How I did It #2
A conversation with a recent Shopify engineer
Gracias para estar un miembro de GringoJobs, la comunidad de profesionales de la tech de LatAm que quieren aprovechar de ese gran transición al trabajo remoto.
Hoy en How I Did It entrevistamos a Patricio Cano, un dev que vive en Guadalajara y que empezó a trabajar para Shopify hace una semana. Hablamos con él para entender su historia y sus tips para poder lograr lo mismo.
You can connect with Patricio on Twitter and Github.
Tell me about your background
I’m 31 years old. Born and raised in Quito, Ecuador. I always had a passion for tech and often would enjoy taking electronics apart and putting them back together again (such as VCRs). I studied in the German High School of Quito, which exposed me to the German language and culture. I had the opportunity to actually study in Germany for University, and I went to Stuttgart.
That is a unique experience! What did you study in Germany?
I started at the University of Stuttgart in Electrical Engineering, and then moved to “Applied Sciences” at a more hands-on university over there. Germany places a lot of emphasis on hands-on education and all the professors came from the professional world. I graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science.
What happened after you graduated?
I actually had a hard time finding a job. I really wanted to focus on Ruby on Rails but there were not very many local opportunities and I did not want to move to Berlin. So I ended up moving back to Ecuador. I found a job before I moved back. The company was an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) company based in Quito. The tech stack was PHP and they had a ton of technical debt. They told me they were going to rebuild it in Ruby, but that was not the case. So I quit and began looking for a remote job as Ecuador did not have a ton of opportunities at the time.
How was that process?
I actually found a great opportunity in Gitlab, the devops tool. At the time they were very small, with a team of 8. The founders were in the Ukraine and the Netherlands. I had used Gitlab at the company where I did my University mandated internship, so I knew about the open source project, but I didn’t know it was backed by a company. It was a very organic transition - I had a few interviews with the founders and they gave me a job. To be honest, I also think that my German degree was helpful, as it made me stand out.
How was your first remote experience?
Overall very good. Most of the team was in Europe so they moved their standup to the afternoon so I could be there in the morning. I was paid like a contractor and did my local taxes in Ecuador. They would just wire me money, old school. Ecuador is dolarized, so there was no local currency risk.
Because I was remote, I also moved to Mexico without too many issues. My wife is Mexican/Ecuadorian, and always wanted to live in Mexico. So it was easy for me to make the move.
Would you try to go back to non-remote?
I actually did! After 2.5 years at Gitlab I worked at a local CDMX startup called Easybrokers. The job was good but the commute was so brutal that it was not worth it. I decided to look for another remote job. Also the pay was a lot lower than what I could get working for a US company.
So how did you find a remote job now that you were in Mexico?
I went on Weworkremotely and looked for opportunities. I was being fairly selective and wanted something that was Ruby on Rails focused. Many of the opportunities were labeled “US remote only” which was sort of annoying. But there were enough international remote options too. I ended up getting a job at Replay Gaming, a non-gambling online poker site.
Was it a lot easier with your Gitlab experience?
Yes, I’ll admit that my previous experience with Gitlab was helpful to get my foot in the door, but just for the initial interview process.
What do you hate about interviews?
I often find them very cumbersome. I especially dislike “gotcha” style trick questions. They don’t allow me to display my skills that are relevant to the job. Another thing that is challenging is take home assignments. They often take upwards of 8 hours to complete, and it's just too difficult to do that when you have another full time job. For me, the best interviews are the ones that involve pair programming where you are given a relevant problem to solve.
So let’s talk about Shopify. How did you get in there?
So after Replay Gaming, I had another job at a consultancy called Panda Strike who worked with Disney. With Covid, all the contracts stopped and I was on the job market. I noticed via Twitter that somebody got a job with Shopify in Germany, and then I read that Tobi (the CEO of Shopify) had opened up hiring to “all remote”. I decided to apply.
2 weeks after sending my resume over, I got a response from them. They wanted to interview. The interview itself was great. No trick questions, no algo stuff, no take home. If you want to see how they interview, you can check out this link.
I started last week and I’m paid as a contractor. So far so good!
What sort of advice could you give to someone who might be earlier in your career than you?
Let me start by saying that, while it sounds like something really hard to achieve, higher education in Germany is free, even for foreigners. You only have to pay administrative fees of less than 200 Euros each semester. So it is a lot cheaper to study in Germany than in the US. It can even be cheaper than studying in Mexico, depending on where you study here. If you are looking into Universities for your Bachelors or Masters degree, you should definitely consider Germany as an option.
Other than that, know your value and core strengths. Think of your experience as being T-shaped. You have general knowledge about various types of technology at the top, but are able to go very deep in one specific area. Really become an expert in that area, and market yourself as an expert. I recommend your GitHub profile as a place to focus, but don’t fill it up with a bunch of random tutorial projects. Contribute to open source, or even try to recreate some tool you like.
Also know your value money-wise. Go on sites like levels.fyi and Glassdoor. It will help you get a frame of reference for salaries, not just at the company you are applying, but the overall industry. With Levels you can also compare salaries at different experience levels, and they include verified full compensation packages.
If somebody does not have the benefit of a German university, what other stuff can they do to stand out from the crowd?
Do something interesting, and write about what you did. It helps you solidify your knowledge and allows others to discover and connect with you. A good place to do this is The Practical Dev.
Plant seeds. GitLab ended up becoming very successful, but when I joined there were just 8 people. You don’t know how things will go, but if you try a few different things you increase your chances. Joining such an early startup has its drawbacks, though. You are paid less, have to do more, and the chances of the company not making it are pretty high. So keep that in mind if you decide to join an early stage startup.
Build value before you ask for a job. Many companies have open source projects, and you can contribute to them. That will help you connect with engineers there, and learn about how they work. You can also go on Linkedin and connect with people in the company. Just don’t ask immediately for a job. Ask questions, help out, build relationships. If you do all that, it will help you get your foot in the door much easier.
That’s all folks! Thanks for giving me your precious time and attention. Follow me @GeorgesJanin and @GringoJobs on Twitter. I’d love to hear your feedback.
Peace and Jobs,
Georges