Episode Information
Show Notes
Episode Description:
In this captivating episode of Career Downloads, host Manuel Martinez sits down with Jose Esparza, an IT professional who shares his inspiring journey from Mexico to the United States and his rise through the tech industry. Discover how Jose’s passion for video games led him to a successful career in IT, and learn valuable insights for your own professional growth.
Show Notes:
Introduction to Jose Esparza and his background
Jose’s move from Mexico to Southern California at age 14
How video games sparked Jose’s interest in technology
Early experiences with CCNA classes and computer electives in high school
Attending DeVry University and pivoting from coding to system administration
First IT job: Building servers from scratch
Transitioning to Help Desk roles and developing critical thinking skills
Moving up to Level 2 support and gaining technical depth
Challenges and rewards of working for a managed service provider
Transitioning to enterprise-level IT and managing thousands of users
The importance of communication skills in IT
Learning to share knowledge and help others grow
Balancing work-life and valuing time in one’s career
Overcoming shyness and cultural barriers in the workplace
The power of positivity and helpfulness in career growth
Key Takeaways:
Embrace challenges and continuous learning to advance your IT career
Develop strong communication skills to complement your technical expertise
Share knowledge with colleagues to foster a collaborative work environment
Maintain a positive attitude and helpful demeanor to open new opportunities
Balance work responsibilities with personal life for long-term career satisfaction
Featured Guest: Jose Esparza
Connect with Jose on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/esparzajose/
Resources Mentioned:
CCNA certification
DeVry University
Call-to-Action:
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Transcription
Manuel: Welcome everybody. So my name is Manuel Martinez and this is another episode of Career Downloads where each episode I basically hit the refresh button, bring on a different guest to really understand a little bit more about their background, their job history, any tips and tricks that they may have picked up along the way that they’re willing to share and just understand how they navigated through their career and how they continue to do that now. So for today, I have with me Jose Esparza. So we worked together for a little while. I obviously know a little bit about his background, so we’re going to kind of touch in to that and there’s a couple topics that I really want to make sure to discuss. So with that, thanks for coming Jose.
Jose: Yeah, thank you for having me.
Manuel: Appreciate it.
Jose: It’s been, you know, I’ve known you for a bit and with me being new to Vegas, I enjoyed getting to know you and you showed me a little bit more about the area and really the profession out here, which is tech, IT, given that you’ve been out here for quite some time.
Manuel: Yeah, I mean born and raised, so I would say it’s been a little while.
Jose: Yeah.
Manuel: Yeah,