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How We Built This: InternMakers: Mariana Briones and Alejandro Davila

How We Built This: InternMakers: Mariana Briones and Alejandro Davila

Published December 12, 2019 by hecastel

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In this episode, I spoke with Mariana Briones, Incoming Hardware Program Manager at Microsoft and Alejandro Davila, FDSE at Palantir Technologies, both born in Mexico and raised in the north of the country. They share their experience as international students studying in the US and crossing the border every day to go to UCLE in El Paso, Texas. Having gone through so many struggles to get their first internship and trying to make it easier for others, Mariana and Alejandro founded InternMakers, a YouTube channel with resources in one place to help students get prepared for their intern opportunities and full-time opportunities. They are Latino content creators in STEM that want to bring more people like us to conferences and careers. We spoke about how they got into tech, Mariana as a Latina in Microsoft, her experience when crossing the border, and the time she met Satya Nadella, InternMakers, and finally, about what students can start doing right now to get an internship.

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Latinos Who Tech is brought to you by Audible. Go to www.audibletrial.com/latinos to claim your free audiobook!

Connect with Mariana and Alejandro via Linkedin: Want to help us grow? You can: Mentioned resources: In this episode, we talked about:
  • 01:42 – Welcoming Mariana and Alejandro to LWT
  • 04:12 – Getting into tech
  • 15:38 – The time Mariana met Satya Nadella
  • 20:40 – About crossing the border
  • 25:32 – A Latina in Microsoft
  • 27:30 – Both at university together; Mariana in Seattle and Alejandro in New York; what about InternMakers?
  • 37:48 – Main things students can start doing right now to get an internship
  • 44:41 – Last words of advice
Who is Hugo Castellanos? Learn more about him on Linkedin Thanks so much for listening to the show! If you want to know more about this and comment on the show, please join us on LatinosWhoTech or go to Conexiones Leave a Comment

The PhD Chronicles: Year 2 with Emily Anne Vargas

Published December 6, 2019 by hecastel

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In this episode, we catch up with my favorite Cuban American engineer, Emily Anne Vargas. Emily is an Industrial Engineer and a 2nd year PhD student in materials sciences and engineering at the M.C. Gill Composites Center at the University of Southern California.

We previously talked with Emily about mental health for high achievers in episode 11 of my other podcast: Conexiones. Click here and take a listen.

On this new episode we talk about her road to grad school, what her experience pursuing her PhD has been like so far plus EVERYTHING you wanted to know about ceramics and composites 🙂


Resources

GE on Ceramic Matrix Composites (2:40)
Follow Emily’s Lab

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The road to Engineering & How to have difficult conversations

Published November 18, 2019 by hecastel

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In this episode, we spoke with Rosa Delgado, a Civil Engineer & Sr. Project Manager. Rosa is a 1st generation engineer and shared with us her challenges and key learnings as a woman in STEM. We spoke about civil engineering, productivity and the art of having difficult conversations.
Notes:

Follow us on IG: @LatinosWhoTech and sign up for our newsletter at latinoswhotech.com

Resources:
The DESC framework to succeed at difficult conversations

Books:

How Women Rise

The Power of Vulnerability

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LIVE from the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers Convention – #SHPE2019

Published November 12, 2019 by hecastel

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First-ever live episode! Over 150 people attended a panel we hosted at the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers Convention in Phoenix, Arizona. The SHPE National Convention happens every year and over 9k students and professionals converge during 4 days to network, attend workshops and find career opportunities.

