Today I want to talk about something different from what I’ve been posting on my blog lately. I’m not going to talk about anything technical, nor explain how something works behind the scenes. I want to talk a little to you, a developer or aspiring developer who is learning about Magento or any other platform on the market, about career internationalization. Even if you are not a developer, perhaps a project manager, perhaps a product manager, or a solutions architect who has never seen a line of code in your life, this post might help you have a greater understanding of what it is like to work for companies outside of your country. Furthermore, perhaps this post will give you the encouragement you need to take a risk and go through the same process that I went through in search of career advancement.

I hope this blog post helps you.

A Boy Who Liked English

First of all, I have to tell you a little about my relationship with English. Since I was a child, I have always been passionate about the English language and, therefore, I had an easy time learning it. It’s natural that, when you like something, you feel pleasure in learning it and, with that, you develop your skill above average. I started translating songs, texts, and phrases. I was always learning a little something here and there.

When I discovered the Magento market, it was the time when I started to consume more content in English because, at the time, around 2009/2010, there was no type of official documentation for Magento 1, which forced us to search for content on blogs and websites abroad if we wanted to survive this jungle. Even the content that Magento provided about Magento 1 was entirely in English, so there was nowhere to go. From blog to blog, from post to post, I learned and developed myself in this market. I started writing some posts about Magento 1 and people started getting to know me. It was a really cool period in my career.

Well, learning English from an early age and enjoying the language, in a way, brought me many benefits and ease throughout my career as a Magento developer. All this contact with the language made me want to live and work in the United States, which ended up becoming a dream. I always wanted to be able to experience life outside Brazil, in the United States, see the scenes of the films I only saw on television, visit the main tourist attractions, and speak English fluently so I would be able to communicate with everyone in the whole world and be able to have a better life for myself and the family I know I’d have someday, as I was still single and without children. Anyway, that young Tiago had the dream of conquering America and living the dream that many were looking for in their lives.

Since then, I never got it out of my head that this would be the path I would like to follow in the future. I didn’t know how… I couldn’t imagine when… The only thing I knew was that one day I would need to be prepared and speak English well for the opportunities that would appear to me.

Since I started my career as a Magento developer, I have worked on hundreds of projects, small, medium, and large, from different places and I needed to use some of my English to communicate with someone on one project or another, a client, the consultant of the client, etc. Even with all this baggage, I always wondered what it would be like to work for companies abroad. What is the day-to-day life of an American company like, what are the dynamics like, and what are the projects like? And the meetings, the culture, the salary, would I be able to handle it? Would my English be enough to be able to communicate? There were many questions I had and few answers, as the job market abroad seemed to be closed, only a lucky few could enjoy this dream and, normally, they would need to relocate to the country. In other words, I wouldn’t just need a job in a company in the United States, I would need a company that was still willing to finance my relocation to their country.

These barriers have always made this dream of mine more distant than I imagined. The reality is that I come from a poor, humble family, and I was the first in my entire family to go to college, thanks to a scholarship I got right after high school. I grew up doubting myself and my potential because that was what I saw and heard from the people around me. They didn’t have opportunities in their lives, why would I? What would be special or different about me other than my desire to achieve something more? No, maybe I was just a boy full of dreams who would one day fall into the reality of life and realize that dreams are only for the “lucky” ones and not for me.

We Were Caught With Our Guard Down

A lot of time passes, and we then arrive at the year 2020. Everything was going well until we saw the news that there was a new virus circulating on the other side of the world, right at the beginning of the year. Many shrugged their shoulders until it began to spread rapidly across countries, one after another, day after day. On February 26th, the first case arrives in São Paulo, Brazil… Despair takes over everyone. The fear caused companies to put almost all of their employees to work from home in a matter of a few days. It was the beginning of the Full Home Office culture. Remote work, in the middle of a pandemic and television news, almost drove me crazy, almost loosened the few screws I had left, but that’s a story for another post.

Fortunately, to counterbalance it, it was at this exact moment that my life began to change. I already knew that I was no longer happy where I was working and needed to take some action. Day after day, I would get up and I could list at least 10 reasons for not showing up to work, for not showing my face at the stand-up meeting in the morning. Whenever this happened repeatedly, I got the signal and knew it was time to make a change in my career. I was no longer a developer, I worked in team management and, at least in that company, that was no longer cool or challenging for me, the reasons? Who knows, maybe I’ll tell you another time? I then decided to return to the Magento development market. I’ve always liked development and Magento, so I tried to combine the useful with the pleasant.

