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Shelley: Social Worker to Data Analyst at The New School
25 Plays4 months ago
Shelley Cervantes is a Data Analyst at The New School. Before completing the Springboard Data Analyst certificate in 2022, Shelley worked as an Administrative and Special Projects Liaison in social work.
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Transcript
Introduction to Shelly Cervantes
00:00:15
springboard
Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining Live After Tech Bootcamp, another Wednesday, another episode. Last week we talked to an awesome UX mentor who really works with designers to get their portfolios up to speed and get their dream jobs. I highly recommend listening to the episode, but today we're going to switch gears and go back to talking to another amazing alum who graduated from a different program. And I'm excited to introduce to you today Shelly Cervantes. She is a ah data scientist at the new school. Before completing the springboard data analytics certificate in 2022, Shelly worked as an administrative and special projects liaison in social work. Hi Shelly, how are you today?
00:01:01
Shelley Cervantes
I'm good. I'm good. How are you?
00:01:04
springboard
Great. And you shared some exciting news earlier. You moved to Seattle not too long ago after living in New York City all of your life.
From Social Work to Data Analytics
00:01:14
Shelley Cervantes
Yeah, it's I just felt like I needed a change of pace and it's been working out so far. I've been really working out my calves. I mean those hills are a killer.
00:01:25
springboard
Oh my gosh, yes. So for those who weren't privy to our conversation, why would you be? That would be weird. Yeah, I'm a big runner and I ran in Seattle. I did a race there and the hills killed me, which is I think the one reason I couldn't live there. If I can't go for a run, I don't know, but otherwise I love Seattle.
00:01:46
Shelley Cervantes
ah You know what's interesting about the hills is that like one block, you'll see the hill and then the next block over. yeah yeah and So um check out the next block if you see that hill and you're like, no way.
00:02:02
springboard
Oh my gosh. So what prompted you to make the move? Was it the job you got that moved you there or like why Seattle?
00:02:11
Shelley Cervantes
Uh, no, um, it, my husband wanted definitely the change of pace and I, I agreed with him.
Burnout and the Springboard Journey
00:02:19
Shelley Cervantes
Um, and so, you know, for me, I've been, I lived in the West a little bit, um, Indiana, Michigan, all those nice little places. And so I was like, you know, I'm less picky than you. So it was either that or, or DC. So he was like, you know what, let's let's go here. I was like, okay.
00:02:40
springboard
Yeah, yeah, I would go to Seattle over DC, I think. No hate to DC, there's so much to do there, but I feel like Seattle has a little bit of everything and it's kind of, I don't know, it was just, and there's something about Seattle, I just really like it.
00:02:57
springboard
Well, let's talk about what happened before you moved to Seattle, before you got your new job. um What was going on? You were working in social work, which I've known some social workers and I know they work really, really hard. And like, that's got to be a tough job. Or correct me if I'm wrong, but what what was going on in life?
00:03:17
Shelley Cervantes
Sure, so I had been working at the Administration for Children's Services in New York's ah senior new york city agency. I started off as a child protective specialist specifically within the Office of Special Investigations, so um I investigated first um foster care and then eventually moved to a daycare unit where I did daycare stuff, daycare investigation, shall I say, and then ultimately I think
00:03:52
Shelley Cervantes
It was interesting because they had a specific problem within ah that specific department or division um and that is they had an issue with templates and keeping everyone on the same template for Word document. And prior to the job I had, I was working at New York Carers as a program manager, essentially. And I was exposed to all these different tools and everything like that.
00:04:21
springboard
Thank
00:04:25
Shelley Cervantes
And I was like, why don't you just do content control on that thing? And so I think I spent maybe overnight, I was like, spun that up and then gave it to them and they were like, hey, try this. And they liked it. And eventually I got promoted to a position
00:04:41
springboard
you.
Mentorship and Learning at Springboard
00:04:44
Shelley Cervantes
where essentially I was doing a lot of data oriented stuff at that organization.
00:04:51
Shelley Cervantes
ah You know, they didn't have a lot of people with technical expertise and I meant like, you know, do making a table in Excel. Uh, what we would consider it to be like very basic things, but like, you know, it's just that, uh, their pool was, uh, it wasn't as, as varied like that. Um, I just happened to be the, uh, ball. Uh, and so that that's how I kinda like was like, okay, got into somewhat making tables and a lot of tracking and all that stuff. And then eventually I was like, you know what?