In this panel we explored the question: “What Drives Us?” with a panel of SHPE Lifetime Members:

Javier Cortavitarte, Customer Success Manager, Broadcom
Natalia Ariza, Account Management Lead, Uber Eats
Juan Lopez Marcano, Machine Learning Engineer, Uber
Hugo Castellanos, Product Marketing Manager, Intel=

I’d like to thank SHPE National for making this possible. Namely, Dr. Dora Renaud, Jimmy Galvez, and Rosa Delgado.
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SHPEtina Origins – Igniting Latinas in STEM

Published November 8, 2019 by hecastel

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I recently got back from my 11th SHPE Conference. This particular one was held in Phoenix, Arizona where 9000+ professionals, students, and STEM advocates gathered for 4 days of workshops and networking. A big highlight of the conference is the 200+ companies that attend to recruit talent. Attending as a professional is different. Granted, you have less stress since you already have a job. Still, making time to connect with everyone can feel overwhelming.

This particular conference was very special for me since I had the opportunity to host a live podcast and panel (stay tuned! You’ll listen to it in episode 17), as well as to do my workshop on “Taking the Work out of Networking”. I was extremely humbled to connect with so many professionals and students.

In this particular episode I want to welcome the new podcast listeners that just signed up for LWT by bringing them one of my favorite epiosdes from #SHPE2018 : The SHPEtina Origin Story. I got to chat with Ximena Aristizabal, Andrea Sanchez Sours, PhD and Stephanie Serrano about their role starting a dedicated track of the SHPE Conference focused on Latina professionals, their issues and how to empower them to become the best version of themselves.

Please enjoy! and as always, you can follow the show on IG: @LatinosWhoTech or drop me a note with your feedback at latinoswhotech@gmail.com
Latinos Who Tech is brought to you by Audible. Go to www.audibletrial.com/latinos to claim your free audiobook!
Sign up to our monthly newsletter where we share networking strategies and other personal development tools: Here or at LatinosWhoTech.com
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Life @ Google: Aaron Ramirez, Technical Solutions Engineer at Google

Published October 7, 2019 by hecastel

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In this episode, I spoke with Aaron Ramirez, Mexican American, Technical Solutions Engineer at Google. We spoke about how he got to Google and how being a SHPE member helped him with the interview process, his role at Google and his definition for Googliness, advice on how to get prepared for an interview and other words of advice.

Latinos Who Tech is brought to you by Audible. Go to www.audibletrial.com/latinos to claim your free audiobook!

Sign up to our monthly newsletter where we share networking strategies and other personal development tools: Here or at LatinosWhoTech.com

Connect with Aaron vía linkedin: Want to help us grow? You can: Mentioned resources: Timestamps:
  • 01:45 – About Aaron Ramirez
  • 02:47 – How Aaron got to Google
  • 05:32 – SHPE according to Aaron
  • 08:59 – How being a SHPE member helped Aaron with the interview process
  • 10:54 – Aaron’s role at Google
  • 12:03 – Interacting with external customers – A possible career roadmap  
  • 16:28 – Aaron’s definition for ”Googliness”
  • 20:52 – How Aaron would get prepared for an interview at Google
  • 25:27 – Aaron’s parting piece of advice
Key Takeaways:
  • Apply for Google Travel and Conference grants! (Google Conference and Travel Scholarships for selected conferences in the tech industry and related fields).
  • SHPE is a big “familia” support network. Get involved and make SHPE be your internship!
  • For interviews, focus on remembering the basics!
Who is Hugo Castellanos? Find out about him on linkedin
Thanks so much for listening to the show! If you want to know more about this or comment on the show, please join us on LatinosWhoTech or go to Conexiones 
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From Engineering to Technical Marketing: Hugo Castellanos, Product Marketing Manager @ Intel

Published September 23, 2019 by hecastel

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In this episode I share with you a conversation I had with Adriana Flores Ragade, Social Entrepreneur and host of the podcast LatinxAmerica. She asked me about my story and my journey from Electronics Engineering to Technical Marketing. We also spoke about how I got to Silicon Valley, my involvement with SHPE (Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers) and podcasting.

Latinos Who Tech is brought to you by Audible. Go to www.audibletrial.com/latinos to claim your free audiobook!

