information flow. In other words, it’s more than a day’s job, but I’m grateful that I am doing what I love.

What is your work history?

My work history is somewhat unconventional. Straight out of university, I worked at a company called Parolz.com , incidentally owned by the people who are my co-founders today. A year after that, we launched PushCV. While we were getting PushCV on its feet though, I worked as a writer at three technology websites in Nigeria- I was a junior writer at TechCabal, a senior writer at TechLoy and finally, an editor-in- chief at Techpoint.ng. I was very lucky to have those experiences. They have really helped me gain an in-depth understanding of the technology scene in Nigeria.

What is PushCV about?

PushCV is a recruitment platform with the largest database of pre-screened job candidates in Africa. It provides direct access to verified employers and three times more quality candidates than any other job platform can offer. It’s very simple- for candidates to join PushCV, all they need to do is to sign up on the website and they go through our four-stage screening process to become verified on the platform. For employers, all they need to do is request for CVs to fill a position and we send them the best 10 candidates for that position within five days.

What stirred your interest in becoming a middleman between job seekers and companies?

To be honest, I was motivated by a personal need. Just before I joined Parolz, I attended a job interview where I was offered N20, 000 a month to do the job of two people – while commuting from the mainland to the island for the said job. I felt devalued. That’s something I never want to feel again. I thought to myself that if I feel this way, thousands of other graduates must be feeling this way too. So we started PushCV; first as a CV sending service to verified employers, then it graduated into this middleman role where we are able to negotiate a fair balance between employers and prospective candidates.

What year did the company begin operations?

We started PushCV in March 2014, but we officially launched in October 2014.
How much was your start-up capital?
From March to August 2014, we were bootstrapping – spending our own money on building the product.

How did you source for funds thereafter?

In August 2014, we applied to Leadpath Nigeria, a start-up fund that was newly set up for tech companies like ours. We were accepted and we were able to secure our first ever investment.

How would you describe the journey so far?

It’s been incredible. When I graduated in 2013, I could not have predicted that I would go on to achieve everything that I have. But as someone who is passionate about education and empowerment, this is exactly where I need to be.

Why didn’t you pursue a career in computer engineering despite your outstanding performance in the university?

I was going to pursue a career in engineering. But what I’m doing now is what I would have ended up doing anyway. So let’s just say that I fast-forwarded a bit. But to clarify things, there’s a lot of application of what I learnt in what we do now in Sharphire Global Limited, so it all worked out.

How and when did you develop interest in software engineering?

That was right after I discovered I didn’t want to study medicine because bodily fluids make me squeamish. Actually, I got interested in cryptography after I got a book about the subject as a gift. The nearest thing to that in many Nigerian universities was computer science or engineering so I chose engineering since it was heavy on mathematics and physics – my favourite subjects.

What attitude should youths have towards work?

Embrace it. It’s hard enough for youths in Nigeria as it is, so we definitely have to work a lot harder to be successful. It is advisable to start early. Also, dare to do something big. If your goals don’t scare you a little, it’s not worth it.

What is your career objective?

My career objective is to be at the forefront of the digital revolution in Nigeria and Africa as a whole; especially in the financial, education and labour sectors. More importantly, I want to able to lead transformational change in terms of STEM education for kids, especially girls.

What does success mean to you?

Success to me is being able to measure the positive impact of my efforts. If I am able to just be a part of improving education and reducing unemployment, I’ll consider myself a success.

Who are your role models?

Somtochukwu Ifezue and Yinka Amurawaiye. Even though they’re young, I definitely look up to them. I also love Hillary Clinton.

Copyright PUNCH.
All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.
Contact: editor@punchng.com