Another episode

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Two, one. [00:00:14] Speaker B: Really? I heard that at the exact same time. I was so proud. Yeah. [00:00:23] Speaker A: You were waiting. [00:00:27] Speaker B: Oh, no worries. [00:00:32] Speaker A: So you sound good. [00:00:36] Speaker B: Yeah. I can hear you well. [00:00:38] Speaker A: Okay. I'm really happy that we got the it'll be good for the first. [00:00:48] Speaker B: Yeah. Since we are already in the planning for moving, we also kind of want to start preparing some things. For example, I have a lot of things in my closet that I need to either give away to someone else or throw away because they are useless. But I'm also in the process, like, okay, I'm leaving. I want to also get to know other places in the city that I haven't had the chance. So I'm kind of in the middle of the two things. Well, the worst part is that I haven't visited like, I live in Santiago. I haven't visited many of the most famous places. Like many mountains. I don't know. In Spanish they're called sero. Like, it's a small mountain. Oh, yeah. The hills. Oh, yeah. Colina as well. Yeah. There are a lot of those here that have really nice views that I haven't visited, and I kind of want to do that. And a lot of restaurants that I want to try, too. Well, here in San Diego, there are there are not green. They are very brown because here is very dry. Yeah. But I believe yeah, there are some places, I think in the south, probably. I think they have one of those. I know there are volcanoes here, but I don't know about volcanic hills, but I'm pretty sure I've heard about those. And you what are you doing? [00:03:29] Speaker A: Never played with him before, and now he moves three and a half. Really shy. Yeah, it's been I don't really like being here. Yeah, that's been a nice. [00:03:54] Speaker B: Yeah, of course. Yeah, that's true. [00:04:02] Speaker A: That we were talking about. Okay. [00:04:33] Speaker B: Yeah, of course. So a while ago, I wrote a tweet that mentioned how one of the things about being self taught is that sometimes I feel that I'm not qualified to say that I have a career because I still associate it with having a degree. And I was really surprised by the response, especially by one particular person who mentioned that they have been doing software engineering for 25 years but didn't graduate high school, so they rarely say they have a career. And I thought that was really interesting. [00:05:11] Speaker A: Do you think that is kind of like. [00:05:18] Speaker B: Yeah, definitely. There were a variety of responses, but that was the main feeling that a lot of people could relate to that. And I thought that it was very interesting because someone who has been doing a job for 25 years is more than qualified to say that they have a career. But I guess that's obvious for me because you say, oh, 25 years, that's a long period of time. But it's such a personal experience, so yeah, I can understand that feeling. [00:06:11] Speaker A: Can you talk a little about this? [00:06:14] Speaker B: Yeah, of course. So I want to introduce myself first because that way we can start talking about why we're so close to the message for this podcast. So I'm Maru and I work as a front end developer here at Castus. I'm from Venezuela, but I currently live in Santiago, Chile. I started learning how to code in 2020, and it was possible thanks to all the free resources that are available online and all the great communities that are always willing to help you on your coding journey. And Castus is not only my first remote job, but also my first job as a developer. And that's pretty awesome. That's so cool. I really like how you were able to connect your past experience to your current job at Castus, because being a teacher gives you so many skills that are so valuable as a customer support specialist. But now that I think about it, that's obvious for us now. But when you're applying for jobs, that's a really different story. Right? So how was applying for jobs that were not related to your past experience? Like, what was the most challenging part? [00:08:07] Speaker A: That's a great question. I think the most challenging part having motivation to look at a job and try to fit my particular skill set into being a little vague here, but what happens? I was never asked resume with my past experience, and I really like that strategy because it allowed me to answer some questions that they had asked me. Apply my reading to their you have the same. [00:09:45] Speaker B: Yeah, I had the same experience in the sense that sending a CV wasn't a requirement. But I agree, that's something I really liked about Casta's hiring process. So I was reached out by one of our teammates. He found my website, I believe, thanks to Twitter, and he asked me if I would be interested in applying for the front end developer role. And after reading about the company and I thought that it seemed like a very nice place, I applied and it was a form with some technical questions about my skills. And then I was invited to the interview. And during the interview, I was already feeling like an imposter because I didn't have any past professional experience to share. And you would expect an interview to be about that, right? And in fact, the truth is that in most companies or in most hiring process, you wouldn't even make it to the interview because they will take a look at your CV and notice that you don't have any past experience, like professional past experience, so they don't call you. So just being there, I was really grateful for that, but I was feeling like an imposter. But being able to have a conversation and being able to explain how I could be useful for the role was so much better and already made me feel less nervous. And it made me realize that at that moment it wasn't a list of certifications or list of degrees or something like that that define whether or not I