Sign up to our monthly newsletter where we share networking strategies and other personal development tools: Here or at LatinosWhoTech.com

Connect with Hugo vía : Connect with Adriana vía: Want to help us grow? You can: Mentioned resources: Timestamps:
  • 01:41 – Introducing Adriana Flores Ragade who will be interviewing Hugo Castellanos – All about the reason why he does podcasting, his day to day job and how he got to Silicon Valley
  • 04:12 – Welcoming Hugo at LatinxAmerica and his journey into Tech
  • 09:30 – Full time tech person with a podcasting passion in spare time. The reason why and how Hugo builds his own podcast
  • 13:19 – Things we can do as a community to solve the “leaky pipeline” of talent – Based on Hugo’s journey and the people he has interviewed.
  • 17:51 – How to become a product manager
  • 26:12 – People Hugo has met that have been to a product school or a short learning bootcamp
  • 29:15 – Recurring themes in Hugo’s professional life or in those who he has interviewed that have come to life
  • 35:47 – Practices that keep Hugo professionally activated
  • 40:17 – Influencers or learning resources recommended by Hugo, and his next play
  • 43:29 – Adriana’s last words

TAKEAWAYS

THE REASON WHY AND HOW HUGO BUILDS HIS OWN PODCAST

If you are a latina/o interested in working in STEM, Hugo hosts several soft skill workshops at SHPE that can help you, and is host of his own podcast Latinos Who Tech where you can learn from other very interesting professionals that are in tech and how they got there. It is possible, you can work in Tech too!

THINGS WE CAN DO AS A COMMUNITY TO SOLVE THE “LEAKY PIPELINE” OF TALENT

Reaching out to college students as quickly as possible to encourage them and let them know it is possible to work in STEM visualizing how others have succeeded. Seek out mentors through social media networking and build relations with them. Look out for the Latino Community in STEM, they will be more than happy to help you!

HOW TO BECOME A PRODUCT MANAGER

Intellectual curiosity, technical background and that love for finding out what the next big problem is, are three things necessary to become a product manager.

PEOPLE HUGO HAS MET THAT HAVE BEEN TO A PRODUCT SCHOOL OR A SHORT LEARNING BOOTCAMP

Go to Conexiones Episode 9. All about Carlos Montesinos. He went through a Product School. Three month intensive program. What is going to make you a product manager is shipping products. “Launching, measuring and learning”

GETTING A MENTOR

If you think you need one, that is a start. As many people are afraid of commitments, the best thing you could do is arrange a meeting in a cafe in order to have that first conversation. Get to know each other and find out whether you both agree having a mentor/mentee relationship. It depends on you to keep that relation going.

PRACTICES THAT KEEP HUGO PROFESSIONALLY ACTIVATED

Use David Allen’s methodology “Getting Things Done”. Plan everything you have to do, write everything down and process your inbox everyday. Mindfulness and paying undivided full attention in one to one conversations. Find some time during your day and everyday, to completely disconnect from phone and mail in order to focus and get hard work done.

Thanks so much for listening to the show! If you want to know more about this or comment on the show, please join us on LatinosWhoTech or go to Conexiones 

Leave a Comment

Keeping It Civil: Jimmy Galvez, Project Manager @ Sherwood Design Engineers

Published September 9, 2019 by hecastel

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In this episode I spoke with Jimmy Galvez, a Project Manager @ Sherwood Design Engineers. We spoke about his journey coming from Guatemala to the US, his experience managing civil engineering projects in California, Texas and overseas and his involvement with the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineer (SHPE).

Latinos Who Tech is brought to you by Audible. Go to www.audibletrial.com/latinos to claim your free audiobook!

