Interview with Santiago Pariente Ibarra (Saltech Consultant)

Tell us a little about yourself/ what are your interests.

“My name is Santiago, and I am from Madrid, Spain. My interests have always been based in technology, like computers, since I was a little kid. So when I had to decide for the University my decision was already made before even knowing what kind of careers there were.”

Why did you choose to learn how to code?

“This was something I discovered during my studies as an Industrial Engineer.  I had a few subjects regarding coding, and discovered that that was more of my passion, compared to hardware and building things. Coding was developing logic and having an idea to build upon.  

After I finished my degree and while I was studying my masters, I decided to take a Java developer course. 

A little later on I received the opportunity from Saltech, and the rest is history.”

What interested you about low-code?

“It was trying to know a different approach for the same problem. 

From my engineering perspective, and the idea of developing the logic between the steps to follow, the low-code approach fits me, so far I am liking it a lot.”

What have you found interesting about Pega?

“I’m a little bit surprised at the power it has sometimes. Over this last year and a half, I’ve seen that there are a lot of things you can do with Pega, and that the opportunities are a lot.

 It goes far away from what I had expected, so I think that is one of the reasons why I keep enjoying working with Pega, because I see that there are a lot of things I have not done yet, and that I haven’t seen done yet, but there’s room for them to happen. I think this path of growing is long enough.”

What are your goals in the world of Pega?

“In terms of certifications, you always have that LSA goal. It’s everything you aspire to achieve.

But I think it’s mostly about being able to manage your own team, deliver the complete idea that the business has translated into a project. I think that is the most satisfying thing you can do in any technical or coding project, which is someone giving you some requisites and you being able to completely transfer that into the application. I want to be able to deliver those kinds of solutions and manage a team to accomplish that.”

How have you contributed to your current project?

“I would definitely say that the most impact I’ve had in a project is the one I’m currently working on. It’s based on Pega Marketing for a Telecommunications company. I helped define part of the new framework and translate their needs into the application, but also helped the team that surrounded me to grow in their capacities. I am very happy with what I have accomplished in this career so far, and I think the client is definitely happy with what I have done.”

What is something you enjoy about working here?

“I was contacted by Saltech through Linkedin, which I had no reference from, working with a technology I have never heard of, in a country I had never visited, so it was a difficult decision for me to make.

 The feelings I had towards the  team in the interviews  was that we could connect and were thinking the same way.  That’s why I decided to give this an opportunity. 

I really liked visiting the office for the first time, I had a really warm welcome. We are a young team who share the same interests, and everyone is really helpful. As they say:

With the team, comes the culture.” 

How has remotely working for Saltech impacted you?

“At first, I wasn’t very organized, but now, because of the quarantine here in Spain due to the COVID, I am a completely different person in terms of organization. I have become more focused and efficient working from home now than when I was at the office at the beginning of the project. 

Also, I had to develop how I create relationships. In the end, it was a completely new team, another language, another culture, I had to live there by myself, and it helped me grow as a person. “

What are your tips for someone just starting Saltech’s/Pega training?

“You need to be open minded, and accept that you will make some mistakes since it’s a different way of working. You need to rely on the team and the people that are there to help you, especially during the certification process. We have very professional experts in our company, and they are the key to understanding Pega better. 

I would suggest for anyone to at least give it a try, because for someone who is young and coming from Spain, I think this is a life changing decision that will open a whole new dimension that maybe you never realized you had. I know it’s a little bit scary in the beginning, as I said before, but in the end, it’s very rewarding and satisfying to achieve what I have achieved in one and half years.

It’s definitely an opportunity you should try.”