Welcome to our Coffee Chat series, a place where we sit down with a delicious cup of coffee and get to know one of our ThousandEyes team members. Today, I’m joined by Sergio Freitas, a software engineering leader based in Portugal. Grab a fresh brew for yourself and watch our coffee chat, or read along below, as we dive into the innovative projects he has worked on and what he does day to day.
What was your university experience like?
I was born in Madeira, which is a little island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. I moved to Lisbon for university. When I finished my degree, I became a researcher at the university while I completed my master’s degree. We created the first Portuguese search engine and the first Portuguese Internet archive, which is still part of the official government.
What led you to ThousandEyes?
Two years before I joined ThousandEyes, I actually spoke with a member of the team, but at the time they only had locations in San Francisco, and I did not want to relocate. A few years later, I was living in the Netherlands, and ThousandEyes reached out to me again because they were opening a new office in London. I thought this would be a great opportunity now that the role would be based in Europe, and so I interviewed and, luckily, I made it!
What excites you about coming to work everyday?
When I think about what really excites me, it’s what we’re able to do with our product and how our customers love it. I like being able to build a product that is available all over the world that helps companies. We have an amazing team that is always trying to move forward, and it is always a joy to work with them. Everyone is always happy to help.
What moment have you found personally satisfying?
When the patent was granted for the Endpoint Agent scheduled tests, it was a really satisfying moment. I was on the team that developed the agent, and it was a great moment when the patent was granted.
What does a typical day look like for you?
What I do varies by the day. Sometimes I focus on system design and building new features. Other days, I support the people on my team and work with them. I try to understand their needs and how they can grow in their career. Other days, I talk with other teams about projects and see if I need to make any changes to allow for a project to move forward.
We’re hiring in Portugal, do you have any advice for our new teammates?
I am building the Software Engineering team in Portugal, so hiring is very important to me. ThousandEyes is a great place to work and we have a great company culture. Portugal itself has delicious food and beautiful places to visit, so it is a really great place to work and live. I would advise you to come work with us—it will be an amazing time!
Come Join Our Award-winning Workplace!
Getting to know first hand what it is like to work here reminds us why ThousandEyes is continuously recognized as a great workplace by the independent analysts at Great Place to Work. The analysts look at more than 60 elements of ThousandEyes team members' experience on the job, and here are some stand-out stats:
- 99 percent of employees agreed "our customers would rate the service we deliver as 'excellent.'"
- 99 percent are appreciative that "people celebrate special events around here."
- 98 percent said "management is honest and ethical in its business practices.'"
- 98 percent believe "people care about each other here."
- 98 percent felt "when people change jobs or work units, they are made to feel right at home."
Read more about this award at http://reviews.greatplacetowork.com/thousandeyes. If you love to solve complex problems daily and be a part of our incredible team, check out our Careers page to see open opportunities.