00:05:31
Shelley Cervantes
A lot of times, when I keep on saying things, people don't really, and not that they don't listen, but like they don't have as much weight to it until I go, all right, let me pull the data and can give it to you.
00:05:34
springboard
Bye.
00:05:48
Shelley Cervantes
And then they go, oh. you know So that's what made me go, all right, there's something with data here that I need to look
Embracing Failure as Growth
00:05:55
Shelley Cervantes
into. And when I was talking to my husband, he's like, oh, maybe you should study data analytics. and um ended up ah going for springboard so yeah and that's that's the arc of my career um very very strange one but here I am
00:06:13
springboard
Yeah, but strange or it's it's a story. Nonetheless, i it seems like data in that interest just sort of fell into your lap. did Was there something about the data? It was just something you wanted to pursue or were you looking to change your job? um What kind of inspired you know what inspired you to take that extra step to start studying something more seriously?
00:06:42
Shelley Cervantes
Oh, yeah, sure. So, i yeah, I was definitely burned out at my current job. I mean, even though I wasn't doing, um like, ah ah groundwork, like, you know, on the ground investigations, I felt like when it comes to, you know, creating tables and all that kind of stuff, I felt like I was the best I was going to be, not to toot my own horn, but I was the only person that was doing that kind of stuff.
Job Hunt Challenges and Lessons
00:07:10
Shelley Cervantes
And I felt like I prefer to be ah the person who's learning, not the person who's teaching, not that I can't teach, but like I prefer there to be more collaborative atmosphere, as opposed to more
00:07:28
Shelley Cervantes
Dictative atmosphere and so that's where I was like, okay um and When the pandemic hit and That's when a lot of the change agent comes in almost like okay.
00:07:30
springboard
Yeah.
00:07:40
Shelley Cervantes
I'm at home um I I have some extra time. I think I can dedicate it to ah sp springy spring but before I did springboard I I think on a whim, I decided to study Python and it was kind of fun. so And then when I did springboard, I was like, okay, fantastic, you know, learning all this Python stuff and SQL and all that stuff. And I was just, yeah, I i was just tired and i didn't I didn't want to continue to pursue this path. um And I felt like there were more possibilities yeah um with data analytics.
00:08:22
springboard
Certainly. So what made you think a bootcamp was the right choice for this, or did you, did you have a goal in mind or were you just thinking, I want to explore data analytics? Like this is what I'm interested in. Let's do it and go from there.
00:08:38
Shelley Cervantes
Sure. So I you know had graduated college and it was like $30,000 worth of debt and
00:08:46
springboard
you
00:08:46
Shelley Cervantes
I had an unfortunate situation occur to me, which is that I essentially became homeless for about six months. um And during that time, I had remember calling my student loan servicer and
Securing a Position at the New School
00:09:00
Shelley Cervantes
going, I can't pay this right now because I'm going through this tough situation. And they said essentially, OK, well, put those payments on the hold for you. but you don't qualify. I forgot what the term is, but qualify for the one where it doesn't accrue interest.
00:09:17
Shelley Cervantes
So essentially, while I'm homeless, the interest all is accruing and will eventually capitalize at the end of it.
00:09:18
springboard
at all
00:09:26
Shelley Cervantes
And you know I just felt like I was essentially, pardon of my French here, but I felt like I was being screwed over because I'm going through this difficult time.
00:09:35
springboard
you
00:09:38
Shelley Cervantes
And from there, soured for me the idea of this conventional education.
00:09:44
springboard
Oh, no.
00:09:44
Shelley Cervantes
um Not that there was anything wrong with that, um because you know I still trust doctors with degrees, I still would go to lawyers with degrees. um But I felt like you know ah with the rise of ah boot camps like General Assembly, Springboard, you know with those and actual results, um that do occur, and not only that, for Springboard and some other boot camps as well, they're confident enough to say, hey, we'll give you a gunt job guarantee at the end. I thought that was a great deal. I was like, sure. You know what? If my college had a job guarantee as well, I wouldn't, ah I would totally be 100% on board with that. And so um all those different factors, you know, in mind, it made me go, okay,
00:10:37
Shelley Cervantes
I think it's time. So um yeah, that's when I was like, I think I prefer a boot camp over over studying conventionally. But there's nothing wrong with it. But i I felt like it wasn't for me at that point in my life.
00:10:56
springboard
Sure, yeah, I that all makes complete sense. And in some ways, like, that sounds horrible. And I'm so sorry you get to go through that. um That being said, it sounds like in some ways, it was a bit of a light at the end of the tunnel, like something to like, perhaps give you hope.
