I became a SOFTWARE ENGINEER at 30 • fresh start at microsoft

I am so excited to be recording this video I know  everyone starts their video saying I'm so excited   but I really am feel like if I move the mic is  going to pick up the sounds so I'll try very hard   not to move too much that being said we're here  to talk about tech and my journey into Tech and   how I got where I am today Etc you got a an ear  right there you want to say hi Nico Vinnie Vinnie   puppy he does not want to say hi he's chilling  it's a gloomy Seattle day and he is loving it   it's been raining all day it's cozy we're loving  it speaking of cozy get yourself your coffee or   tea mine is a piping hot green tea and I won't be  able to sip it just yet because it is extremely   hot but this is what I'll be having secondly  I want to say for context that I am 3 months   away from being a year full-time at Microsoft  it still feels feels like my third week to be   honest I don't think that will go away anytime  soon but I have learned a lot along the way as   well as much as I like to forget that and so  I figured I would share what my journey was   getting to this point Argentine Miami Girl moving  to Seattle having gone from fashion design and   graphic design and branding and illustration to  the absolute complete opposite and feeling very   challenged in good ways and bad ways it's it's  all been a ride and I'm in the middle of it so   I figured it's the second best time to do this  video the best time would have been right after   my internships and full-time offer but it was  a worldwin a lot going on I really did not have   time to sit down and do this but it's a cozy  Seattle day I don't have any anything immediate   to be doing so I figured you know what let me sit  down and have this conversation before I forget   everything because I'm realizing the longer that  I settle into my role and into this new life the   more that I forget everything that it took to get  to this point um everything that I did everything   that I suffered through and the successes along  the way all that good stuff so it's time for   me to to share that so let's have that Chad  let me get my tea hopefully it's not too hot anymore okay okay we can work with that so let's  go back a few years I first decided to switch to   computer science back in 2015 I want to say 2015  or 2016 was this Renaissance Era for my my purpose   my life my career before that as I mentioned I  was doing graphic design fashion design I was   working freelance from Argentina and then when I  moved to the states uh I couldn't work I couldn't   find any work in Europe that was another option  that I looked into if I couldn't settle here   and work here okay I can move to Europe find  something and design there I applied far and   wide to any position I found and didn't get any  callbacks at all so I took that as my sign that   that whole Avenue and plan was not the way  I started thinking a lot about my options   uh both career-wise and with immigration and all  that stuff it felt extremely lonely and through   those experiences and through those feelings I  was also going to school and trying to get an   education in the United States and it was rough  I went through a lot of soul searching and and   coming to terms with reality accepting things as  they are that one was the hardest one for me but   I came to a point where it was extremely painful  to fight it and so my only alternative to be able   to really exist Within Myself and not drive myself  crazy was to accept things as they were and that's   really part of what also drew me into Buddhism  and that school of thought because that moment   was when I realized I need to accept this as if I  had chosen it because there is a reason to all of   this this whole conversation is taking a bit of  an unexpected turn but it's it's all part of my   journey and how I got here I wouldn't be here if  it hadn't been for those struggles if it hadn't   been for the fact that I fell at my lowest during  these struggles and I felt so lost and somehow   during all of that I discovered coding and that is  where the story really starts I had dabbled in CSS   and HDML because that's a big part of of that kind  of stuff one% work online and the visual graphic   part of being online and so I knew about coding  to that extent I had no idea really what coding   was at that point I didn't know anything about  software engineering at all I didn't know that   pathway existed I grew up really not knowing about  any of that 2015 comes around uh my brother was   studying software engineering I really didn't know  what the heck he was doing but he started sending   me links to uh different coding tutorials and he  said try this out I at the time I was trying to   figure out what I was going to do with my life  life I was really disenchanted by what I was   doing before by fashion design and all that stuff  I started feeling a big emptiness in that space   and in in my purpose related to that it felt very  superficial to me so that's a whole other Ken of   worms I'm not going to dive into this because  it's going to be an extremely long video but   I can talk about that at some other point too if  anyone's interested but I just I was I was going   through it I was so searching I was questioning  everything in my life especially my path and at   that point I discovered coding I was also going to  Community College at that point just for regular   Associates in art just to get a degree and I knew  that whatever I did I wanted to to get a degree   and really accomplish that in my life especially  in the United States that had really been my   dream since I was little was moving here here and  studying here so I started that and I was still   unsure of what my major was going to be but I went  in and while I was taking my regular classes like   ENC 1101 and whatever else they required of me  algebra all that stuff I was learning to code on   the side I was extremely curious about this whole  programming thing and it I had gotten hooked I   was spending all my time aside a class coding  figuring out how to create different apps and   Designs I remember taking a udemy course for iOS  development that same year and so I really dove   in hard and I discovered that I really enjoyed it  I I was extremely hooked that's also when I first   started my Instagram account really morphed very  quickly into a coding account just to document   my journey into learning how tood code on my own  and through that platform I also started seeing   a lot of other women who were engineers of big  tech companies or building things on their own   and it opened my eyes to a world that I had  never known before and then a new dimension   of that world if that makes any sense because it  was all women that I was seeing that were doing   amazing