was qualified. What defined whether or not I was qualified was what I wanted to do in the future and how that aligned with the company. So yeah, I thought that was really good and such an interesting experience because yes, it was my first interview for a job as a developer, but it wasn't my first interview at all. So already seeing that that it was so different made me feel better. [00:12:03] Speaker A: Yeah, if and when you got hired, I wanted to ask you talked about imposter syndrome. You felt like once the interview was more just kind of like conversation about that, did that make you think differently about did it kind of change your search? [00:12:44] Speaker B: It really did because as I mentioned in my introduction, this was also my first time applying for a remote job. So I didn't know how the dynamics of a remote job would be. But already seeing how the interview was like gave me an idea, was like okay, this is very different. I thought that it would be like a very traditional interview but I was like okay, so a remote job is not very let's say it is common nowadays because of the whole situation in the world. But it's still at least where I live, it's not the rule. So the rules still are the in office jobs, like in person jobs. So when I realized that it was like, oh yeah, of course that the interview has to be very different because the job itself is different. It is a remote job. It's not the same as what I was used to in the past. So when I realized that, it was like, oh, not only that gives me so many other possibilities of types of companies that I can apply because I can apply to a company that it is, I don't know, in. Europe or in the other side of the world. But also that means that my skills that I learned here in this side of the world are also valuable anywhere else. So that was really cool and yeah. [00:14:32] Speaker A: That'S going to be a big part of skill set that is easily applied to rising background affect a lot of maybe how your family, your friends, even larger area. And we have this idea that there's a conventional way of doing now. [00:15:38] Speaker B: Talk. [00:15:39] Speaker A: A little about how normal. [00:15:47] Speaker B: Yeah, of course. And that is definitely something that we want to talk about a lot in the podcast. We want to talk about the normal way of doing things or the conventional way of doing things versus nontraditional or unconventional paths. And when you ask someone, okay, so how do you define a conventional career path? It is such a personal experience that you can get so many different answers. So I really invite anyone hearing this to also ask themselves or ask your family or your friends, what do they think about the conventional career path or how would they define it, because you might be surprised by their response. And in my case, when I think about a conventional career path, so yeah, I think about linear growth. So someone who has gone from high school, college, to a job related to their career and they just started growing in the same field. And I also really associated with going through higher education, right? So that's something that I pretty much associated. But growing up in Latin America, a conventional career path, it is definitely the normal way of doing things in the whole meaning of the sentence, because it is what you grow up seeing your community and your parents doing. So you basically grow up seeing everyone else doing that. So of course you already associated, like, okay, this is a normal way of living, of growing up, of getting a job, of having a career. And I actually asked my mom what she thought about a conventional career path. And it's so funny because she would only talk about, oh yeah, a conventional path is like, I don't know, she started mentioning a bunch of religious things like going to church or going through a lot of cultural things in your country and those types of things. And even after I said, okay, mom, but what about careers? And she didn't even think about it that way because I realized that for her, she doesn't define it as the normal way of doing things because in her mind, there's only one way. So she doesn't need to add a label to it because that is the only way of doing things. So for her, there is no right or wrong way. There's just one. And that's it. Like, yeah, going to college, having a job, getting a job, having a family. So that was really interesting because I noticed that I grew up with that same idea. And not only that, but that you have to get a job that gives you good money. So being a doctor, being an engineer, a lawyer, those are the careers that are good. And if you go the other way to a career that is known for not having really high salaries, you're like, hey, you will probably be asked like, hey, are you not planning to take care of your family or what? Or something like that. [00:19:08] Speaker A: That's very interesting that you mentioned that, because I think that's very common in my case, in my culture. And I think that is more self taught. Like you transition to some career online where college and I wanted to talk about because your mom mentioned we talked about kids versus having a job. And this software developer is kind of in the same boat. I work at a job, I never have a career like you share with me. It's an accumulative. [00:20:48] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, this whole topic and we've talked about this so many times, but this whole topic has made me ask, what is a career anyway? We're always talking about career this, career that. But I was like, what is a career anyway? So I was really surprised because since I grew up with this very traditional thinking about careers and I used to associate it with having a degree, I was so surprised to just make a quick Google search and see that it's not the case. So a career is just an occupation that you have done for a significant period of time. But when you're self