00:11:16
Shelley Cervantes
um yeah absolutely
00:11:16
springboard
Yeah.
00:11:19
springboard
Yeah. I mean, gosh. Well, okay. So you're in the bootcamp. Um, and I know before you said that your mentor was just wonderful. Um, so it sounds like he was a really great. Guiding point. Was there anything within the course that, you know, particularly stuck out to you that you're using now and applying? I know springboard's
Aspirations and Experiences at the New School
00:11:40
springboard
pretty good at teaching you relevant stuff, probably like too much stuff because I only use some of what I learned there.
00:11:42
Shelley Cervantes
Oh yeah, absolutely.
00:11:46
springboard
at my job now, but yeah, like what what was your experience like in the course?
00:11:52
Shelley Cervantes
Sure. So, um, it went pretty well. I, you know, there were some stuff I had already known. I like, we look up, I used to, I still do it all the time, like intuitively.
00:12:01
springboard
Yeah.
00:12:06
Shelley Cervantes
I don't need to think about the formula. I just do it. I really love an index match. Um, but, um, And, ah there you know, I remember trying to use xlookup on my job at my job, and I realized I had the wrong version number of Excel. And so just like a little, a little inside knowledge for all those, you know, data oriented to people, anyone who works with the Excel spreadsheet is like, you need to be 2019. And later, my job didn't have that. But anyway, so, um, all of those
00:12:41
Shelley Cervantes
things I really felt like as I was learning them, I had like these flashbacks of like, Oh, I can use this or I could use that. And so I was very excited, but also kind of frustrated by the limitations. I mean, everyone has limitations in the workplace, but especially when it comes to the software being used and the capabilities. And so I'd have to do work around around those. But I felt like the best aspect of the course for me was definitely um a combination of like real world application and
00:13:20
Shelley Cervantes
The other half of it is when I had done those like capstones and presented them, there was this one person I i forgot his name already. He was fantastic. I mean, he was fantastic because he was hard on me. And he had actually failed me once.
00:13:38
springboard
yeah I miss that. He actually did what?
00:13:41
Shelley Cervantes
Sure, he he failed me once. um
00:13:43
springboard
Oh, he failed you. Yeah, that that happens.
00:13:45
Shelley Cervantes
and
00:13:46
springboard
I failed one or two things too.
00:13:49
Shelley Cervantes
And to be honest, we there was a bit of a conflict, but like not enough to be like, you know I'm going to quit this. No, it's just to be to make you know you better.
00:13:58
springboard
Yeah.
00:14:02
Shelley Cervantes
And so um you know there I think at the time, I think i believe the course has changed and and is better now. But at the time, they didn't emphasize presentation as much as they ah could have and so that was the piece that I was lacking but upon his feedback I was able to redo it and I picked him again and I was like okay you're gonna fail me I want to see if this checks all your marks and I was able to pass and I was like yes and so um yeah so that just being able to do that that I took away with that I'm like
00:14:44
Shelley Cervantes
that is fantastic. it It just marries everything together perfectly. So that that was highly rewarding.
00:14:52
springboard
Yeah, oh my gosh, I know. i I don't know if you feel the same way, but i whenever I like fail something, I feel like like I just feel really bad about myself, but then I always like, I give myself 30 minutes to be annoyed and like frustrated at myself, but then I pull myself out of it. I'm like, all right, what can I do to not do that ever again? ah What was your mindset in that moment?
00:15:22
Shelley Cervantes
I always so hope that I'm well at work i'm ah I always ah say I hope I'm wrong you know because to me I always consider a failure that's the highest point of learning you know because um If you get everything right all the time, to me, that's no fun. Where's the learning in that if you get everything right all the time? And failure, it's like you feel it personally.
00:15:56
springboard
Good one.
00:15:58
Shelley Cervantes
That's why it's called failure. And that is the change agent enough for learning, because then I feel like then you start really absorbing the learning. So that's, yeah. Of course, I don't want to fail all the time.
00:16:15
springboard
That would be awful.
00:16:16
Shelley Cervantes
ah but ah But you know just having a good mix of, hey, I failed, but now this time around, am I getting this right? you know Am I getting this, or am I going the complete opposite direction? you know and so that just where I got the affirmation of, yeah, yeah, absolutely. And you're getting this. I was like, okay, it's good. One foot in front of the other. So um um i feel I feel good about that.
