Blog | Informed K12

Engineering Spotlight: Juan Cervantes

Written by Juan Cervantes | Nov 23, 2020 5:25:09 PM

 

What is your title, and how long have you worked here?

I'm on the Engineering team and I’ve been here for 1 year and 5 months.

How did you end up at Informed K12?

I was actually first introduced to Informed K12 as an intern that was a part of CODE2040’s fellows program. Informed K12 ended up being the perfect place for me to grow and learn about what engineering work was all about and so I couldn’t wait to come back after finishing my last year at UCBerkeley. 

What trait makes you good at your job?

I’m a big advocate for the growth mindset and truly believe that we can learn and get good at anything we put our minds to. This manifests at work where I love deep diving into things I find initially uncomfortable. Knowing that I’m gradually developing the necessary skills to get comfortable anywhere in our codebase definitely helps in me jumping from challenge to challenge. 

What’s been the most important thing you’ve learned in your time here?

I’ve learned how to be more intentional with my work. One thing I’ve always appreciated about Informed K12 is having the opportunity to explore our interests. There is tons of work to do and it can be easy to just go with the flow, but here I’m constantly reminded to focus on what’s going to matter to my skill set in the long run. 

What’s the best thing that’s happened to you in the last three days?

I just had one of those days where time flies and I was just having fun tackling some difficult refactoring (sidenote: I think setting my hue lights to change as my music changes might have had something to do with the abnormal levels of concentration).

What is your favorite company/team thing?

For me it’s the empathy and care we have for each other. I appreciate how open everyone is to helping each other out and the importance we hold on making sure everyone is growing. Also, having good bonds with each other definitely does make for some pretty good karaoke duos. 

One thing that surprised you about working here?

I was genuinely surprised by how good everyone is at their job here and how invested everyone is in the work that they do. It really does feel like everyone has something to contribute and having an environment like this opens the door for voices and creativity.

 

Interested in working with Juan? We have a very human and respectful interview process and... We're hiring!