Cohort Stories: Meet Oscar C.
vol. 5, no. 71 — guest post by Oscar Cardenas
My first years of professional experience as Environmental Engineer were challenging. Within a year, I was promoted from an Assistant position to a Supervisor. This implied leading teams of up to 40 people and as a recent college graduate, it was a big step and it took me some time to learn about the different mindsets and personalities of the team. Over time, I was able to build respect of the team members, enhancing our performance and friendships. Today, I really enjoy leading teams.
Another challenge I have overcome is learning the language in the United States. Several years ago, when I moved to the U.S., the journey of learning a second language continued in order to pursue my studies. I spent a couple of years learning the language and during this time period I got to interact with people from different countries, so it was a great opportunity to learn about other cultures.
My interest in the tech industry started several years ago when I saw the boom of social media and I realized the necessity of having enterprise information digitalized. By reading data related articles, I understood the old saying “data is power.” I was very curious about how a social media company would make a profit by just posting pictures. Later on, through research I understood their highly profitable business model. Another facet of my interest in tech is Cryptocurrency. The controversial Bitcoin and the path it paved for other cryptocurrencies to make their way into the industry are very interesting to me. I have been reading about big data, the importance of visualizations, and other tech-related topics, which led me enroll in the Master of Science in Business Analytics program at Suffolk University.
I am excited by the objective of the program, which is supporting Black and Latinx folks to get into the tech industry in Boston.
The fact that I will have a mentor, who will guide me based on their experience is very important because it will help me to determine the path to take based on my skills and interests.
Another interesting part of the program is the networking events, a great scenario to meet new people and expand my network. Also, I am very excited to work on my skill-set required to be a successful professional. Partnerships are a valuable opportunity offered because these companies can be our next employer, and an internship might open doors for a future role. I think this set of benefits offered by Hack.Diversity will help me to break in to the tech industry and start my journey towards my dream job, which is to be a Data Scientist.