00:16:51
springboard
Yeah, and to your point on the highest point of learning, yeah, I found like, ah I was specifically remember, it was a presentation I had to give like, they did not pass me on. And I thought I was just like, I am not good at public speaking, I haven't done it in years. And then I'm sitting at on my couch in the pandemic doing this, so I'm not really speaking to anyone at all. um But it made me really look into public speaking and how to give a presentation and failing that made me actually, it made me more confident now to host a podcast. So to your point, it I definitely learned something out of it.
00:17:35
Shelley Cervantes
Yeah, it's it's it's highly rewarding. Yeah to to to fail sometimes.
00:17:42
springboard
Right. And it's kind of a choice on your attitude. I feel like I think someone can choose to quit if they failed or they can choose to figure out a new way. So failure, even though it is kind of personal, I guess it is on the person to decide what they want.
00:18:01
Shelley Cervantes
Yeah, is it worth it you know ah to to go through this failure? What's at the other side of it? you know um if it's If you think it's worth it, then yeah, it's worth a ah few battle scars.
00:18:08
springboard
Right.
00:18:14
Shelley Cervantes
As a matter of fact, some folks respect you more that way, right? so
00:18:18
springboard
i've I've heard that. um I was just talking to another guest about this, but a book I'm reading, I don't know if you like books. They're my favorite thing ever.
Responsibilities in Data Analytics
00:18:27
springboard
But it's called Think Again by Adam Grant. And it's really about retraining your brain on how to fail gracefully and be excited about being wrong, because it's an opportunity to learn just like you said. So putting and that out there into the universe. This book, it hasn't changed my life, but it's been a fascinating read. And there was in that book a study that's, because it's all science-based, because he's a social scientist. um And he was saying that like people tend to respect others who can admit fault in their work or a admit gracefully their failures. So you're onto something, Shelly.
00:19:10
Shelley Cervantes
good I am excited to work for people who not only embrace their own failures, but also want to improve upon them, like be better.
00:19:19
springboard
Yeah.
00:19:21
Shelley Cervantes
So I've met people who will not admit fault. And that then becomes a barrier, you know, for progress, you know, just inertly based on their level of position. so you know and everyone is kind of like forced to work around that somehow you know um and i'm always trying to do like a mental jujitsu you know how can i trick this person into thinking this is their idea then you know but um but uh yeah that's where i'm like okay i i think um
00:19:53
springboard
Yeah.
00:20:00
Shelley Cervantes
i it's It's hard to, you know, when you're interviewing for jobs to really suss out that kind of personality, but, um you know, yeah.
00:20:11
springboard
It is tough. Yeah, that's definitely tough. That's definitely a question I had when I started interviewing. So but speaking of interviews, like in after you ah conquered your failures, you did finish the course and you were on the job hunt and you were, I'm guessing you're aiming, like let's talk about what what the job hunt was like for you. um I know like looking for a job is never easy. I don't think anyone's ever said finding a job was easy. So is that, was that your case or did you just get the first job you applied to?
00:20:45
Shelley Cervantes
No, I had a ah bunch of failures. As a matter of fact, there's one that just really sticks out to me. and And the reason is because I had applied applied for jobs while, of course, still taking the course.
00:20:53
springboard
Yeah.
00:20:59
Shelley Cervantes
And I was given a question by a data scientist. I ah specifically recall the job. It was for Latisha James's office. She's the New York Attorney General.
00:21:14
springboard
yeah
00:21:14
Shelley Cervantes
um They had a data analyst position specifically that looks into like housing loans and all that stuff. It was part of Like, it was a bit of a contract, but I thought it was great because it really married data analytics and investigations very well, which I you know i had a great background in.
00:21:25
springboard
yeah
00:21:32
Shelley Cervantes
And so everything, like I had passed the first round and gone to the second round where a data scientist was on board. And I was like, oh, dang, I better get my egg in this one. Because it's like, it's one thing to talk to a recruiter, it's another thing to talk to someone with technical knowledge.
00:21:48
springboard
Yeah. Hmm.
00:21:50
Shelley Cervantes
So what happened was she asked a very simple question and I fumbled it. And the question was, what is the difference between a mean and a median? So if you you have someone with a high average and a low median, like an organization with a high average of like loans, let's say, and but a low median ah when ah when it comes to loans, like what does that mean? I fumbled the answer. And then a week later I learned it and I had not forgotten.
00:22:23
Shelley Cervantes
It's like seared into my memory. And the answer is that what averages do is they kind of converse towards extremes, outliers. And so what a median is, it's the middle number.
