Daniel Astullido ‘21 is a double major in CO2022 mathematics and computer science. Being a first-generation immigrant, Daniel has worked extremely hard throughout his life! Hailing from New York City, Daniel now lives in Miami, Florida as he works for Visa! Being a naturally curious person who is unafraid of failure, Daniel is a fantastic fit for his position as a software engineer. For those interested in careers in STEM, read more about Daniel’s experience below:
What does an average day on the job look like for you?
“The mornings start slow, but I usually try to get to the office by 9:30 am.”
A normal work day for Daniel starts early, but could also end early! As a backend software engineer, Daniel is expected to be flexible and experimental. Much of his work involves testing and developing new technologies and features. Working in a team of around 16 other developers, he has a super tight-knit team. The vibes are all around pretty great with his team and office (i.e. everyone is fluent with Spanish in the office – so sometimes they would just talk in Spanish over English!). Within this team, Daniel needs to stay up-to-date with his coworkers (and his coworkers need to stay up to date with him). The team meets briefly each day to catch up and review each other’s codes and algorithms before continuing development. There is a BIG theme of teamwork in the office – and this applies to senior employees as well! Daniel meets with senior employees that mentored him throughout his onboarding process every other week, even though he has completed his integration into the company. They check up on each other and make sure they can get feedback. Even when Daniel makes a mistake, or when things don’t work, he can count on his team to help him work through the obstacles and learn from them!
How would you describe the cadence of your work, the work life balance, do you enjoy it or is it a challenge?
“At times, as an entry level engineer, there’s a ton of learning we have to do. We are expected to be adaptable and versatile (though this is pretty specific to my role. In other positions, there is a set language like Java that would be your “speciality”). But for me, I do a lot of self learning and research and reaching out to senior VISA employees across the world (Dubai, London ,etc.) to coordinate with them to finish the assignment. At times, the work-life balance has been on the edge. It’s been a bit stressful, but I would say overall I’ve been able to make it happen. I have had time for myself, sleep, get myself organized, and figure things out.”
A natural part of Daniel’s job is experimenting and learning – and sometimes, he would need to do research outside of the office to better prepare himself for the next day of work. In other words, Daniel is a super hard worker and is always on the grind! Despite that, Daniel is pretty satisfied with his work-life balance. It’s not always easy work – but it is extremely rewarding, and once Daniel got the hang of things, he has been able to find time for himself within his work.
How did CS at Williams prepare you for your job?
“CS at Williams is very theoretical. There’s a HUGE focus on algorithms and algorithmic education and that is key. For me, algorithms was one of the hardest courses I’ve ever taken. When I went through algorithms, I was expected and forced to network with peers, go to TA sessions, and that’s when I really learned to embrace the struggle and not be afraid of asking questions. And so for me: going into the industry fresh out of undergrad had a lot of adjustment and learning. Prior to my position, I didn’t know how .net worked so I had to fully pick that up.”
While Daniel had to do a lot of learning on the job for his company-specific software and designs, the CS program at Williams had prepared him for the industry in other ways. Namely: being able to collaborate and ask more experienced coders for help.