Sign up to our monthly newsletter where we share networking strategies and other personal development tools: Here or at LatinosWhoTech.com

Connect with Jimmy vía : Want to help us grow? You can:

Timestamps:

  • 01:44 – Introducing Jimmy Galvez
  • 02:29 – The first Civil Engineer and Guatemalan in the Podcast
  • 03:22 – Who’s Jimmy and where does he come from
  • 04:05 – Immigrating to the US
  • 07:21 – From Community College to Cal Polly
  • 08:41 – Studying at Cal Polly; Civil Engineering
  • 10:12 – The difference between Civil and Structural Engineering
  • 11:08 – Jimmy’s first job out of College
  • 12:24 – A Master in that particular Craft
  • 13:16 – Land development and community planning
  • 17:04 – Jimmy’s current title and role
  • 18:08 – Construction administration support services
  • 19:07 – The handoff from design to construction
  • 21:17 – Pre-construction meetings; The relationship between designers and contractors
  • 24:01 – Jimmy’s favorite project
  • 27:17 – International Experience; Projects in the Baja Dessert; Desalination
  • 29:33 – Love for structural engineering; Always paying attention to constructions
  • 30:51 – The Challenges that a project manager faces
  • 33:53 – What are the skills that a Star Project Manager needs?
  • 37:43 – Communication; email vs phone call
  • 38:18 – Running meetings as a project manager
  • 42:13 – The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineer (SHPE)
  • 44:04 – Learning at SHPE; Soft skills, communication, networking
  • 47:16 – Being a SHPE Chapter President
  • 51:01 – Hugo’s SHPE inspiring story
  • 54:55 – Last words for audience
Who is Hugo Castellanos? Find out about him on linkedin
Thanks so much for listening to the show! If you want to know more about this or comment on the show, please join us on LatinosWhoTech or go to Conexiones 
Leave a Comment

Thriving as an Introvert: Dushka Zapata, Writer and Executive Communications @ Zendesk

Published August 26, 2019 by hecastel

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In this episode, I spoke with Dushka Zapata, Executive Communications at Zendesk, writer, and author of seven books. We spoke about writing as a part of her life and how she captures ideas to do so, her work at Zendesk, Quora and her seven books, the process she goes through to write a book, and her encouraging words to audience.

Latinos Who Tech is brought to you by Audible. Go to www.audibletrial.com/latinos to claim your free audiobook!

Sign up to our monthly newsletter where we share networking strategies and other personal development tools: Here or at LatinosWhoTech.com

Connect with Dushka vía : Want to help us grow? You can: Mentioned resources: Timestamps:
  • 01:45 – Welcoming Dushka Zapata
  • 01:56 – How Duska got to San Francisco
  • 02:57 – The way in which Duska brings her whole self to work
  • 03:54 – Writing as a part of Dushka’s life
  • 05:04 – How Dushka captures the ideas she writes about and her seven books
  • 07:38 – About Dushka’s work at Zendesk
  • 08:43 – How Dushka would coach an executive who wants to give a speech
  • 10:55 – How Dushka personally gets prepared to give a speech  
  • 16:00 – The meaning of Quora according to Dushka
  • 16:23 – Dushka’s process when sitting down to write a book
  • 19:16 – To connect with Dushka
  • 19:41 – Last words to audience
Key Takeaways:
BRINGING WHOLE SELF TO WORK
To be able to take your whole self to work, it is very important to be happy where you are and authentic. “Be one person wherever you go”
WRITING AS A PART OF DUSHKA’S LIFE
It is very important to be happy with what one is doing. Dushka is really happy writing. Writing about things she has learned from, could help someone else.
HOW SHE CAPTURES IDEAS TO WRITE
Having at disposal social media tools helps the things Dushka writes about reach people immediately
WORK AT ZENDESK
Whoever needs to get their ideas across or has difficulty in communicating them, should ask an executive in communications for their advice. 
COACHING AN EXECUTIVE THAT WANTS TO GIVE A SPEECH
To be able to communicate ideas, you have to sound like you and not anyone else. Everyone is different, so everyone will need different advice in how to make a proper presentation.
HOW DUSHKA WOULD PREPARE FOR A SPEECH
Things or subjects one cares about have an impact in level of engagement. 
Feel like a fish out of water?  Anything you feel is exclusive to you and is an actual universal condition. Understanding this gives you a lot of empathy and power, because you are not alone even though you feel you are. Uncomfortable feelings should never avoid people doing things and having new opportunities. 
You get to know people better when you meet them on panels and having conversations one to one.
THE PROCESS TO WRITE A BOOK
Whatever you do, whether write books or anything in life, start with one step. It is all about discipline and habits, and doing a bit everyday.
Einstein’s quote: “Time exists so that not everything happens at once”
WORDS TO AUDIENCE
To you Latina > You are Latina, that is true, but you are much more than that!
Who is Hugo Castellanos? Find out about him on linkedin
Thanks so much for listening to the show! If you want to know more about this or comment on the show, please join us on LatinosWhoTech or go to Conexiones 
Leave a Comment