00:22:36
springboard
Mm hmm. Mm hmm.
00:22:38
Shelley Cervantes
Take everything, it's the middle number. And so if an organization is giving out a loan and it's it the average is high, but the median is low, that means They're giving someone ah maybe one, maybe two, you know, a group of people a lot of money and the rest on the lower end.
00:22:58
springboard
Mm.
00:22:59
Shelley Cervantes
um So, you know, but now every time I look at a study, I'm like, okay, you're giving me the average, but what's the median? I want to see both.
00:23:07
springboard
Yeah.
00:23:08
Shelley Cervantes
And so, yeah, I've not forgotten that. Um, but maybe all for the better, cause that was a contract eight months positions. I was like, you know what, there's pros and cons to everything. That's where and that's one failure. I was like seared into my mind, but that, that was very early on, but I had been getting callbacks every week. Luckily. You know, I knew about the car and star interviewing techniques. Uh, and so, um, and I know I tend to ramble.
00:23:40
Shelley Cervantes
which is why I'm doing this podcast because I'm rambling.
00:23:43
springboard
The opportunity to ramble.
00:23:44
Shelley Cervantes
and um by And so, but um essentially, I had been getting interviews every week.
00:23:47
springboard
Y'all know why you're here. I'm just kidding.
00:23:57
Shelley Cervantes
And then I think it was a couple months after I had graduated. I ended up having getting two competing offers, ah which I am very fortunate to have never had that in my life. um And one of them, which is for my current position as a data analyst with the new school, and the other one, I forgot the company, but
00:24:11
springboard
Thank
00:24:20
Shelley Cervantes
they were bought out by TransUnion. They were like an analytics type of company. And I had went through like six, seven rounds within like a two week period.
00:24:31
springboard
you.
00:24:33
Shelley Cervantes
um And they had offered me the position. And I think what really made me decide, I did talk to my mentor, Chris Young about it, but ah ultimately what made me decide upon it was when I asked them a simple question, both of them about work-life balance. And for the people within who worked for the company under TransUnion, the people who were going to be my boss and colleagues, when I asked them that question, they shifted in their seats, which they had not done before. And I was like, oh.
00:25:11
Shelley Cervantes
okay. That is not a good thing. Their answer was, hey, you know, if you overworked, you know, there's sometimes you may overworked, like, as in, like, we may, to get something done, may want want to put in those hours, but the week after, you know, you can take off.
00:25:18
springboard
Yeah.
00:25:29
Shelley Cervantes
I was like, interesting. But whereas this other, this current organization I am in right now, they were like, So I We have some people in our organization who have kids and pick up their kids and all that stuff. And I was like, okay, at yeah i I want a work-life balance.
00:25:56
springboard
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think most people do these days. I don't want to speak for everyone. I'm sure there are some people who do want to be workaholics, but yeah, I think most people want to do their jobs for the most part well and put effort into it, but it's not our whole lives. So that's interesting how the other company answered it, but I do kind of respect that answer in a way. Like they were honest, like it does sound like you would be It might be like 60% work, 40% life at the other company. Whereas at your current company, the new school sounds very 50-50.
00:26:31
Shelley Cervantes
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
00:26:34
springboard
Yeah. So what was the interview process like for getting your job at the new school?
00:26:39
Shelley Cervantes
Sure. um I had, I did not have any connections. I know a lot of times I'm like, hey, connect and somebody will, this is, ah I had just applied um and they reached back out to me. um I read the job description and I specifically recall them hinting that they were like transitioning data wise.
00:27:04
springboard
you
00:27:05
Shelley Cervantes
And so ah I spoke to, I think essentially our senior vice president's assistant and then ended up like a panel interview, almost, where it's like a bunch of people and they all ask different questions in different scenarios. um And someone had specifically referenced um something I had put on Tableau with Public.
00:27:42
Shelley Cervantes
And so I was like thinking two things. I was like, people do click on links and in resume. It's interesting. And then the other thing I thought was, OK, not everyone's going to know on this call. but So let me quickly summarize. And then I was able to ah speak to everybody. and um do a little research on everybody else. And then I think after that, I had an interview with someone who is now my boss, um Jenna, and then I was supposed to interview with the senior vice president, um but I had informed her that, you know, I'm on a time schedule and I have a competing offer. So, so she hurried up and said, okay, just give me your references. And so, yeah, that
00:28:33
Shelley Cervantes
I lucked out in that one. um Yeah, so that that that was was my process.
