How a Passion for Languages Led to a Global Career at Cisco

“¿Qué ondas?”

That’s a familiar greeting in El Salvador, where I’m from, a land where surf and coffee blend harmoniously.

When I was growing up there as a kid, my grandma asked me if I wanted to take summer classes. She gave me three choices: drawing, math, or English classes. At the time, I felt like I was good enough in math. I was more into music than drawing. So, she paid for my summer English classes. Little did I know that her humble pension and that decision would change my life forever.

After that first summer English class, I developed a passion for foreign languages, becoming fluent in French, Portuguese, and English, and learning some German, in addition to my native Spanish. I went to classes in the early mornings and worked into the late nights — this was my life for a few years, studying and working at the same time. Weekends were reserved for rehearsing with my rock band and teaching English and French at an academy. Years later, I obtained my MBA in Logistics.

I believed I was headed toward a future of teaching, but when I was not selected for a teaching role, it led me to apply for and get an engineer role with a Canadian company, a Cisco partner. The funny thing is that if that hadn’t happened, I probably wouldn’t be working at Cisco today. I believe life has a way of giving you what’s meant to be yours.

Someone within Cisco told me about a French Consulting Engineer role at Cisco Poland, and while I was excited for the opportunity, moving to Europe was a big decision. I had everything at home — my family, friends, band — but it felt like the time to challenge myself, evolve, and fly. I still remember playing Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” before my final interview, knowing this could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Coming to work for Cisco meant the chance to make an impact in a top tech company.

When I first moved to Poland, I didn’t know many people, so I brought a little bit of home to Cisco, organizing football games to have fun and connect with people. It helped me, as a newcomer, integrate through sport with the international community. Since then, I’ve organized singing and coffee workshops and technology events whenever I can to build bridges, connect people, and enhance our workplace experience. Even after three years, Cisco continues to amaze me with its culture, inclusion, and all the ways we can bring ourselves into our work.

I began at Cisco as a consulting engineer where I worked in design, implementation, and consultancy of Cisco solutions. Over three incredible years, I’ve gained a lot of experience, transitioned to security, and am super grateful to have received two promotions. I am now a senior consulting engineer of security and collaboration technologies where I work with financial institutions to provide network security and videoconferencing.

This year, I embarked on a business trip to France, assisting with videoconferencing deployment and design for a leading financial institution, and my life came full circle in a way I never could have imagined. I’m still teaching, but now sharing my knowledge with customers and colleagues on a global scale. The public speaking skills I honed singing and playing live with my band prepared me for presenting solutions to executives on-site and interacting with them in those conference rooms in Paris. I never imagined that my passion for languages would lead me to a career in technology, let alone impactful moments like these at a company like Cisco. And none of this would have been possible without my grandma and those summer English classes. Visiting Paris made me realize how fortunate I am.

My career path so far has taught me that being open to opportunities, dedicating yourself to lifelong learning, and being resilient to challenges are the keys to success. If you embrace this, I have no doubt you will not only ‘make it,’ you will thrive, just like I have at Cisco!

Are you ready to thrive at Cisco? Learn more and find opportunities now.

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