things in this space and it made me find  people that I looked up to and that I saw myself   in so it was it was looking like I was going  to go into programming spoiler alert I did I   declared my major at that community college for  computer science and I started taking programming   classes my first programming class was C++ and  it honestly should not have been some people   advocate for that but for me it almost pushed  me away I took that before I was fully decided   and it went towards the cons list very quickly  but ultimately it was what I wanted to do so I   declared that I took then a Java class two Java  classes programming one programming two and Java   and 2019 I graduated for my associates now that's  also not the ideal timeline so it it was a real   struggle for me emotionally and um just confidence  wise that was struggle and that was something that   took me a while to just accept as if I had chosen  it and really that phrase and that thought on its   own has gone me through so much I know it's hard  sometimes to to come to terms with it but you can   accept it and walk parallel to it as opposed  to walking against it and getting pushed back   constantly and believe me I I got a lot of that  getting pushed back constantly I declared my major   I graduated for my associates in 2019 and then  really the true Journey started in 2020 which was   also the year that the world went crazy so things  didn't really settle as I thought they would while   I was in Community College I was not able to apply  to internships I don't know if things have changed   now but back then I used to talk to recruiters  and they would say contact us again when you're   at ear for your University you'll apply then but  I needed to start my bachelor's in order to be   able to apply so that was one of the other things  that was getting my way is I need to be done with   this Associates so that I can start applying to  internships and start getting experience so as   soon as 2020 came around I started at Florida  International University in January of 2020 so   I got a month and a half in person and then you  know what happened I don't need to tell you that   part that was actually the best excuse to study  for interviews because the world was closed no   one was doing anything I wasn't missing out on  any parties or outings or dinners or anything   and so that's what I did I started studying for  interviews learning everything I needed to for   technical interviews in February then that summer  is when I took my first code path course and now   if you've been on my channel if you've been on  my Instagram I'm always talking about codepath   but it's because they've had a huge impact in my  journey so I only want to amplify that and give   other people the opportunity to have that sort  of experience I did this technical interview   prep course that summer and and then once the  summer was done I kept studying for interviews   all on my own started applying around August  September when internship applications opened   I was extremely nervous about starting to apply  for internships and I almost didn't that year   really the factor that made me start applying  so early on was that I was going to miss out   on a lot of the earlier internships if that makes  sense so like the Microsoft Explorer and the what   used to Facebook University all of those like  first and second year internships now my path   was also really strange because I had already  done an Associates but that Associates took   many years and I was starting now the second half  of my degree my so it was a really weird timeline   and I didn't know if I was going to qualify for  that or not but I came to learn from recruiters   that what determines if you qualify for those  freshman sophomore internships is not what year   you are necessarily but your graduation date and  that's why I ended up qualifying for the freshman   and sophomore internships so if that's still the  case then really look into that it's something   that I didn't know from the very beginning and  I would have really missed out my whole journey   would have been different because spoiler alert  I ended up getting into one of those uh freshman   sophomore uh internships had I not known that who  knows what my Journey would have been I already   spoiled it but I did a bunch of applications I had  a whole spreadsheet full of links uh to all these   different companies that I wanted to apply to  and I was every single day applying to a handful   of those making sure that I wasn't missing any  opportunities and just getting out there because   I learned that it's a numbers game and you're not  going to get called back for the first or second   or even 10th that you apply to you just have to  keep applying as much as you can and so long story   short I got a call back from Microsoft for their  explore internship I also got a few others I did   a a coding assessment for a few other internships  for Google and Facebook uh I think lift I may have   done yeah I think I did for Lift but I got to the  phone screening with Microsoft and I remember I   was terrified I was so nervous because that was  my first choice and so I was really scared of   messing that up there were a few other like  interviews that I did that I went in really   chill really calm really confident because my  my eggs weren't all there with Microsoft that   was my my goal since the very beginning and so I  was terrified I didn't want to mess it up and um   I just really prepared like crazy I remember I was  every single day practicing problems uh my friend   Omar sent me a bunch of elad code problems that  he had done when he uh interviewed for Microsoft   as well he was full-time at Microsoft at that  point but he' done internships prior to that   and so I was grinding it like the kidss call  it it was 2020 so of course I didn't get flown   out but I did a virtual interview I passed that  and I think it it was three rounds or two rounds   I can't remember really but what I do remember  is that I took some footage right before I went   into my interview and when I was studying and  stuff like that because even if it was for me   I just knew that I wanted to to have that nco's  getting comfy I just knew I wanted to have that   to to remember and maybe it would also serve for  just sharing my experience so if I find that I'll   include it right here it's T minus one day to my  interview I did just a random PRM interview just   now I got a very basic question about sorting and  pancake sorting and some flipping and I was like what your girl has not done any sorting yet the  interviewer I got was super nice um and then we   flipped rolls and I interviewed him and he did  great I have to give myself some credit because I   have been studying a lot and I haven't taken data  structures so far I I