00:28:40
springboard
Yeah, it sounds like the ball was really in your court, too. Or maybe that's not the right saying, but it sounded like you had a lot of power in this, which is exciting. You had two offers. They both really liked you. You kind of had, like this is when the world was kind of your oyster in a way.
00:28:59
Shelley Cervantes
Yeah, which I never thought it would happen to me, because I would hear these things and be like, well, that's nice for you.
00:29:08
springboard
ah
00:29:08
Shelley Cervantes
But that little that I know, it happened to me. And I was like, what do I do? They all seem just fine.
00:29:15
springboard
I don't like why are these like, why are these like good problems like good first world problems to have? like
00:29:21
Shelley Cervantes
Yeah, right? And so, but I felt very published at that moment. I was like, either which way?
00:29:27
springboard
Yeah. I mean, it sounds like you had just worked incredibly hard. And you know, obviously, it's definitely on the individual, but it sounds like you had a great mentor to that helped get you to where you are. So like, what did your mentor kind of help guide you within this decision? Because I know ah you know You have really good relationship with him. You still talk to him. um what Was there anything that he kind of told you that really sticks out to you as far as advice still?
00:29:57
Shelley Cervantes
Gosh, I don't remember it now. But I do recall me being highly conflicted about it.
00:30:05
springboard
Yeah.
00:30:05
Shelley Cervantes
um And yeah, oh, gosh, I'm blanking. I'm sorry. But um Yeah, but I specifically, well, first of all, like the name of the new school, people were very so understandably suspicious of. um And I told them, no, it's a legit school. We have something called the passion Parsons Fashion Benefit, which is well known within, I guess, the the fashion world.
00:30:33
springboard
Mm-hmm.
00:30:38
Shelley Cervantes
And actually, we have one tonight.
00:30:40
springboard
Yeah, and know I know.
00:30:40
Shelley Cervantes
And so,
00:30:42
springboard
My undergrad's in fashion design, so i I've definitely heard of the new school in Parsons. So that's hilarious that people thought the name was sketchy, because I immediately recognized the name. and No, it's a very legitimate school.
00:30:55
Shelley Cervantes
Yeah, and everyone I spoke to was like, and then it's just like very confused, you know, maybe it's like a native or or some type of bubble.
00:31:08
springboard
Maybe.
00:31:09
Shelley Cervantes
But but either which way, um, yeah I'm going to be honest, I didn't know either, but I was familiar with it because I knew they um are were on East 14th Street and right next to NYU, so I'm familiar with it in that sense.
00:31:22
springboard
Okay.
00:31:28
Shelley Cervantes
He was suspicious about that, and I did tell him about the advantages of either which one. i mean With the new school position, ah I will currently have the privilege of undergoing a certain process, which I think is kind of rare, especially for first year data analysts or junior data analysts, which is being up close to a data migration. um So um I, you know, nine months in, I, you know, had to very quickly run things the hard way about data pipelines.
00:32:05
Shelley Cervantes
oh And luckily have it advanced enough where I'm i'm pretty much creating my own ETLs here.
00:32:09
springboard
Thank
00:32:13
Shelley Cervantes
But, you know, I saw a lot of a vanish in that.
00:32:15
springboard
you.
00:32:18
Shelley Cervantes
And then the other position I said, you know, There was some growth opportunity, but I still didn't like that part of my balance. and so um But I recall at the end of that conversation with him, because he he was Chris was fantastic.
00:32:27
springboard
yeah
00:32:35
Shelley Cervantes
you know he um Even though I had graduated a program you know that weekend, he bet up with me and was able to, you know at the end of that call, I was like, OK, I know. I think I'm going to go with the new school.
00:32:52
springboard
Yeah. Yeah, and how have you felt about that decision since
00:32:59
Shelley Cervantes
ah Good, actually. Fantastic. I have said to to my colleagues, I'm like, honestly, the two most and intelligent people I have ever met. um
00:33:14
Shelley Cervantes
Yeah, and the person who taught me everything, even though she's not my boss, you know, the senior data analyst, she was so patient. And, you know, understanding. And yeah, it so I am eternally grateful for her and my colleagues as well. So I am
Advice for Job Seekers
00:33:37
Shelley Cervantes
very happy about it. it's yeah There's always room to go, grow and everything. But honestly, I think this is the best job I've had.
