Back to School

Continuing in my path to achieve my main goal of become a CIO and as a Computer Science Engineer I'm aware that is very helpful to have a master's degree, that's why one of my goals of being here in the US is to continue my studies and pursue a MBA.

Why MBA?

Well, the answer is simple, as a CIO everything is about management (right?), even if I don't have a terrible technical background, is harder to get a position like that without more "people skills".

In this context, I decided to start the enrollment process in an university. It's a hard process, and even more if you come from a different education system. For example grades are from 0-100 and not from 0 to 4, transcripts come with a security seal and not in a close envelope send it directly from the school, etc.

Those who are familiar with the admission process won't allow me to lie about how hard is the admission test. It took me three months to be ready to take the famous GMAT admission test. What do you do in this time? simple, no other activity than study (including stop writing posts).

To make this sorter, I got accepted in the school and now I'm taking classes.

I'll be posting interesting anecdotes about how this is going. It seems like I still have a long way to go.

No pain, no gain

We have heard a lot about sacrifice; "no pain, no gain", "things have a cost" are ideas that adults inculcate us since we are kids and we can see them everywhere, in the job, the school, the church.

The fact is, What are you willing to sacrifice in order to get what you want?

It's not an easy question and is even harder to get a answer to it; your family, friends, money, job or whatever you feel it's important for you.

Some people just ran for a dream, an idea, an ambition; and what they got back? desperation, loneliness, sadness or some other hard feeling.

Are they really successful people? men and women that do what they want in that specific time of their lives, but when they are finally there... in that dream job position, dream house, dream liberty, they just begin to wonder about situations, moments, people from other places, other times.

Of course there is a lot of really successful people because they found what they wanted in that new life, that's great, that means they found the balance in their life or just they felt better in that way.

From my short experience I think you have to be ambitious, but, before you run for that ambition you have to look inside of you and see how much you have to take away from your life, if that really doesn't matter then you are good to go. But it is worthless claim to be happy with something that makes us unhappy.

More responsibility implies more sacrifice, but also more satisfactions, Are those satisfactions enough to fill the sacrifice?

I'm not the richest person in the world, not even in my workplace or the building where I live, but I'm happy with my life, of course with ambitions, and I'm working to reach them, I'm ready to take my chance, even with the sacrifices that implies.

Maybe at the end the success could be measured in: What you are willing to do to get back? if is not too late.

Big Companies Recognition

Companies are looking for talented people who don't be afraid to show their capabilities, what they know and what they can do. One question jumps into my head, How you keep the recruiter eyes into your resume while you're competing, probably with hundreds, for a certain job position?

I believe that when you want to surprise a company you need to do something especial, now a days is not enough to have a university degree level to be considerate as a candidate in a high level position (exceptions occurs). Knowing that, I decided to enroll myself with my team in the Imagine Cup contest, sponsored by Microsoft, in Software Design category.

I think that the most important aspect that our team gained with the contest was, the learning of the experience(and not vice versa), just because you can learn all the theory that you want and need in the class room, but it's really different when you go out of your school and try to reach one shared goal with your team. Differences came out, discussions, troubles trying to define and coordinate ways to accomplish targets, enough time to stay with your family and friends and maybe the most important: understand and accept the fact... you will not have a life until you get done.

At the end, What you got? the personal experience and the recognition of one of the biggest companies (software related) in the world. You can add the reference in your resume, for some companies that could be very impressive!, but, for sure, you know you have the knowledge and you can add one more capability to your life.



Yes, we won the national contest and we represented México in the international round (Yokohama, Japan 2005). We recognize and don't forget all the people behind us, invisible people which in one way or another help us to make that happen.

Big Fish, Small Pond

Six months before graduate I was looking for a new job, suddenly I received a great offer (better than expected considering that I was about to graduate) from a small company that made systems for government with headquarters in México City and a small office in Tijuana; of course I took the Web Developer position and immediately started with training and then "hands on".

I was fast gaining recognition inside the company; one day my boss (one of the partners of the company) said - we have big plans for you inside this company - I felt important, somebody was taking my job seriously.

Four months later I receive a message in my chat window, it was from an old friend from school: "we have an opening position in our company in the US, are you interested?". I got in shock, I could not believe it, my child dream was about to become true.

I couldn't stop thinking about my new dilemma, stay where I was or move to this new position in a new country, new culture, new language, new life style. I asked to my family and friends without taking a decision until a friend told me - you may take the risk... otherwise in the future you will say yourself: what would have happened just if..., go for this challenge because remember: it's better to be a small fish inside a big pond instead a big fish inside a small pond -.

Some people may agree, some others may not, the fact is that I'm here, taking the risk, taking the change, trying to grow up until become a big fish into this big pond.

From the bottom

As everyone who wants to have a good position on any big company, I didn't want to start from the bottom. Obviously I wanted to start been at least a Project Manager (why not...? in Google), sit in my super comfortable chair and tell everybody what to do and some times how to do it.

It wasn't like that. Let me tell you, my first job was in a high school, inside a small room making paper photocopies for teachers and students. Fifty cents of a peso (like five cents of a dollar) was the cost for a letter size sheet copy, and my salary was four hundred pesos (like forty dollars) per week; every Friday my manager asked me for the earnings, he use to took my salary from those coins that I had collected through the week and gave them to me.

Nothing related with computers until my second job, Computer Systems Developer in the university where I studied. It is a private school and very expensive, but the money wasn't a problem for me because I got a full scholarship for been an employee, so, thanks to that I could start my carrier, Computer Science Engineering. It was very helpful for me to learn in the school room and practice what I had learned in the office, next building.

Start sharing a dream

Everything begins with a start dream. In my life I've been collecting experiences and reaching goals that helped my to be where I am; right in front of a monitor in some office in LA, working to make true that dream. To be a CIO.

As same as many others, I want to share those experiences and show how is life here... in the other side.