My story is about paving a way through an online skills program called Digiskills and making money on the internet from Pakistan.
I had a poor intermediate result:
September 2019, the beginning of my life-changing journey. After getting disappointed with my intermediate result, I started searching universities like any normal student where I can enroll myself in Electrical Engineering. It was my dream to be an Electrical Engineer. To be very honest I didn`t have any interest in the IT field at all. I used my Core 2 Duo computer just to play GTA Vice City or Spider Solitaire.
Enrolling in Digiskills:
Life gives chances to each of us. We just need to keep our eyes open and be ready for action. One day out of nowhere, one of my friends appears and tells me about the Government of Pakistan’s free online skill training program called Digiskills.
It was November 2019 when Digiskills announced enrollments for Batch 03 and it was the time when I first time visited Digiskills LMS and enroll myself in Freelancing and Graphic Designing. At that time I didn`t have any idea about Freelancing at all. I started learning from the Freelancing course by Hisham Sarwar. I just had a feeling that there must be something useful. I started exploring the fact that does online working really work? Can I earn real cash out of online working?. The biggest question I had in my mind was; is online real?
Learning a computer skill:
This happens because I did not enroll myself in any university and I was still searching to start my career (it doesn`t mean a degree is not important or it is a hurdle, it is just a myth). I didn’t waste my time complaining about my previous results. I took the step to dedicate complete three months to the course. I wanted to learn the skill in detail. During this phase, I did not pay much heed to money. I knew, if I become successful, money will automatically follow. As I learned to freelance, I also learned Graphic designing from another famous internet stat Imran Ali Dina. His channel “GFX Mentor”. I asked my friend about learning a skill and he advised me to check out Imran’s channel. It was worth it and his teaching style really inspired me. I learned a lot from my two teachers on the internet.
First Success on Freelancer website:
My course at DigiSkills ended in February 2020, then I started my career as a freelancer on freelancer.com, I got my first order of a logo. I earned Rs/ 50 from that order. I celebrated my 1st internet money by giving myself a nice present on my birthday.
Amid Covid-19, I developed an interest in Software Engineering. I joined Sindh Madrasa Tul Islam SMIU in February 2020. Due to the lockdown situation, I was once again confined to my home having with nothing much to do. I went back to Digiskills program. This time around, I chose to learn WordPress and SEO. Meanwhile, I also started learning mobile app development. I just wanted to equip myself with all the emerging and trending skills that could lead my way to make money in the future.
I am a member of the Science Society at my University where I`m working to promote freelancing and the advancement of technology. I created my first profile on the freelancer website and made money but I also started to explore other platforms of freelancing like Upwork, Guru, Workchest, Fiverr. Today, I have profiles on all these platforms, I bid on these websites and I am winning projects.
Growing my online work:
A page was created on Facebook with the name “Hamza Graphic Designer”. I started promoting It. I converted my personal page to a company and named it “BlackTech Designers & Co”. I wasn’t a business professional and did not know enough business tactics but with help of my cousin brother Dilawar Ali, a business graduate from the University of Karachi, I was able to run a company without any hesitations.
With his professional experience in the field, BlackTech Designers stood out in the market. We hired our team and began to grow professionally. Today. we have our employees working for us in two shifts (day &night) to achieve our organizational goals. We have also hired our classmates, Juniors & Seniors for remote working. We have clients from UK, USA, Australia, Qatar, Dubai, and Canada who are satisfied with our services. I have gained huge experience working with multi-cultural clients.
Conclusion:
I started living my dream at a very little age Alhamdulillah. My dedication to continually push my potential gave me the confidence to face hurdles that came in my path to success. People kept saying that the online world is fake but I did not pay any attention. Most importantly, I did not stop.
Fast Forward. Last year, 2020, In December – I received a call from Sir Hisham’s office to appear in his “Seekhna Seekho Unsung Heroes” Live program. It was one of the most memorable moments. It was a dream coming true to appear in a LIVE program with my teacher who led me to this position. The team checked my earnings on different marketplaces and gave me a go-ahead on the “D” day. As we were live on the program, I took a deep breath and thanked heaven. I just smiled and said to my self “Well done young man. Your perseverance has finally paid off and you should be happy”.
I still have a long way to go. On the eve of this celebration, at least I am living the moment with an attitude of gratitude and thanking Almighty that the journey to success continues to grow and I am able to make a significant difference in this world, well — as long as I’m alive.
Today, BlackTech Designers is aiming for a platform where we will be providing free of cost digital education all over the world. We will not limit our education to IT services and products. The idea is to go far beyond one particular skill set and educate the masses.
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