Interview with Bruno Rodrigues

How did Luza come into your life and why did you choose us to develop your career?

I was contacted by an external recruiter on LinkedIn, and she asked if we could have a chat about a new opportunity she had that would fit my skill set. I had been working with Azure's Integration Services for about a year and a half and learning from incredible people in a big consulting firm, which gave me a lot of hard and soft skills I did not have before. When the interview came around with the recruiter, I really liked the pitch she presented, but what really sold me on Luza was the next interview with Nelson and Rita. Their energy, the plan they have, and how approachable they were from day 1 really made me realize this was an opportunity I should not pass up on. Another thing is the possibility to be working with a small team, in a startup environment. I had always envisioned myself working in this kind of company, where all you do makes a big impact. So, in the end, I accepted, and here I am!

What do you most value in the company and how do you expect to contribute to joint growth? What qualities stand out in you?

I'd definitely say inclusion. Feeling like my voice matters in decisions and steps forward is something I appreciate a lot. Hopping on a call to just debate new ideas on how we can improve our work and the feeling of community in the team is really something I cherish. It's also great to know that there is space for everyone to come forward with doubts and questions, technical or otherwise. Not needing to second guess me if I should send a message to someone and ask for help is relieving. Even though I consider myself strong in my technical Integration skills, I'm really more of a people person and like to make sure everyone is equipped to work at the best of their abilities, and I believe a major factor in that is being surrounded by people who are encouraging, ready to help, and don't second guess themselves when they need help as well. Companies rely on their people. If everyone is happy, the company will thrive.

What is your opinion about remote work and why do you think it is a good option?

I enjoy remote work, as it lets me organize my work-life balance much easier and reduces a lot of commuting stress.
Being remote, I can use the time I would spend commuting doing different things, like preparing the meals for the day, exercising, or even sleeping a little more every now and then 😅. It also gives me the flexibility to do a few house chores I would have to do at the end of the day, which will give me more free time after work. Being a working student, this is a massive game changer as free time is not something I have a lot of. And since I live close to the University I attend, not having to spend that extra time in traffic, I can just walk to classes.
I understand and somewhat agree with the argument that having people in the office stimulates the relationships between colleagues, but I feel like what Luza is doing is a great compromise on that front. Having weekly "decompressing" calls when everyone talks a little bit about their week and their weekend plans, and then a few events where we all get together in person makes it so these relationships are still being fostered, while everyone has a little more time to themselves as they do not need to daily commute.

What are your main functions and skills?

I specialize in Azure's Integration Services Stack. Integration Engineers are the developers that make systems communicate with each other when it would be a difficult task otherwise. This usually means I need to discuss with every team that is involved in a process from beginning to end, and functionally understand everything about the requirement. Things like what data is coming, where is it coming from, where is it going, how is it getting there, the format, and things like these.
Working in integration usually means that soft skills are usually worked on rather soon, as we need to work with multiple other teams as I said. So, I pride myself on being a strong communicator, quick to organize my thoughts and transfer those into paper, and being able to "translate" business requirements to technical tasks. I'm a strong believer that technical skills will only get you so far and that what makes a developer or an engineer really stand out from the crowd are their soft skills.
I've been working in integration for the past year and a half and have been able to come in contact with a lot of Azure's solutions to integration. Primarily Logic Apps, but also Azure Functions, API Management, Key Vault, and the Liquid template language.

What project are you involved in and what do you do?

I've been with Luza for about 2 weeks and have started to work for an insurance company with the need to integrate some data from a SQL server to Dynamics, to allow their users to improve their daily work with clients. It's still early days for me in the project, so I've only analyzed the general architecture and produced an architecture for the integration that will need development. On the other hand, I've been focusing on learning more about Luza and the Cronos Groep, to fully take in the culture.

How did the onboarding process go?

Really smoothly actually, Rita and Nelson were really helpful in the first days, and I had some time for myself as well, which was very appreciated. The whole team also included me from the beginning, so I could not have asked for a better start here.

Where do you live and what do you like to do in your free time? Is there any curiosity about you?

I'm originally from the north of the Aveiro district, a town called Estarreja where my parents moved to from Lisbon after marrying. You can call me an original nomad as I have moved so many times I have since lost count 😂. I was in a couple of apartments in Mealhada, another town in the south Aveiro, Luso as well, and then moved to Coimbra for my Bachelor's. I spent a semester in Hamburg as well (where my father was coincidentally living too), and then came back to Mealhada. Right now, after getting my own apartment, I'm living in Coimbra, "the city of students", which is a place I love and see myself being in for a long time.
In my free time, I have a hobby that's different than most. I love creating content and most of my free time is spent either writing scripts, shooting videos and photos, editing those, or researching into something I'll record about next. I've been very fortunate to accumulate a very nice community that likes what I do and have met amazing like-minded people with whom I have started a group channel which I'm very proud of. This hobby has given me a lot of new skills as well, like organization, leadership, and hard skills as well like photo and video editing, graphic design, lighting techniques, script writing, and how to engage an audience. It's "hard work", but it's very fun as well.

What do you expect from the future?

I'm expecting a challenge, for sure. Working in a startup was always something I wanted to do because you have a big impact on what you do. But this is a double-edged sword, which works for me. I don't particularly enjoy always being comfortable at work, and I believe people need challenges, so I'm excited about what's coming, and I will do my best to make Luza a reference in the Microsoft space with the help of the fantastic team that's being built here.

Do you consider that we are fulfilling our claim of “We make work a positive experience? 😊 Why?

For sure. Since the first interview with Nelson and Rita, I've felt very good about the culture in Luza, and that hasn't changed since I joined. It definitely strikes me as a different place to work than most companies in Portugal. They do genuinely care about their people and are making sure we are all taken care of, which honestly motivates me, and I believe everyone else, to work hard and accomplish our goals as one.