00:33:47
Shelley Cervantes
so
00:33:48
springboard
That's so awesome. I know I've just met you, but I'm so happy for you because everybody deserves to be happy in their job. I was just talking to someone about this where we're talking about dream jobs. And I'm curious to see your opinion on this. I think a lot of times students, people looking for jobs are conditioned to look at dream companies, companies they really admire. And I don't think that's bad advice. But I also think there's more to just liking the like the product of the company or the face of the company. You have to work with the people within the company and their values and the intricacies.
00:34:30
springboard
like me working at Verizon, you know, I will admit it's it wasn't the company I targeted, but now that I am working there, I work with really smart, interesting people that are kind. I have a great work-life balance. I have so many opportunities. And I'm like thinking like it kind of is a dream job. Like I'm not, you know, I don't, you know, it's it's not glamorous. but it's really nice and steady and interesting. And yeah, like what's what's your take on the whole dream job scenario?
00:35:05
Shelley Cervantes
Dream job. um ah Well, I think there's a difference between a dream job and a dream employer. um you know when When people will look for specifically companies that they want to work for. um i don't Personally, I have never really put 100% faith in companies as a whole. um and that is just because personally my belief is that like companies are pretty much like the first cost citizens and people are second that's my own personal belief but you know when it comes to a dream job I think you know I've i've been
00:35:47
springboard
Mm
00:35:58
Shelley Cervantes
thinking about that a little bit more. And I know what I'm good at. um it It's so weird because like I feel like I know what I'm good at and I know what what role I'd be great at. But whether or not I enjoy it, I don't know until I get there.
00:36:13
springboard
hmm.
00:36:15
Shelley Cervantes
So I'm like a cautiously optimistic person. For me, my dream goal is essentially to be a data engineer. um which you know I seen the pipelines up close and would love to you know work with like AWS and Redshift and you know all those different platforms and systems. and um you know I think I know I enjoy troubleshooting and finding out certain behaviors of the systems.
00:36:53
Shelley Cervantes
And so, um yeah, i don't that that's as far as my opinion goes for for that. um Yeah.
00:37:02
springboard
Yeah. and Oh, thank you for sharing that. It's definitely a different perspective than I had considered. And that's the best thing about talking to people is learning new perspectives, right? I do personally love the whole dream job scenario, like in going in cautiously. It is but something I've been trying to do just in life is go into something without expectations. It's just easier to manage in a way. And I think that's definitely something with a job too. Um, yeah. Okay. Well, so you're in this job and it sounds like things are going great. And what was your day to day life like?
00:37:44
Shelley Cervantes
day-to-day life. um I do a lot of ad hoc requests. so um I'm specifically within our development department or advancement department. um um what um and In non-profit development is essentially the procurement of gifts at a large state of scale um or maybe on a smaller level as well. And so um everyone wants to know who's given a gift and, you know, when they're given a gift. And so to be able to get that information on a large scale um is difficult. And so I have, I'm working on getting those kind of like
00:38:39
Shelley Cervantes
at Hogwarts like anyone who's given to this fund or anyone who's given this amount over you know the current fiscal year and all that kind of stuff and so I do a lot of that and then uh because we've had a data migration I've also done um a lot of querying to ensure the data integrity between the previous one and the current one and if there's any gaps of course not only document them but also work to
00:38:43
springboard
Thank
00:39:09
Shelley Cervantes
ensure that it gets all updated and current and work with um my colleagues in developing solutions as well.
00:39:11
springboard
you.
00:39:19
Shelley Cervantes
or I think my whole entire team worked with the consultants. so um I, it seems very random at times. So, cause we get like a case and a case comes in and it's like, I want this so or I need this. And then it's just like, okay, well, you know, why do you need it? And getting the, you know, essentially the requirements regarding that.
00:39:42
springboard
Thank
00:39:44
Shelley Cervantes
Um, most of it is pretty much that. Um, so yeah, I think, yeah.
00:39:48
springboard
you very much.
00:39:55
Shelley Cervantes
it just it sounds disjointed but there are ebbs and flows um depending on when ah certain events are occurring um there and for me i'm i'm definitely just working on the systems to ensure everything is more streamlined so that they won't continue to come to mean that that they can't but you know just to set it up so that they could be more self-sufficient without depending on me pulling stuff. So yeah.
00:40:31
springboard
Yeah, certainly. Well, I know you shared your goal of where you want to go. um But overall, like what is that going to look like for you? um what like I'm essentially trying to ask like what's next.
