By Elizabeth Osayande

Meet Fred Ojigbani, the resilient Founder and CEO of Mainstream Careers Limited, who understands the struggles immigrants face when trying to secure professional employment in a new country. As a Nigerian immigrant to the UK, Fred personally experienced the daunting challenges of finding a job without local experience or expertise in his desired field. This difficult experience motivated him to establish Mainstream Careers Limited, a leading IT training company dedicated to bridging the gap in tech skills and providing essential support for immigrants seeking professional roles in the evolving tech landscape.

Under Ojigbani Leadership, Mainstream Careers has grown from offering just one course in Coventry alone to now offering over a dozen highly sought-after courses globally. The company has successfully trained and mentored thousands of individuals, many of whom have become well-respected professionals in reputable organisations such as the Bank of England, the NHS, Bank of Ireland, the National Grid, and more.

He was recognized as the Business Person of the Year (Bronze) at the SME Northamptonshire Business Awards in 2023, with over 15 years of experience working in various consulting positions across the energy, charity, health, and financial services sectors, is a driving force behind the success and impact of Mainstream Careers Limited.

Who is Fred Ojigbani?

I am the Founder and CEO of Mainstream Careers Limited – an IT training company that focuses on coaching aspiring IT professionals regardless of their background and supporting them throughout their transition from newbies to IT experts. Desiring to help individuals in his community transform their careers, I started coaching and mentoring individuals to become Business Analysts and PMO Analysts in 2012.

Since then, Mainstream Careers has successfully trained and mentored thousands of individuals, many of whom have now gone ahead to become well respected Senior Business Analysts, Agile Specialists, Project Managers, Programme Managers, and IT Consultants in reputable organisations such as the Bank of England, the NHS, Bank of Ireland, the National Grid, to mention a few.

Under my leadership, Mainstream Careers has grown from offering just one course in Coventry alone to now offering over a dozen highly sought-after courses globally. I have over 15 years of experience working in various consulting positions across the energy, charity, health, and financial services sectors.

More specifically, I have consulted for FTSE 100 companies such as Barclays Bank, Lloyds Banking Group and the Royal Bank of Scotland and have been involved in various major programmes, including EDF Energy’s £2bn Smart Metering Programme. I obtained my Bachelor’s degree in 2004 and then proceeded to obtain a Master’s in Business Administration, MBA from the Coventry University Business School, Coventry. I was recognised as the Business Person of the Year (Bronze) at the SME Northamptonshire Business Awards, 2023.

What inspired you to start Mainstream Careers, and how does it relate to the current migration trends in Nigeria?

As a Nigerian immigrant to the UK, I experienced first-hand, the difficulties in securing professional employment without any prior local experience or expertise in the field of interest. This was a serious course of concern for me as I had invested quite heavily to obtain an MBA but still could not do much with it as employers were seeking prior local and relevant experience. I decided at this point to “take on the challenge” and create an opportunity for migrants like myself to gain hands-on experience in tech fields, which would then further support their professional job search efforts. Thankfully for me, I was eventually able to secure a professional tech role due to an internship I had completed with the NHS – this was a door opener for me!

I put a tech project together, replicating the processes, tools, techniques, and the team I experienced at my client. I trialled this setup on a few of my close friends, and it worked very well as it helped them to get into the professional tech employment they desired. At this point, words spread fast and attracted more and more individuals to this rather unique and effective set-up.

Today, we have helped over 5,000 individuals gain the skills and experiences required for professional employment in the world of tech, with over 80% of them being migrants just like myself, from Nigeria, Ghana, India, Zimbabwe, Pakistan, South Africa, and several other countries.

Can you elaborate on the alternative career pathways in the UK healthcare sector that Mainstream Careers offers to migrants?

Technology is driving a lot in our world today – from Artificial Intelligence to invisible payments to voice/motion-driven actions, to mention but a few; it has changed how we interact and live our daily lives. These technological transformations present a huge opportunity for tech professionals to build careers as well as maintain/manage them. Whether it’s technical professionals such as Cloud Engineers, Developers, etc, or non-technical professionals such as Project Managers, Business Analysts, Scrum Masters, Data Analysts, etc, there is a huge demand for tech professionals to support these tech transformations and these are some of the alternative career pathways we are offering individuals as an organisation.

We offer professional, lucrative, and enduring tech career pathways to immigrants. Some of these tech skills can also be layered on existing specialisations such as Medicine, Marketing and Communications, amongst others, eliminating the need to start a new career altogether.

Migrants are most times familiar with care jobs as a pathway abroad. What other career opportunities are available for them?

Tech! Technological transformations present us with great career opportunities these days; interestingly, not all tech roles are as technical as some people would think. There are indeed non-technical tech roles. You do not have to be a doctor to work in healthcare, nor do you have to be a chef to work in hospitality; in the same vein, you do not have to be a developer or anything technical, to work in tech.

In addition to technical roles that one can build their career on, there are also non-technical ones such as Project Management, Business Analysis, Scrum Mastering, Data Analysis, and the like. Individuals who pursued these have found them to be rewarding, lucrative, and enduring.

