Confessions of a Linkedin Top Voice
Crazy sh*t I’ve witnessed and my secret sauce for success!
Table of contents
- How it started
- My journey
- The weirdest things
- The most valuable thing
- The most dissapointing thing
- About that time I turned down an offer because of an impromptu CEO who tried to trick me
- The relocations are real
- The collaborations
- The bottom line
I just wanted to start by saying how incredibly honored and excited I am to have been chosen as a 🥇LinkedIn Top Voice in the Data Engineering category! Big shoutout to everyone who’s been part of this journey with me.
Over the last 5+ years, I’ve been sharing my insights on all things data science, data engineering, cloud computing (including Google Cloud), multicloud, hybrid cloud, streaming data pipelines, R, Python, machine learning, AI, LLMs, SRE, and of course, some key soft skills (check out my older LinkedIn posts for those gems).
Thanks again for the support!
How it started
I don’t remember 😂, but according to my first contact on this platform, it was somewhere around 13 May 2014.
My journey
I really started getting into content creation on this platform back in 2018. And oh boy, has it been a wild ride since then!
🎢 I’ve landed jobs, got myself certified in GCP, even joined Turing (yep, I’m in the top 1% of over 2 million developers from 150+ countries who’ve applied to Turing), and I’ve been at the top of my game. Plus, I’ve had the privilege of making some incredible friends along the way. It’s been an awesome journey.
🚩But you know what? It hasn’t all been sunshine and rainbows. I’ve had my fair share of dealing with surreal toxic work environments, faced rejection, stumbled through a few certification exams, endured disrespect, found myself on mailing lists I never signed up for (hello, fake companies and overeager recruiters), earned swag from events that the organizer never sent, and sadly, lost touch with a few acquaintances along the way.
🏢 Along the way, I’ve crossed paths with some truly amazing folks who have been a huge inspiration, and I’ve picked up some valuable lessons in the world of social media. I’ve witnessed how these people grew and launched their own companies.
🚀 I founded the biggest, fastest-growing data community in Latam region (give us a follow 🌎 Data Engineering Latam).
🏫 I’ve been lucky enough to be a Teaching Assistant at the University of Chicago, you know, the one with the most Nobel prizes in history! (And I’d gladly do it all over again!).
🧠 I was chosen as an ambassador at AI Time Journal. You can find me here.
🏆 Google recognized me as one of their Cloud Champion Innovators (we’re a pretty exclusive club with fewer than 500 members worldwide).
👨💻 I’m a remote work enthusiast through and through, and I absolutely dig remote-first companies. I’ve been through hiring processes with companies serving clients from all corners of the globe — Africa, Asia, Oceania, Europe, North America, and of course, South America! (🧊 Antarctica is definitely on my radar for future job offers 🫠).
The weirdest things
I’ve stumbled upon some pretty interesting stuff on LinkedIn. I mean, there are these accounts claiming to have every possible tech and data skill under the sun, and they’ve got endorsements from over 99+ people.
Then there are these fake accounts that seem to have all the time in the world to post every three hours and still manage to like my posts.
Fake accounts that posts every 3 hours and with enough time to like my posts.
And don’t even get me started on those fake job pages. On Linkedin you have the Easy Apply button (apply with one click) and the Apply button (the one that redirects you to the companys website). Well, turns out some companies are redirecting you to a ‘Register’ page instead where they ask for your experience, skills, and education, but what do you get in return? Zilch! No jobs, no job browsing, nada. Supposedly, their fancy algorithm must send you jobs, but I’m starting to think it’s just playing hide and seek.
The most valuable thing
Having discovered the thought leaders. Reading their stuff is like a goldmine of knowledge, and it can seriously save you some cash. Instead of waiting for someone else to whip up a course on their topics, just dive into the papers, articles, docs, videos, and more that these experts are already cranking out.
The most dissapointing thing
I've encountered founders of renowned companies who place their trust in Latin American talent, but unfortunately, they offer salaries that are considerably below market standards.
In my profound understanding, I’ve come to realize that as long as the human beings remain oblivious to the true price of their knowledge, the universe will persist in its current state. It’s a recurring spectacle, one I’ve observed countless times, where I present them with irrefutable evidence, even resorting to visual aids to illustrate what can be accomplished. Yet, my stubborn acquaintances do not believe it.
-“It’s a trap!”. They say. “That must be a scam because this other company in the banking industry only pays up to here”.
About that time I turned down an offer because of an impromptu CEO who tried to trick me
🙆♂️ In this occasion, I was given an opportunity for a Solutions Architect at one of the biggest Snowflake partner companies. The guys at the client were very easy-going, really great awesome people.
🤬 But then, just when everything seemed set, the recruiting agency decided to flip the script at the very last minute. Suddenly, I wasn’t going to be a Solutions Architect anymore, and they slashed the salary big time. the CEO blamed it on a ‘communication issue.’ They were playing games with me. I mean, I know my numbers, I know the market, and I know my worth.
👎 That company no longer exists. In an innocent move, it was adquired by the client, and the founders are now part of this bigger team. Terrible decision, really. Bad, bad move. Anyway, I will not recommend that place to go work anymore if those people are present there waiting to attract Latam talent with deshonest practices.
The relocations are real
These are hands down my favorite relocation opportunities I’ve ever been offered.
The collaborations
So far, I’ve collaborated with:
✅ Cassie Kozyrkov’s Spanish articles (here and here).
✅ Packt
✅ Get on Board (here and here)
✅ Hackmakers (here)
✅ Google for Startups (here and here)
✅ Software Guru (here)
✅ Agencia Mexicana de Estudios Antarticos (AMEA) (hey look! here’s Antarctica 😂).
✅ Machine Learning India (here)
✅ Universidad Argentina de la Empresa (UADE) (here, here and here)
✅ Big Data Conference Europe (here and here)
I’ve got some other collaborations in the works, and I have a backlog of pending projects that grows day by day (mentees are more than welcome 🙏).
The bottom line is
Don’t underestimate the power of social networks like Linkedin.
I owe all of this to the amazing platform that is LinkedIn. Just the other day, I shared a 2-month trial for LinkedIn Premium accounts to help 10 lucky winners transform their lives the same way I did (read the post here). If you’re not sure how to make the most of it, I offer one-on-one sessions tailored to your needs (find my services here).
Right now, I’m feeling incredibly grateful. I mean, I’m in my 30s and can’t wait to see what’s in store for the next chapters of my journey. If you’re up for joining me on this exciting path and writing those new chapters together, let’s chat. I’m open to collaborations of all kinds.
-“I say be happy with what you got”
-“YOU be happy. ME I want what’s coming to me”.
-“Oh, well what’s coming to you Tony?”
-“The WORLD chico …and everything in it”.
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