know hash tables I know um   array strings of course I know how to Traverse a  tree sort of a little bit but no breath first no   depth first search none of that Stacks cues I  know that I was advised to let my interviewer   know that I don't have all this knowledge yet  and that I'll just be trying my best with the   knowledge that I do have and we we will do our  best it's all I can do and if you are studying for   interviews or if you're starting out in computer  science and you are feeling discouraged or you   are feeling dumb because Lord knows I feel dumb  AF don't it's it's the most common thing in the   world we will get through it just keep going keep  pushing keep studying make a plan I'm not going   to lie I am feeling a bit discouraged having to  do all of this is in itself a lot of work having   to do it in quarantine in isolation under not the  best circumstances and just feeling very deprived   of life and things and normaly ideally I would  love to do this with other people that are going   through this which is why I'm hitting the internet  I need you all support and I'm here to support you   in any way I can to because I know how rough it is  now just mentally draining how emotionally taxing   it is it's a lot a lot a lot a lot of work and it  just makes you question yourself a lot which kind   of sucks but this is how we grow this is how we  get better we improve and we will make it happen   we will keep going we will keep studying this is  what I'm going to do right now and it'll happen   sooner or later we will get that job I got the  offer around December to internet Microsoft as   an Explorer intern which means that you get to  experience the PM role as well as the software   engineering role the spring semester Rolls by  and my devices started arriving in the mail I   was set to do a remote internship because that  is what the state of the world was at that point   I did a successful internship I was able to  get to see what the PM role is like and what   the software engineering role is like I never  fully considered PM really I always knew that I   wanted to do software engineering but I took that  internship to really consider it and the way that   I did it was I just suspended my belief that I  wanted to be a software engineer and I said okay   if I come into this with no expectations with  no said decision and I give both a fair chance   to really understand what they are because PM I  had no idea what it was like it the rule varies a   lot so I was like what does a PM really do you  know so I went in I gave both of the chance I   interviewed a lot of PMs and a lot of software  Engineers to understand what the role was and   uh what they were doing day today and what their  impact was my project itself involved a PM portion   so I got that experience there and it just really  solidified the fact that I wanted to do software   engineering and so that's the route that I went  my first internship concluded successfully and   I got a return offer for summer of 2022 now  this is where things get fun and interesting   and cool because this was an in-person internship  I worked on the visual studio team and I was able   to work on my own feature it was such an amazing  time I have such fun memories of that summer my   feature later went on to get shipped out when I  came back fulltime and I got to see the feature   being presented at the ability Summit because  it was uh the accessibility checker for visual   studio which made the whole experience extremely  insane I was able to have such profound impact in   such a short amount of time and as an intern I had  never felt that way before I had never experienced   something like that such a quick turnaround and at  one of the biggest tech companies in the world it   it was insane I feel like I don't know that that  was a very unique experience I'm just incredibly   grateful for that experience I had a great team I  had an awesome Mentor who was also really invested   in accessibility I had a PM who had worked for  so long to really ideate this feature and and   make it something that is useful and valuable  and he had been advocating for it for years so   the fact that an intern comes around and they're  like there's this piece of work that is just so   beautiful and impactful and that can help so many  people and we want you to be a part of it and we   want you to work on this and with their guidance  and their support I was able to do that like I   don't know why I'm getting so emotional but it  it was fantastic and then aside from that the   in-person events were great um I have a lot  of friends from school that have ended up at   Microsoft too it was just a really fun time that  internship also ended successfully and I got a   return offer as a full-time software engineer  year so I flew back to Miami finished my last   semester graduated in December December 17th I  think I walked no December 15th and then December   17th I was on the flight moving to Seattle and  that has been another wild experience it is now   September it's been 9 months since I started I  started January 2nd I think or yeah I'm pretty   sure January 2nd so it's been a long time now  but also very short as well and that is really   the Whirlwind story of how this crazy baluda  ended up somehow in one of the biggest tech   companies in the world as a software engineer when  she never even thought she'd do math or science   or anything non-artistic it's just a testament  to the fact that people change dreams change uh   you discover yourself you learn a lot more about  what you really want and what works for you and   how you work best and how you want to work and so  I can also talk about that later on what I didn't   like about graphic design and fashion design  and what I liked about cuz it had a lot to do   with my personality but I don't want to keep  rambling on about this my battery died because   I talked for way tooo long but I just wanted to  come back with a brand new battery to say thank   you for watching I hope you enjoyed this and let  me know in the comments if you want me to talk   about any other topics that I mentioned here  or something else I hope hearing my experience   helped inspired you gave you some perspective  on anything you may be going through I know it   helped me a lot to hear other people's stories so  I hope it's of value I'll see you on the next one

Channel: Antonella

Views: 58,149

Keywords: Career switch, career change, changing careers at 30, computer science, computer science degree, computer science major, computer science student, cs student, latinas in tech, learn to code, programming, software engineering, tech, tech jobs, tech jobs 2023, how to change careers, career advice

Id: -1YZChVdKy0

Length: 25min 33sec (1533 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 06 2023