 What's up, everybody it is Saturday night I know that you all have been wanting to see more content like this and have been actually pretty receptive To this type of content be sure to give this video a thumbs up or making some chicken parmesan Or more so my wife is what is it the main chef the head chef? I'm the sous chef. I'm not even the sous chef I'm like the guy in a movie that is a mess It is just lucky to even have a job also. Thank you to HP for sponsoring this video They sent me over at their Bluetooth Travel mouse that they recently released and I'm gonna be talking more about that later on in a video So be sure to stick around I Want to grab some coffee I overslept significantly today and hopefully I don't regret that too much But it's already burning up in here. It's like 80 degrees outside already. I Got this new coffee book or a coffee book What got this new coffee table book called where to go win and just for like bureau shots Just to spice things up, but I also was intentional in getting like a book that I will actually read and It's got some really beautiful imagery I would like to visit at least 10 places in this book and since we're on the topic of traveling Let me take a moment to talk about HP's Bluetooth travel mouse Which is something you're definitely gonna need if you are someone who is either always on the go or is someone that likes to take your iPad tablet Laptop with you whenever you travel and you want to pack light the first thing I noticed when I started connecting the HP Bluetooth travel mouse to my computer is how easy it was to pair it through dual Connectivity and my computer automatically noticed the mouse I got some all this is and Surprisingly HP did not compromise the form of this mouse or the shape of this mouse Despite its size has like these grooves on the side actually feel really good for your thumbs to rest on the soft touch Rubber grip actually feels great when using the mouse And I think that's one of the main reasons why it feels ergonomic and comfortable in the palm of my hands despite how small the size of this mouse is one thing that HP made sure was a feature that couldn't go unnoticed with this mouse is that you can use it on any surface And it's just as responsive on a mousepad as it is on any other flat surface Which is something you'll appreciate on the go since peripherals have become increasingly smart I kind of expect a peripheral like a mouse to come with some sort of like application that allows you to customize the buttons on the mouse and luckily HP has a Accessory center dedicated to customizing the buttons on the HP Bluetooth travel mouse I'm a pretty simple guy So I'm gonna be using the peripheral buttons for desktop necks and desktop previous just to swipe Between displays it was a little weird using a double-a batteries for this mouse I'm used to like USB type-c Charging however the battery life is great Lassing you about 24 hours and having standby technology that way You know you forget to turn it off It doesn't die when you start using it again definitely a Recommendation for me if you're looking for a mouse that has a small form factor so you can pack light on the go Thank you to HP for sponsoring this video and for sending over this Bluetooth travel mouse. All right Man I Feel like there's so much I haven't told you all so many life updates So that's the whole really purpose of this video outside of just like a kind of chill weekend kind of video But I feel like I've been hiding things from you all into an extent there are a couple things that I hid from a lot of people for months and Now I can talk about everything That's new in my life. You probably know this already just from looking at the title but I started a new job and I've been working remotely for almost a month now and the company I work for is Headquartered and headquartered based is based in Jersey City Which is from what I know right across the Hudson River from New York City? So that's why in the title at least I think I'm gonna put in a title like landed a new tech role in the New York City area and It took a lot of twists and turns to get to where I'm at now and I just thank God for this opportunity But it's it's a really really interesting story And I'm actually really excited to be able to share with you all because maybe it'll inspire you to pursue Something that you're passionate about interested in along with just being transparent with How to get into a tech role, especially for a fortune, you know, 500 100 type of firm All right, the background was bothering me for a little bit. So let's start. Let's go all the way back to January. So January 6th was the day that I actually interviewed for a Technical solutions engineering role with Google. I know it's pretty random But basically a recruiter reached out to me in September Talking to me about this role That's in GTEC, which is a technology department within Google And I wasn't interested in a role really and I don't mind not coding all the time and Doing things that are a bit more high-level more business focused and more interaction with, you know stakeholders customers product team kind of like a middleman between Customers and even the engineering and product teams. So I did the interview take a long story short I pass it couldn't believe I pass it and Here's the thing. I did a lot of studying. So I had been studying for that interview since like the beginning of December I kid you not. I literally was studying on New Year's Eve like when everyone was celebrating and drinking and having a great time on New Year's Eve After I wished everybody a happy new