Cesar Valiente

1. Why did you choose the degree in Technical Engineering in Computer Systems at the university and how has your experience been?

Ever since my parents bought our first computer for the whole family, an Amstrad CPC, it was always clear to me that computing was what I wanted to do “when I grew up”.

When I had the opportunity to apply to the university, I didn't hesitate, the university at home (I'm from Móstoles!) and the career that I like!

In our university I spent 8 wonderful years, between my degree and master's degrees, in which I learned and grew as an adult. I learned to work as a team, to work better individually, to be constant and to face great challenges. I also learned what engineering work meant (I did two internships in a company) and I also learned to combine studies and work.

2. What has led you to pursue your degree at the URJC?

Basically what I mentioned above. I am from Móstoles, and my vocation as a child was always computing, so when I had the opportunity to go to university, the URJC was, without a doubt, the best option.

3. What do you highlight the most or what do you value most about your university stage at URJC?

What I value most about my time at university is everything I learned there. At university I had fantastic professors whom I still admire today and also fantastic classmates with and from whom I learned and enjoyed a lot.

There I not only learned about the content of the syllabus that we had to follow, but also that the skills that I achieved by working alone and in a group have been essential when I later had to start my professional career outside of university.

4. Would you change anything about your time at URJC?

Nothing, I have wonderful memories of my time at the URJC. It was not an easy road, of course not, but it was a road in which with a lot of work and effort I reached the proposed goal.

5. What has graduating meant to you?

Well, I have had three graduations, one from the Technical Engineering career and two more from the master's degrees that I studied next.

Without a doubt, the moment of passing the last subject of the degree (first graduation) was a moment of infinite happiness, even more so than when I presented the final degree project (with which the graduation was already a fact). That approval basically meant the culmination of 4 years of hard work, and the opening to a new stage that was coming next: the professional world.

6. What is your employment situation after finishing the degree?

It's been many years since I finished my studies in Technical Engineering. Just after presenting my final degree project, and thus concluding my studies, I started working, and since then I have always been working. Also during the two master's degrees that I took after that I combined them with work.

7. When you finish your degree and become a URJC Alumni, what advice would you give to students who are finishing their studies at this university?

To the students who are finishing their studies at the URJC and are about to start their professional careers, I would basically advise two things:

1) A lot of work and effort: nobody is going to give you anything, and you will have to prove your worth every day. It will not matter what studies you studied or where you studied them, or what mark you obtained. What will matter is the work you do every day.

2) Humility: the fact of having a university degree is not going to put you in any advantageous position, nor does having a university degree give you more advantage over another colleague who does not have university studies. Have an open attitude, to learn and listen. A humble attitude.

8. How do you imagine yourself professionally in a period of five to ten years?

If you asked me this just after finishing my studies or shortly after finishing, I would probably have told you: working in a company that I like on a project that I like. I did not have specific goals such as working in company X or in project Y, my attitude was more to go little by little living and facing the present. At the same time, having a professional experience abroad was something that began to attract my attention, not only because of the fact of working in an international environment but also because of the experience of living in a different country from the one I grew up in. This I got, so one thing done. Currently, in a period of five to ten years and according to my professional career and present, continuing to learn and enjoying what I do every day is surely what I value most and how I want to see the future, but now, also working on projects of great impact that help people in various areas of their lives.

9. Do you think that the pandemic has affected your work development, or, on the contrary, has it become an opportunity?

The pandemic has changed everything. In the technology sector, the sector in which I work, before the pandemic there were few companies that adapted remote or hybrid work modes (a combination of remote work and work in the office); working with teams based in different time zones was challenging. The pandemic has broken down those walls, and now there are many companies that have adopted remote or hybrid work. Now collaborating on projects in which there are people distributed throughout the world is much easier. We all now have in mind that someone may not be in the office, so inclusivity is now much better than before.

With remote work, the great opportunity that it has brought is the new job opportunities that we have access to and that are not located in the region or country in which we live. Now there are more companies than ever that hire people who are not in the region or country where they are established, so the "pool of talent" that companies can choose from is now much larger, we have gone from " my country, to the world¨. This not only benefits the companies, but also the workers.

10. Do you plan to continue studying and do you value doing it again at our university?

After completing my university degree, I started working and then I combined studies and work during my two master's degrees. That was a long time ago and I have no plans to study university again in the short term, but I do think that, in a somewhat more distant future, the option of studying for a doctorate is something that has always attracted me. Who knows? If I do, I'm sure it's at our university!