It Happens…

I started listening to proposals from the national and, why not, international markets. I remember, in particular, an offer to work in Germany as an IT manager for a tour guide company. Maybe being an IT manager in Germany would make more sense, open more doors, and allow me to grow more and seek more opportunities for my career. It wasn’t the United States, but Germany is also a really cool country for IT professionals, right? I did a series of interviews and reached the last one, in which I would talk to two managers from the area of the team I would lead. In the minutes before the interview, my hands were sweating cold, my heart was pounding, and it felt like it wanted to come out of my mouth, but I tried to compose myself and not show it. Who would have thought, that poor kid from Carapicuíba interviewing in English for a job in Germany. I remember this interview, in particular, as if it were yesterday because it was perhaps the most disastrous interview of my entire career. It took me a good few weeks to recover from the feeling of defeat that plagued me all the time and told me I was a loser. I failed this interview miserably and felt ashamed of myself. I still remember how bad it was to feel that way.

I Followed Rocky Balboa’s Advice

I managed to recover from the beating… In the end, the one who can handle being hit the most without falling wins, right? I got up and, of the proposals that appeared to me afterward, one of them really challenged me and was in line with what I was really looking for. I was supposed to work in an American company, the first of my career! I wanted to be able to use my English every day, I wanted to be able to grow and develop in the international market, I wanted to set foot in America and know what it feels like. I would need to risk a lot. Risking my and my family’s stability, leaving my comfort zone, and challenging myself again. Taking risks and working harder than ever to prove myself to a company again, but I was willing to do it all. This opportunity was exactly in the direction I wanted to go, it took me towards an international career. The proposal was not yet to live in the United States, nor to make more money than I was making but it was a great first step.

As expected, when I started working for American companies it took me some time to be able to perform at 100% again, because, in addition to having to deliver technical quality in my work, there was also the barrier of English which, even though I was in a more advanced level than the overwhelming majority of Brazilians, it was still challenging to reconcile work and communication in English. My brain was fried and, at the end of the day, all my mental energy was drained and the little I had left was enough to drag me straight to bed. These were very challenging but exciting months, as I was on the right path toward my goal, and learning a lot. Always remember, there is no growth without pain. This is absolutely truth. I spent some time like this until my brain started to assimilate some patterns and send them to my basal ganglia to be put on my “autopilot system”. If you don’t have the slightest idea of what this is, I advise you to read the book named The Power of Habit.

Improving my English skills allowed me to apply for better jobs, with greater demands, as I felt more prepared. That’s when I was given the opportunity to work at Classy Llama, where I was working until the moment I wrote this post on my blog, with a smile on my face.

When Good Opportunities Knock at Your Door

When I started working at Classy Llama (please don’t ask me the origin of the name, no matter how much Greg tried to explain it to me, I still don’t quite understand it very well… LOL), I thought it was just another company where I would work, without attachment, without emotional involvement, just for the money. Here I am, surprised by what this company continues to represent in my career. After a month of Classy Llama, I was promoted to Lead Developer and began to lead some clients on the retainer team. Among them, one of the biggest and most challenging that the company had until then. I was surprised that I was able to do the job and I was very happy to have Classy Llama always supporting me in whatever I needed. They really have your back when needed.

One thing I didn’t tell you previously is that when I left my IT manager position, I was on the verge of a mental breakdown. I wasn’t feeling well emotionally, probably as close to what I could call burnout as possible. Combining this with my challenging start to my international career, I didn’t imagine that Classy Llama would help me overcome this very difficult period of my life, where I couldn’t find the motivation to do anything that gave me pleasure, in fact, it was difficult to find the which gave me pleasure, as everything seemed grayer. I just wanted to be quiet in my corner, if possible lying in my bed without needing to talk to anyone. But at this point in my life, I already had my family, my wife, and daughter, and I couldn’t abandon them. They gave me the strength I needed to continue. I’m not going to lie, the bills that kept arriving also helped me a lot.

Classy Llama’s work pace, as busy as it is, and the benefits of working for an American company, have allowed me to make some changes in my private life that have greatly improved my quality of life and and my family’s. I would like to list below some of the reasons that make me love working at Classy Llama to this day.

