Meet Juan Camilo, a Senior developer at Oceans who loves staying active and doing sports almost as much as he enjoys being a code expert. He shares his experience as part of a multicultural team in an exciting project.
Who is Juan Camilo? And what’s your role at the company?
I am an electrical engineer by trade, but I found a passion for programming and decided to choose that as my professional career, I’ve been doing that since 2014. Personally, I am a family man with a keen interest in sports. I build few, but long-lasting friendships.
At Oceans I am a Senior Back-end engineer specialized in .NET, currently one of two Senior engineers in my project.
What was your first impression of Oceans?
When I joined, everything was very fluid and transparent, from the initial contact with Stefany, through the technical interview process, to meeting the client’s team. I enjoyed that level of directness and honesty.
Once I was part of the team, I noticed how it wasn’t all about focusing on making the US teams happy, but about you as well and your own wellbeing as a consultant. We are also rewarded and constantly motivated to do better every day.
Being from Colombia I wasn’t sure what to expect at first, it was my first time working as a remote consultant, but the diversity aspect, working with a multicultural team, and especially meeting professionals from Costa Rica—who have that positive, contagious energy—made me really comfortable.
What is it like to work at Oceans?
It feels like, again, things just flow really well. There isn’t that bad kind of pressure on you, making you feel like you need to rush constantly or things will blow on your face, it feels like you can do your job well and at your own pace, and the team feels like family.
I like having flexibility to accommodate my personal life, you have freedom to balance life and work as long as you keep everyone informed, I’ve also learned a lot from colleagues across Latin America and gotten to discover their different personalities, in my current team there is a person from Honduras, one from Argentina, one from Bolivia, another one from Costa Rica, and then there’s me, from Colombia. The diversity also helps you see things from different perspectives.
Tell us about an accomplishment you’ve made while working with Oceans
When I joined, I told Stef about how I partially wanted a new opportunity because I had worked with the same technologies for a long time, my biggest challenge and motivation was to start building with new tools. In my current project, the team is 100% up to date with the latest trends, which has allowed me to work with, and learn new things, like the newest Azure functionalities.
I was blown away, I went from knowing almost nothing about some of these systems to being treated as a knowledgeable, professional user, all thanks to Oceans and my team.
What motivates you every day?
For starters, I love what I do, I enjoy programming, being able to think about a solution from scratch and then, through logic and critical thinking seeing it through to fruition, until it’s actively being used by someone to accomplish its purpose.
Another motivation is my family, they are one of the reasons I wake up every day. We are four siblings and my parents, a big, close group of people which brings joy to my life.
What is your professional expectation?
Right now, I’d look to pursue an Azure certification and further learning about Cloud technologies. Experience-wise I’ve always wanted to be a technical lead, I admire Nico’s (our current lead) experience. He radiates plenty of knowledge and a leadership attitude that particularly shows when making design-based decisions, that is a path I see myself following.
What do you enjoy the most about working remotely?
Time-management, hands down. Being able to work in a flexible environment from my home allows me to share more time with loved ones, for example, visiting my grandma who lives in a different city and working from there. When your office can be anywhere, you really get to spend more quality time with the people who live further away.
Personal care is another big part, I am now able to exercise more since I am not wasting time in traffic or tired from commuting.
How do you spend your time outside of work?
Every weekend, I make it an active effort to spend an entire day with my folks. I also spend a lot of time with friends, eating out, going for drinks and having fun.
I do functional training five to six times a week, and when I get the opportunity I play ping pong, go hiking, or play football (I am a huge fan).
Beyond exercise, I like going to the movies, I am a big fan of Marvel films, and I love TV series. I’d also like to start reading again.
