From the Caribbean to Google
Since I started working at Google I have been interested in sharing my experience with my community -Minorities/Latinos/Dominicans-. I didn’t know where or how to start until I met with Felix Mejia at Google Cloud campus in Sunnyvale, California.
While talking about our experiences working for Google, I got this idea to create a Medium page to write my stories about work for a big tech company.
The story begins like this…
In 2012 I had the opportunity to met Felix at Nobox Agency in Puerto Rico, where I was working as a UI Designer. At that time I acted as a mentor to him when he was doing the transition from graphic designer to UI/UX Designer.
The following photograph was taken while we were celebrating having received the approval from a big project. At that time we would never imagine that one day we’d be working for Google. Now looking at this photo I would say that we were two adventurous, dreamer kids, with a big passion for the work that we’re doing.
I want to express my GRATITUDE to Felix because he was brave to believe that I had the talent to be part of Google when submitted a recommendation for me to become a visual designer role.
In the summer of 2015, I received an email from one of Google recruiter asking for an interview for a Visual Designer role with the company. Being honest, I couldn’t pass the second phone call interview.
To my surprise three years later I was contacted again by them, they wanted to know if I was still interested in working for Google. Of course, I accepted to take all the Google interview processes. This time I passed all the steps successfully.
Probably you are asking why I’m sharing this story.
First: I want to thanks Felix, maybe without his recommendation I would have never been granted this opportunity.
Second: I want to let you know that we need to show gratitude to the people that helped us. It is important to have gratitude and share with others the same opportunities that others gave us.
As a Latino, I want to support others and collaborate with their professional growth and also help to bring more diversity to the tech industry in Silicon Valley. I have some ideas about how I can make this possible. I hope to put it in practice soon.
“Giving back the opportunities you have been given, is one of the most rewarding things you can have.” Juan C. Angustia
