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From the SRE Bootcamp to a New Opportunity at Wizeline

From the SRE Bootcamp to a New Opportunity at Wizeline

“I am going to go see how the cool kids work at Wizeline.” That is how I explained to my old coworkers why I was leaving a great company and a great team after many years of making a name and a place for myself there. I was so eager to begin the adventure that is working at Wizeline.

Let me start from the beginning: I was very lucky to get established in the tech world and my career path early on. I had the opportunity to work briefly with mainframes, and I witnessed the arrival and rise of SQL databases (you could say I was at the forefront of it). I saw the Internet become what it is today. I loved object-oriented programming, and I had the chance to experience many technologies, programming languages, and systems architectures firsthand. To be honest, I became somewhat jaded as a result.

Yep, I was there.

My Cloud Computing Journey

I worked as a developer for a long time, spending several years working on the operating part of the systems. I used to change jobs every three years, convinced that I needed to do so to stay relevant and at the forefront of the profession. But eventually, I discovered a fantastic company and a new city, and it seemed like I had found a place I could work for the long haul – a place to stay.

And then the cloud found me. It started innocently; as for many others, it was a new buzzword, a new “revolutionary technology” on the rise. They asked me to get cloud certified at work, and I started learning with no great expectations – at first, it felt like another chore.

But then, I fell in love with it; it simply made sense. Thanks to the cloud, we were able to solve many of the issues we had in our systems operations while making them simpler, cheaper, and more resilient. And that was only the beginning. Enhanced systems development could be unleashed using the new tools that the cloud gave us. It was a revolution that I was ready to explore, learn more about, and master.

New Technology, New Mindset

I quickly realized that cutting-edge technology alone is not enough. To take advantage of the cloud, it’s necessary to change how we organize ourselves and our work processes and teams. Agile, DevOps, and SRE are not merely buzzwords; they are the future. We need to embrace experimentation and learning, bring down silos, and promote psychological safety and enjoyment of our work. We won’t find huge wins if we try to use the cloud without restructuring our organizations to make the most of it, and we will get devoured by the organizations that do.

So, I found myself reading and learning about new ways of working. I started to contemplate new goals and values that organizations should strive for, envisioning a new way of working  that is simultaneously more humane, more enjoyable, and more productive. I arrived at the conclusion that it’s time we reevaluate decades of “best practices” (that we should call “common practices” now) that have potentially held our organizations back.

I realized there was something new – something better – out there. Not solely because of new technology, but because some organizations had recognized the huge benefits to be reaped by wholeheartedly embracing new ways of working.

Did you know that offices used to look very different from this?

Did I Mention I Am Very Lucky? – How My Wizeline Journey Started

I gave a talk at Wizeline as part of an AWS user group, which I belonged to a couple years back. While getting to know and befriending several Wizeliners, I saw how proud they were of their company; how different their offices and their ways of working were. I knew they had great ambition and fantastic dreams.

I am always looking for learning opportunities on the web, so when Wizeline Academy opened an SRE Bootcamp last year, I jumped at the opportunity! You had to do a coding challenge as part of the application, which I took the time to finish (at night, after work). The experience I already had helped me a lot in completing the assessment quickly and correctly.

I got selected and accepted the invitation to join, after which I spent several weeks with great people, doing exciting and enriching activities. At the end, we were required to deliver a capstone project in which we needed to create an API, store it in a repository, and build the continuous integration and continuous deployment pipelines to support it. It was hard work, and I had to balance it with my full-time job, but I received nothing but support and understanding from the bootcamp instructors.

Wizeline Academy bootcamp project

Homework

I learned a lot about GitHub, GitHub Actions, and best practices for pipelines. It was very fun and engaging, which made it a very memorable experience. I wish more people could experience a challenging yet student-friendly bootcamp like the ones offered by Wizeline Academy.

Halfway through the bootcamp, when my mentor mentioned the possibility of working at Wizeline with the cool guys, how could I refuse?

That meant leaving behind a good team and dear, old friends. But I have always wanted to explore, learn, and grow, and Wizeline is a great place to do all of that.

So, after many years of experiences filled with expectations, I joined Wizeline as a Software Reliability Engineer last October. Now, I can’t wait to see what the future holds for me at this amazing company.

Want to Join Us?

Interested in joining our growing team of skilled engineers like David? Check out our careers page and apply today!

 

Thank you to out author - David Sol

 


Ana Cristina González Villicaña

Posted by Ana Cristina González Villicaña on January 31, 2022