Meet former bike racing champion and lifelong technology enthusiast Manuel, QA consultant at Oceans, as he describes his experience moving away from a burnout working mechanic into a newfound work-life balance.
Who is Manuel? And what is your role in the company?
I am passionate about technology. I love machines and computers ever since I was a kid, and always dreamed of working on something related to that. Precisely for that reason I did a semester in electronic engineering, but ended up leaning toward engineering. I still love staying up to date with the latest news in technology, specially these days as we see unprecedented growth in this area.
At Oceans, I am a QA consultant, I am part of one of the largest teams in the company.
How long have you been with Oceans? What was your first impression?
I have been with Oceans for a few months, so far it has been a beautiful experience, I have never had the opportunity to work with people from so many Latin American countries.
At first impression I received a lot of kindness and courtesy. Seeing so many young people working in the company, I was pleased to be part of this entrepreneurship, and it was great to hear about Costa Rica too.
When they contacted me, I decided to listen to the proposal carefully and well… here I am, even participating in endeavors such as technical interviews and other projects.
What is it like to work at Oceans?
I am easygoing, what I enjoy the most is being able to contribute with ideas and have an open window to see the horizon. I love working with people from Central America, and I feel motivated to be part of this group.
Previously, I only ever worked with people from Bolivia (my home country) or directly with people from the US. Now I love working across multiple cultures and with a bigger sense of that human contact that Oceans fosters in general.
Tell us about one thing you are proud to have accomplished at Oceans
Although it’s been a short time, I’ve contributed to putting together the puzzle that is the project I am currently working on, and have built a mastery of the Back-end level, which has taken some time to learn.
The biggest challenge I’ve faced was the back-end testing because—while I worked on similar things in the past—this is a higher level, and I had to study to be able to support the team as much as I have.
What is your main motivation on a day-to-day basis?
I think all of us parents may answer similarly, but my family and my children—who I always put first—are the ones who motivate me to get up every day to learn more than I know right now.
I am constantly interested in learning new things. To me, a software engineer is an eternal student, we must constantly keep up with technology.
What are your career expectations?
I love everything about the testing area, being there and getting my hands dirty. I would eventually like to be a QA Manager or such, maybe even a QA Director, but I understand that is much more demanding.
My next goal is not to be the head of a team, but of two or three teams, looking at the big picture and leading the whole orchestra, being responsible for the team and their success.
I like to lead, even though dealing with people is sometimes difficult because of the different personalities. I have had the chance to work with all kinds of people, from very kind and cool folk, to the opposite. Honing the skills to deal with people is something I’m always working on. Not just to communicate with teams but also with clients.
What do you enjoy most about working remotely?
There are two things above the rest, the first is to avoid traffic. Previously, I had to commute about 45 minutes to an hour and for me, it was a big waste of time.
The second is the comfort of being at home, it is so easy to focus when you need to and take a break when you do as well, if you need to clear your mind it can be as easy as getting up and walking to the kitchen to grab some juice, or check out what the kids are doing, and with that you clear your mind.
How do you spend your time outside of work?
I try to distribute my free time as best as I can, giving time to the family is very important and I have tried to focus more on them in recent years, and during this time of pandemic while we’ve been locked in, I have learned more from them than I ever did before.
I used to work too hard, I was very tired and I hardly saw them. Now at Oceans I am more relaxed, while I still have deadlines and we have a work rhythm to keep up with, I feel that I have more flexibility and better work-life balance.
My biggest hobby is motorcycles, I love them! I have been driving since I was 12 years or so and I currently have two race bikes, on the weekend I spend a little time looking at the engines, doing some repairs and so on. I used to compete with my brother in several bike racing championships, always wanted to compete on a motorbike, but it was too expensive at that time. Believe it or not, I scored a few gold medals.
I also love video games and movies, I don’t play as much as I used to, but I still enjoy watching movies in black and white, my wife makes fun of me because she doesn’t understand what I like so much about them.
Tell us a little more about Bolivia and how you feel sharing with so many Costaricans and other Latin Americans.
It’s the first time I have such a close relationship with people from Costa Rica, it has been a pleasant experience, and I love the ticos’ accent (laughs).
What I can tell you about Bolivia is that—like all countries—it has plenty of good things and some not-so-great ones. Speaking of the positive, we are multicultural, and because we are an Andean country, (I believe) we have most if not all of the biomes in the world. I live In Cochabamba, a very temperate place next to the east of Santa Cruz, close to all the jungle and the Brazil border.
We have a bit of everything, having so many different regions also means every region has different typical foods, culture, and people. I can definitely say a good thing about Bolivia is its variety.
And what I want to meet the most about Costa Rica are its beaches!
