Being a visa ambassador at Tech Nation, an endorsement body for the visa, and a marketing manager with 15 years of experience in PR, I’ve been often asked these questions. I am happy to give some more explanation about the criteria and share several recommendations on how to work on your public profile if you are planning to apply for the visa in the future. 

Professional recognition outside job: simply explained

Either for the mandatory or optional criterion #2, outside work activities are widely mentioned in the Tech Nation visa guide. Why is it important for the endorsement body? Professional recognition outside the current job helps to assess the true potential of an applicant. Being chosen as a speaker at a conference, an author of a thought-leadership article or a judge assessing the work of others says that a professional has been through a thorough selection among other peers, which speaks about public acknowledgment.

Here is a list of activities that Tech Nation considers:

• Articles in the professional or major media: thought-leadership articles and interviews (written, audio, or video).
• Awards or prizes nationally or internationally recognised.
• Mentoring peers or young professionals.
• Speaking and panel participation at conferences and professional events.
• Industries initiatives leading: organising events, educational initiatives, creating communities.
• Open source project contribution.
• Judging and assessing the work of peers or young professionals.
  

There are three important conditions that apply to it, all activities should be outside your work, relate to your specialisation in the digital tech sector, and be large-scale. It means that for example being a speaker at a conference organised by your company on a not related to the digital sector topic for less than 100 people will break all three conditions. Or an article on Medium about how to prepare yourself for an MBA with 300 views won’t be considered sufficient evidence.

Large-scale, though, might be tricky to understand, as one activity differs from another. Moreover, there is no further explanation in the TN guide. However, a good rule of thumb is to have 100+ attendees at an event, 1000+ views of an article, and as many as possible stars on GitHub (with a history of contribution, not just a couple of activities).

One more thing that is crucial for any activity outside work is the history of contribution to the industry. It means that you should showcase your involvement throughout the last 5 years. If you have no piece of evidence for this period and started contributing to GitHub a couple of months before the application, it will be rejected due to no track record or history of systematic contribution. The same goes for a publication in media, podcasts, any speeches at conferences, judging, and the rest.
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Enhancing your public profile

I talked to many truly gifted software developers, talented product managers, and inspiring startup founders who haven’t paid any attention to their public profiles. And when it came to the visa, they didn’t have anything to showcase their leadership in the tech sectors. Yes, they can be highly successful at their jobs, but unfortunately, it is not enough. Some people are naturally shy, while others don’t see any importance in it and that’s why have focused attention only on their current occupation throughout their career. Some of them come from a business culture where it’s important to be recognised within a small inter circle of professionals, and public activities are seen as boasting. Nevertheless, if you are considering the visa for the future, now is the best time to start building your public profile.

Plus, remember: contributing to the development of the industry and working on your public profile gives you many more benefits than you might think: networking, professional ideas exchange, satisfaction from being helpful to others, and personal brand enhancement that leads to higher salaries and better job positions. You can get help from PR agencies and PR professionals to save some time and resources and you can do everything on your own:

1. Identify your strengths.

In what fields do you have expertise? What experience do you want to share and feel comfortable to do it? Where do your professional strengths lie? For example, you are an experienced product manager with a successful track of launching new products worldwide; and you are happy to share your knowledge about processes, tools, and tips about how to do it right. ‍‍

2. Boost your LinkedIn profile.

Being a global professional network for millions, LinkedIn helps to introduce yourself, build meaningful connections, and exchange knowledge. Work on your profile, share content, and interact with people as much as you can permanently.

‍‍3. List activities.

Create a list of activities you would like to do. If you like writing, it can be publications in media; if you feel confident speaking publicly, choose to participate in conferences; if you like to develop professionally by volunteering, consider contributing to an open source. For each activity, find suitable places: particular events, mentoring programs, awards, media, etc., and find contacts within them to shoot out to organisers. ‍

‍4. Pitch organisers.

Create a short pitch for each activity: describe yourself, and how you can be helpful, and add some points why you would be a good candidate for an activity. Many organisations have open to everyone forms who would like to be a speaker at a conference or contribute an article to media - use them. ‍‍

5. Remember - it’s an ongoing process.

You will need patience and persistence along the way in building your public profile. Start with simple activities where it’s easier to get to and build your portfolio step-by-step. For instance, if you want to participate as a speaker at a big and well-known conference, you would need some previous examples of your public speaking alongside a good topic idea and plan for your speech.