Life @ Facebook: Carlos Sarmiento, Software Engineer @ Facebook

Published August 12, 2019 by hecastel

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In this episode, I spoke with Carlos  Sarmiento, Software Engineer at Facebook. Originally from Venezuela, Carlos joined Facebook in 2017. We spoke about how he got to Facebook, the company’s recruiting events and engineering bootcamps, his day in the life as a software engineer, and all about referrals. 

Latinos Who Tech is brought to you by Audible. Go to www.audibletrial.com/latinos to claim your free audiobook!

Sign up to our monthly newsletter where we share networking strategies and other personal development tools: Here or at LatinosWhoTech.com

Connect with Carlos via linkedin:

Carlos Sarmiento
Want to help us grow? You can:

Mentioned resources:

  • Facebook Recruiting Event
  • Facebook Engineering Bootcamp
  • ERG (Employee Resource Group)
  • Latin@ – Facebook Diversity
  • Latin@ – Facebook Careers
  • PHP
  • Hack – programming language 

Timestamps:

  • 01:42 – Welcoming Carlos Sarmiento
  • 02:06 – About Carlos
  • 02:40 – Reaching Facebook: from Caracas to Facebook
  • 05:38 – About Facebook’s recruiting events
  • 08:28 – A Software Engineer at Facebook: The experience of a day in the life
  • 10:55 – About Facebook’s Engineering Bootcamps
  • 13:30 – Process to select a bootcamp
  • 15:18 – A story from Instagram Ads
  • 19:31 – How a referral works
  • 23:44 – Diversity at Facebook
  • 27:09 – Last words for audience

Key Takeaways:

Facebook Recruiting Events

A good way to select the best people for a company is through recruiting events. During these event recruiters give interviews to potential candidates, share with the community information and the experience of what it is like working at Facebook

The experience of a day in the life

Working in a team with a collaborative process has better results when looking for a high impact. 
Having a mentor helps somebody ramp up and succeed in a company

Facebook engineering bootcamp

Any engineer that wants to work at Facebook, has to go through a bootcamp. Bootcamps are great onboarding programs. They are opportunities for working right away, learning everything about the company and having a senior engineer mentor through the whole process

Fix and Learn!

Everybody at Facebook roll in the same direction, so if somebody fails or makes a mistake, the whole team takes responsibility, and all go through the “fix and learn” process

Employee Referrals

The best thing a growing and hiring company can do to find talented people, is ask people already working in the company for candidate recommendations

Diversity at Facebook

At Facebook, being a Latino is not an issue, and employees use the same common english language so no one feels excluded.
There are many ERG’s supported by Facebook to foster diverse communities. Lantin@ is one of their largest groups and is for the latino community

Last words for audience

A professional career in a company doesn’t happen immediately, it is something that is built up to. Go for it! It is better to fail by trying than fail by not trying!
Who is Hugo Castellanos? Find out about him on linkedinThanks so much for listening to the show! If you want to know more about this or comment on the show, please join us on LatinosWhoTech or go to Conexiones Leave a Comment