Juan Marcos Bruno, software engineer at Information Mosaic, tells us why he chose Ireland as a place to live and work, and how the open-minded people he meets are helping him settle in.
Where are you from?
Buenos Aires. As the capital of Argentina, it has around four million people living in the city alone (13 million, counting the suburbs). Being such a huge city, it has many things to offer (cultural activities, superior education and a good range of job opportunities for example) but right now it suffers from a high crime rate – economic instability is also impacting on life conditions.
How long have you been in Ireland?
A month and a week.
Why did you move here?
At a personal level the need for a change, but also the opportunity to grow professionally.
What work do you do?
My role in Information Mosaic is a software engineer on the production support team. This involves fixing errors or unexpected behaviours (commonly called “bugs”) in the applications that we have developed in the last few years. This helps our products achieve a good degree of software maturity. What I like about my job is the fact that it’s challenging, because it involves grasping a good understanding of very complex systems as well as learning and training in the financial business logic behind it.
How would you describe your working environment?
It’s a positive working environment, where open communication is promoted. It also has a good and clear roadmap for training and updating, both in the business and technical knowledge. There is also a nice integration and relationship between all the employees, regardless of their field or department.
What do you like most about your job?
Everybody is very kind, patient and eager to make me feel like at home.
Was it difficult to adjust to living and working in Ireland?
Learning the cultural differences was the difficult part, whether that involved social interactions or how different a Latin culture can be from Ireland’s.
What surprised you about moving to Ireland?
In general, people are very respectful and open-minded towards foreigners.
How does your working life help to make you feel at home here?
It helps integrating with society through becoming acquainted with my co-workers, while also establishing a routine which is always helpful in the early stages after moving.
What do you like most about your adopted home?
The beauty of the countryside and the cultural diversity and options that Dublin offers, even though it’s not that big of a city.