taught or you had a unique journey, how do you determine that significant period of time? Because, for example, for this person who replied to my tweet, for them it seems like 25 years is not a significant period of time. And that may sound crazy for us, but it's such a personal experience. So that's how that person feels. So when you go to college and you study for X amount of years, it's easier to then say, yeah, now I have a career. But yeah, when you're self taught or you had a different journey, it's very difficult to determine that amount of time. And also, other replies to the tweet were like, oh, that's normal because you're just getting started. But again, we fall into the same thing that how do you define how much time is enough to say that I have a career? And I thought that it was so interesting. And that's why I love our message for this podcast, because I believe that the main message that we want to convey is that all career paths are valid. And I really like this quote, the one that you mentioned, that it said that a career is the combination of the traditional and nontraditional paths. So it is the unplanned and planned journeys. And I think that it's so beautiful when you see it that way, because then that means that you're the one in charge. You're the one who can define your own success. And because of that, you cannot associate it with one particular experience or with one certification because it's yours. And if anyone hearing this is going through a similar feeling as mine, like you're probably feeling like an imposter, I'm here to tell you you do have a career. It is yours, and no one can take that away from you. And one quick thing also that I want to mention is that when I started doing some research for the podcast, I realized that I used to think that a career was something given to you. And I know that may sound silly, but for example, when you're going to university, since the university gives you a degree, I was like, oh yeah, the university gives me the career. But that is so silly because even if you're going to university, you're the one doing all the hard work, attending to classes. You're using, of course, all the information and guidance the school provides. But you're the one doing all the hard job, the hard work, and it's the same thing when you're self taught, right? You're just getting the information from a different place. So it's so empowering when you realize, yeah, this is my career, I'm in control of it. I decide where do I go next? And again, no one can take that away from me. I think that it's so nice. What do you think about that. [00:24:35] Speaker A: One thing that you said about, you know, combination of unplanned and planned things about our careers experiences? To me, that very little to be considered like negative culture. So there's a little example I left, but in the end I consider that a very necessary step for finding capital. And if we think of the career as those, then I can't think of that as to me, that helps me think of not as much. It's very normal transition into learning by yourself and then coming into a team like that. [00:26:13] Speaker B: Yeah, that is true. And I also remember a word, it's also the unexpected detours that you could take in your career or in your life in general. So yeah, that is why I realized that it's so silly to associate a word that is so broad to just one experience like going to college or not going to college. It's the whole thing, it's the whole combination and again, it is yours. So you're the one who can define your success and also your failures. So you're the one who can decide, okay, where do I go next and how can I improve or how can I reach my goal? Right, so that's what we want to talk about in the podcast, the many ways to accomplish our goals. It is basically this. So the many ways to accomplish our goals in our careers, right? [00:27:18] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. Speaking of what's next, this podcast is very much for people, folks who are interested in looking for working in a team. If you are doing something else, you are trying to transition, you're looking for that spark, we're here to give it to you. We're going to be talking how we deal with having unconventional career paths in sometimes work that other people are and we like to highlight and we'd also love to give you some actionable prioritize and focus on your ventricle. How can you and then also we both think has a company and we love to share some of those experiences that you have given us or. [00:29:12] Speaker B: Right? Yeah. So definitely this is a podcast for everyone. Like in this whole new world that we're living in. It's not only for the people who are trying to make a career change or break into an industry. So it's for the people who have been in an industry for a lot of time, but perhaps they're having doubts. They're thinking that they want to do something else. Or you're not feeling entirely happy with your career right now and you think that you don't have the resources to make a career change. Perhaps. So that's some of the topics that we want to talk about and hopefully help others and especially learn together, because it will sound cliche, but yeah, we're all in this together. I'm going to say High School Musical reference. [00:30:05] Speaker A: Because I think that's one of the secondary podcast is to find our community, the people who are interested in changing what they're doing as well. And, you know, like, this is a time when we're here for that as well. This is how we came to council. [00:30:56] Speaker B: Yeah, I love that. That's very true. It's not only more fun together, but it's necessary. It's really difficult to do something like this on your own. [00:31:09] Speaker A: Yeah, great. It thank you so much. [00:31:17] Speaker B: Yeah, thank you. Yeah. We'll just continue talking and hopefully you'll hear from us on another episode. Yeah, bye. Off.