1. The people are fantastic: the synergy of the people who work at Classy Llama is a big difference. I was very well received at the beginning and I was always treated very well by everyone I came into contact with. I can relate this point to two of Classy Llama’s main Core Values, Real Relationships and Genuine Love.
2. Your managers really listen to you: you have an active voice in the company and you don’t need to be afraid to give your opinion or say what you’re looking for in your career. If it is within the company’s reach, they will try to help in the best way possible.
3. The quality of the professionals is exemplary: at Classy, to date, I have not met anyone who has not surprised me with their professional quality. Classy chooses and filters its candidates very well, whether they are employees or contractors. This is very related to one of its Core Values, Excellence.
4. We all have the same opportunities and respect: on a day-to-day basis there is no differentiation between employees and contractors, everyone is treated the same way and has the same level of respect and importance for the company.
5. Management is not just profit-oriented: we have 1-on-1s with the management team, where we discuss not just work, but our personal lives and how the company can help us. The company really cares about you and, if you want to change something regarding your career, they will try to help you with that, even if it means changing some other things and reallocating resources to different teams. I am living proof of that.
6. Work-life balance is not just a concept: the workload is adequate, market standard, 40 hours per week, and project managers are oriented towards deliveries, not working hours.
7. Flexibility is very good: the company is very flexible. If I need to go out to do something and spend an hour away, that’s no problem. We are all professionals and, as long as I am aware of my responsibilities, the company will not be on my case for it.
8. Responsibility and integrity: they never delayed paying their salary or paid a penny less and always fulfilled what they promised me, in every aspect. Integrity is one of the company’s Core Values.
9. Organization: Classy is a very organized company. Everything about the projects is documented in Confluence. If you need to find some detail, it’s very difficult not to be on Confluence. Gathering requirements for each implementation is a joint effort between the Solutions Architect and Lead Developer, which greatly facilitates the understanding and objective of the tasks.

These are some of the points I have to talk about Classy and I just wanted to point out that it’s 100% based on my standpoint, my own opinion about what working at Classy Llama is like. In fact, until today I have never felt the slightest desire to leave there. I’m not saying that the company is perfect or that it’s the best company on the market, but it meets a lot of what I look for in a company and I’m proud to say that I work there.

It’s Not Merchandising Or Paid Partnership

I want to make it very clear that I am not being sponsored by Classy Llama to post this on my blog, I am posting this of my own free will, in gratitude to the company for treating its employees with respect and dignity and giving us good opportunities.

My goal with this post is to bring you, developer, lead developer, project manager, or any other professional who is afraid to take risks, a little of my experience working for companies in the United States. In the end, a lot of things are similar to the Brazilian market, but in another language, in another economy, with another culture. This will not stop you from conquering your space in the international market, as long as you can support the growth and maturation process for this. You are capable and the market out there is also lacking and needs good professionals. If you are a specialist, developer, project manager, or anything else and speak English, at least with a communication proficiency, take the risk! If you never take risks, you will never know where you can go, or what might have after that door, and you will never surf the waves of the benefits of working for international companies and being well paid for it. Working here, you will have the same stress, the same problems, and often worse people and you will still be limited to a salary in the Brazilian market, there is no way around that. * I’m talking about the Brazilian market but this may apply to whatever country you live in.

If you are a developer and you are on the fence about working with international companies and want to talk a little about it with someone who knows the whole process, you can talk to me, you can call me. Let’s have a coffee and I’ll be happy to tell you what my process was like until I got to where I am and answer any questions you still have about it. I want to encourage you to seek this opportunity for yourself. Working for American companies opened so many doors for me that the Brazilian market would never have done. Make a reflection. Where do you want to be in two years from now? Imagine yourself doing the same thing you do today and two years have passed and you haven’t moved. Now imagine taking a risk, practicing your English every day, learning English in the real world, and developing your soft and hard skills, not through Instagram courses, where would you get in the same two years? This is a decision that is exclusively up to you, it is only up to me to support you in any way I can.

If you’ve made it this far, congratulations! You are part of a select group of people who really want something better in their lives and want to experience different opportunities than what we have here. I hope you achieve all your goals, even if you need to be “polished”, remember: there is no real growth without pain and suffering, this will always be part of the process. If you understand and accept this, you will possibly achieve the success you so desire.

See you in my next post!

– Tiago