How does Mainstream Careers address the specific challenges faced by Nigerian migrants in the UK job market?

We are on a mission to bridge the skills gaps in the world of tech and promote inclusivity by making world-class practical training accessible to all.

From our research, the top two challenges faced by Nigerian migrants are a lack of experience in their desired tech field as well as a lack of local experience in the country of destination.

Our mission addresses these top two challenges and more by offering the migrants an opportunity to gain education and hands-on experience in their desired tech field with us whilst also offering them the all-important local work experience, local CV writing support, interview preparation support, and mentorships, including on the job mentorships.

Our learners have found the access they have to our network of professionals to be invaluable.
We have a team of well-experienced and certified trainers who bring a wealth of up-to-date knowledge, experience, and exposure to our learners.

What are your plans for expanding Mainstream Careers’ services to reach more migrants and professionals in the UK?

We are always expanding as we are continuously on the lookout for more ways to help aspiring tech professionals. In the first half of 2024, we added more tech courses to our portfolio and the team is working hard to innovatively design more of these programmes that will benefit more people and reduce inequalities whilst still promoting inclusivity.

All our programmes are now delivered virtually, thereby eliminating the barrier of distance. We continue to work with our training platform suppliers to ensure the best learning experience for our learners.
The majority of our learners take on these programmes so they can secure better employment and support their families financially. So, we are working on partnering with employers of tech professionals who may wish to “shop” for these professionals at Mainstream Careers after their training.

We will continue to work with corporate partners and religious groups who want to support their members through the migration/career transition process by sponsoring their members to come on our training programmes.

Development and deployment of a Learning Management System, which will provide further support to our learners as they continue to fine-tune their newly acquired tech skills.

Can you share success stories or testimonials from individuals who have benefited from Mainstream Careers’ services?

12 months ago, a gentleman contacted us as he wanted to register for one of our packages that will help him land a tech job here in the UK as he has recently migrated from Nigeria to the UK with his wife and three young children. Whilst in Nigeria, he worked at very senior levels in reputable companies within the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) and Banking industries. Despite his sound qualifications and experiences from Nigeria, he was struggling to land suitable employment in the UK as most employers wanted not just relevant experience but experience from the UK. As he did not have these, he ended up working as a support worker so he could support his young family.

Upon joining us, we trained him and placed him on an internship to get his hands dirty and obtain the all-important local experience. We also supported him with CV and interview preparations; all of which then helped him land a Business Analyst job with the Bank of America, London. He is now in a respectable professional role as he desired, able to give his young family a better life, and is building his career. He thanks us for what he called “unflinching ever-ready support”. One more individual supported to build a professional career in the UK that further helps him to support his young family in the UK as well as his extended family back home in Nigeria.

A young mother of three children, two of whom required special support, applied to join one of our Programmes as she wanted a professional career that would offer remote working; that way, she could work from home and give her children the much-required special support. She completed our Project Management programme, where she gained hands-on experience, mentorships and all the required support which led to her securing a tech role a few weeks after completion of her programme with us. This role was everything she wanted as it paid her sufficiently to be able to support her family and save for the future. More importantly to her, it offered her a remote working opportunity, which meant she could work from home and provide her children with the special support they required. She couldn’t thank our dream enough for making her dreams come true.

In 2022, a young man who had recently migrated from Nigeria to Ireland signed up for our Business Analysis Training and Work Experience programme & Agile Scrum Package. His extended family had contributed funds to sponsor his migration to Ireland to complete a Master’s degree, live and work in Ireland, and support his extended family back home, who sponsored his migration to Ireland. Upon completion of his Master’s programme, he is required to obtain a skill that can earn him a work visa sponsorship so he can continue to live and work in Ireland.

Upon completion of his programme with us, we offered him CV and interview preparation support which helped him land a Business Analyst role at a top Irish firm, which also provided him with a work visa sponsorship. With this, he was able to continue to live, work and earn in Ireland and very importantly, be able to support his extended family back in Nigeria.

Fast forward to this year (2024), he has now completed his two years of work with this employer that sponsored his visa, meaning he has earned a stamp 4 visa, making him a permanent resident of Ireland, no longer requiring work visa sponsorship in the country. He recently wrote in to confirm his permanent residence and to express his gratitude and support to him in getting to this position.

What message do you have for Nigerian migrants and professionals considering a career transition in the UK?

Information is power and can be accessed via association. Your network and circle play a huge part in the career you build in the UK. We have worked with thousands of migrants and helped them not just to access invaluable information but also worked with them to translate it into lucrative careers that they used to support their families, both at home and abroad.

The easiest path is not necessarily the best path and surely isn’t the only path. A good test for a considered path might include – “Where will I be in 10 years if I continue on this career pathway?” and “How much satisfaction and pride will I obtain from the career?”

Anyone can do anything, and thankfully tech has something for everyone – technical or non-technical. Associate wisely!