00:40:45
Shelley Cervantes
Yeah, sure. um That's a really good question. Now, hmm. In terms of like, I think there's still a lot of work to be done before, you know, I can, I can transition to anything else. um And I think I could still kind of like pre-built some of the pipelines so that RBI team can kind of just take, take over. But, you know, that's something I have to be able to to
00:41:21
Shelley Cervantes
have the capacity and resources to do on my own.
00:41:22
springboard
All
00:41:25
Shelley Cervantes
I have the resources, but not the capacity at this time. um But personally,
00:41:31
springboard
right.
00:41:33
Shelley Cervantes
personally my own trajectory is to be able to kind of segue into a role that would allow me to work with those different systems. um When I get my you know feet wet, either in Google Cloud Platform or in some other platforms, um And in understanding how the pipeline works, like data lake and data data warehouses, then I think I'll be better positioned to say, oh, I'm a data engineer now.
00:42:05
Shelley Cervantes
I think for now, because I've had so much practical experience from Springboard and everything, I'm actually going back to some of the fundamentals when it comes to theory, like relational database systems.
00:42:11
springboard
Okay.
00:42:19
Shelley Cervantes
And so like I actually found out the reason why ah SQL is called SQL, which is very random. It used to be called structured English query language. And from from that, it was called sequel. So yeah, I'm, I'm going, okay, this part, I know this part, but to I, you know, really feel like I'm know my stuff other than, you know, just how to work things. And to be able to talk about it. I think understanding theory, and how things are being built um previously and in his current state would be helpful.
00:43:04
springboard
Yeah, and there's something to be said for going back to the basics, I think. I probably should do that on my end. I've been noticing some of my ah skills could use a little rebuffing. So you've you're inspiring me right now to probably do that. Well, with that being said, um is there anything we didn't get to talk about today that you wanted to share?
00:43:27
Shelley Cervantes
Sure. um and There is one thing that I always like to emphasize. Well, actually, a few things, especially when it comes to the job search.
00:43:36
springboard
yeah
00:43:37
Shelley Cervantes
Nowadays, a lot of organizations, they tend to do a lot of roles that kind of mash things together.
00:43:46
springboard
yeah
00:43:46
Shelley Cervantes
Whereas, as you have design, you know you shouldn't be is' necessarily managing dashboards.
00:43:46
springboard
yeah
00:43:53
Shelley Cervantes
But you know I understand people can't be too picky about things, but if someone ends up in a certain position where they do see a lot of traction, ah you may not have competing offers, but if you're getting a lot of traction, um you don't being able to read that role and be like, oh, serve as a backup to this position.
00:44:02
springboard
Yeah. Yeah.
00:44:21
Shelley Cervantes
Well, that means that, well, you may end up being a permanent backup to that position. And ah the other thing is, especially from a technical role, is that if it can be a technical role and being a ah junior person, it is advantageous to have somebody be a boss who has more technical skills.
00:44:29
springboard
Thank
00:44:51
Shelley Cervantes
And so and the reason why I say that is if perchance your boss ends up going to advocate for you.
00:44:58
springboard
you.
00:45:02
Shelley Cervantes
let's say to get more access or whatnot to somebody who is technical as well, they'll be able to more effectively advocate because they have that base in ah that technical knowledge versus somebody who doesn't. And it could make things a little bit more difficult for you in the long one. So, um you know, just basic ah technical questions during the interview process. Um, those are, are, are, uh, kind of two things that i I want to advocate for people to be aware of.
00:45:39
Shelley Cervantes
Uh, but you know, beggars can't be choosers, I understand, but throw that out there.
00:45:45
springboard
Yeah. Yeah, it's something that fine line of we need a job, we need to get our foot in the door, but also we probably should be at this job for a couple of years. Or you also just want to be happy and throw within your role and make sure it's valuable experience. So it's it's a tricky one. But yeah, I think Yeah, I don't have much more to say. Well, Shelly, thank you so much for sharing your story and your time here today. Would you be open to listeners connecting with you on social media?
00:46:21
Shelley Cervantes
Yeah, I have a LinkedIn.
00:46:24
springboard
Great. Would you be able to spell your name so that people are adding the correct Shelly?
00:46:29
Shelley Cervantes
Sure. It's H-E-L-L-E-Y is my first name. and My last name is Sorvantis. C-E-R-V-A-N-T-E-S.
00:46:40
springboard
Fantastic. Well, again, thank you so much. This has been great. And for anyone listening, if you have questions for me or Shelly or even like to be a guest, we are always open to talking to new alums. We have a new one each week. Please email me at alumnipodcast at springboard.com.