year at my in-laws house I quickly went down to the basement opened up my iPad and started studying for this GTEC solutions engineering role. It actually was worth studying because you know passing those Interviews made me more confident in my abilities Technically now granted. I will be honest with you a solutions engineering role is like a step below a software engineering role Not maybe necessarily with pay, but it is when it comes to technical aptitude But what you have to offer as a solution engineer is because you do have good technical skill sets I still did my onsite still consisted of a technical interview when I was asked a multitude of coding and algorithms and data structures questions But you also bring that business savvy and interpersonal Soft skill sets. So you kind of like merge the two together and you have a solutions engineer fast forward to March I couldn't really find a team that matched based on my skill sets and experiences and what they were looking for and From what I've seen it seems like being in the team matching phase at Google is almost like purgatory I think I was waiting for like three to four months and My wife ends up finding this like Hiring event with the firm that I'm working for was doing for people of color I was like no, I'm not gonna do it because the location was Houston, Texas But then I was like what the heck I want to get out of the city that I'm in right now And Houston doesn't sound like a bad place to get warm weather. They have palm trees You're not that far from the ocean I apply for this event and the next thing you know recruiters start reaching out to me Asking me like what I'm interested in if I'm interested in moving to Houston and I was like Honestly, I would like to move to New York and next thing you know I get a team who is interested in me as a candidate. We do an interview I tell them that hey at any moment I can be offered a role from Google because I'm in team matching phase and they didn't waste any time with a Really nice offer and most importantly the opportunity to move to New York City Which is something that I've been trying to do for at least three years now So obviously I ended up accepting the role for the firm in the New York City area and you all can figure out Where I work. It's all my LinkedIn profile during that process. I did a lot of soul searching I thought about doing a video where I talk about turning down a role from a fan company But I almost felt like since it wasn't a sweet role. Is it really worth it? Was it legit? And I obviously was legit, right? It was a legit offer, but you know what I mean, like I'm an engineer I'm a creative. I'm not a sales engineer I'm not a sales person and that's kind of what that role was looking for with the blend of technical skill sets And I had to do some soul searching and say hey, what's most important to you? Is it the company? Is it the role? Right? What about the team? How Invested is the company and you so that's a pretty major life update I'm really excited But I also sometimes forget that I'm moving because I'm not moving until the fall So it still doesn't feel real yet like the job itself does and I'm actually really happy about the decision I made it's funny to go from like a big company to an Extremely big company and I can see the difference especially since this company is global And I work with team members from literally all around the world and I I appreciate that I see a huge Difference and diversity off-rip, which is something that I really appreciate and I'm glad to experience along with being able to move in a city that just has More going on and more opportunities for people like myself who are looking for creative You know Experiences and opportunities in the tech industry along with having more diversity So we haven't decided you know where we're gonna move maybe live in one of the like waterfront neighborhoods I co-boat in Jersey City. There's a couple others. That's an option. It just depends on how often I'm We would prefer to live in like Brooklyn like that would be dope Maybe Manhattan, but we really like Brooklyn, but yeah, I guess that's something that we could think about later on We've been talking about doing Airbnb's maybe like, you know an Airbnb for a month in different boroughs In different cities within Jersey City as well. Yo, I gotta show you these Kobe grinches I'm so happy. There was a sneaker event a couple weeks ago that I went with my homie Carl and I traded for some sneakers these Kobe six Grinches look at this sneaker This might be the most beautiful sneaker I've ever seen in person. I hope this video does some sort of justice but um, I Couldn't afford a sneaker like this growing up. I remember this came out in 10th grade the Kobe six grinches they came out in 10th grade and One of my team members had and I was like man that sneakers crazy, but uh, yeah It's funny how things come full circle, but uh, just wanted to show you all that I want to do more content like this where I talk about my sneakers It'd be fashion, but I want to keep you all too long once again Thank you to HP for sponsoring this video Be sure to give this video a thumbs up helps out with the algorithm a lot I put in a lot of work when it comes to these videos So it lets me know like hey, you all enjoy this content. So subscribe to the channel if you haven't already I love you all to become a part of this really cool community of Creators engineers, you know the curious the fam and as always have a blessed rest of your week I'll be praying for everyone who's been dealing with allergies and as always. I'll see you all soon. Peace