On this Worker Highlight, we sit down with Julia Ostrowski to study her time at Cloudera, what she loves about her job, her expertise on either side of Cloudera’s mentoring program, and her spectacular volunteer work.
Meet Julia Ostrowski
Julia is the Director of Enterprise Rights at Cloudera and has been with the corporate since 2019, becoming a member of by Hortonworks. Outdoors of her typical obligations, Julia is deeply concerned in varied philanthropic initiatives inside Cloudera, in addition to in her personal free time.
“At any time when there is a chance to do one thing good on the Santa Clara workplace for a few hours, I at all times bounce on it, it doesn’t matter what it’s,” Julia stated. “There are such a lot of rewarding initiatives that Cloudera organizes, from tutoring to caring for animals or serving to individuals in want. “It’s a giant a part of Cloudera’s tradition.”
Julia’s profession path at Cloudera
When Julia first got here to Cloudera, she labored in Help as a supervisor on the Help Product Administration crew, serving to to make sure that Cloudera’s COEs and Help Managers have been in a position to present top-level technical help to our clients. In 2022, you’ve got been provided the chance to hitch the dynamic and rising IT division led by Olivia Keenaghan as a part of Enterprise Functions. Now, you might be chargeable for managing a small crew that opinions all the rights enterprise course of, taking possession of any a part of the lifecycle that has been distributed and/or is unowned.
This was fairly a profession change, however he described the transfer to the IT division as “unbelievable,” crediting an unbelievable supervisor, a fantastic crew, and rewarding obligations.
“Making the transfer was a really welcoming expertise,” he stated. “I nonetheless come to my laptop computer day-after-day with a smile on my face. I benefit from the problem of by no means understanding precisely what every day will convey, and I am enthusiastic about fixing complicated issues to assist Cloudera develop. I’ve at all times stated that at Cloudera your profession is in your palms. I’ve seen individuals transfer from one crew to a totally totally different one with a lot success and charm, totally supported by their outdated and new managers. Sadly, this isn’t seen in all corporations.”
Julia’s crew, consisting of Ken McCarthy and Susy Mena-McCarthy, tracks and manages all Cloudera public cloud metering for billing functions and continuously optimizes processes to help enterprise wants. Their present huge undertaking is Challenge Lionheart: changing a license server to permit higher flexibility and far more management over buyer utilization details about their on-premises product.
Whereas Julia has a real ardour for fixing issues and creating worth throughout her each day work, she is at all times keen to make the most of Cloudera’s intensive donation and volunteer packages to volunteer her time and assist others.
Mentoring and Volunteering at Cloudera
Cloudera affords a mentoring program to assist staff enhance and navigate their careers. They get recommendation, set objectives, and discover ways to deal with troublesome conditions at work, comparable to a undertaking that does not go as deliberate. Julia, who shared that she herself has benefited from being an apprentice at each Cloudera and former organizations, volunteers to mentor as much as 4 colleagues at a time and sees this act as rewarding.
“I actually get pleasure from it,” he stated. “I’ve gotten a lot out of getting a mentor that I really feel obligated to be one myself, however fortunately, I find it irresistible. I recognize energy assembly new individuals at Cloudera and doing every little thing we will to assist information them of their careers.”
Julia says that always the secret is to keep up a superb angle, however the largest recommendation she affords is that uncertainty will not be at all times unhealthy so long as you’ve got a path ahead.
“It is okay to not know precisely the place you’ll be in ten, 5 and even two years,” he stated. “Anticipating to have your complete profession path mapped out to the final rock or pebble is a really old-school mind-set, however it is best to at all times maintain your subsequent aim in thoughts. It does not need to be a brand new title or a specific wage, however it may very well be a brand new ability set you need to add to your repertoire, for instance. I at all times ask trainees: ‘What’s your subsequent aim?’ and work with them to discover a method there.”
Cloudera Cares Volunteer Program
Julia additionally lends her time to philanthropic initiatives such because the Cloudera Teen Accelerator Program, an initiative organized by the Cloudera volunteer group, Cloudera cares.
The Teen Accelerator Program is a partnership with the Boys & Women Membership of America in each Tennessee and the San Francisco Bay Space. This program affords college students a six-week paid internship program at Cloudera and one-on-one worker mentoring, serving to facilitate alternatives in company America for highschool college students in low-income communities.
At first, Julia defined, she was a little bit nervous about beginning to work with this system as a result of she hadn’t had a lot interplay with youngsters. Nonetheless, regardless of that preliminary nervousness, she dove proper in and was immediately hooked when this system tapped into her ardour for serving to others.
“It was a really rewarding expertise,” Julia stated. “I requested myself, ‘What did I need to know concerning the enterprise world after I was 16?’ The primary time I used to be in an workplace in my early years, I did not know methods to costume or what to do. And there are such a lot of easy questions. I keep in mind not understanding if you must elevate your hand to go to the toilet or what ‘CEO’ means. I put myself in these footwear and I am glad I did. Truthfully, it was unbelievable.”
Through the teen mentorship, Julia partnered with Cy Jervis (Senior Supervisor, Help Information Packages) to nearly information the teenager by the ins and outs of Cloudera, introducing him to key departments and permitting him to ask questions and work together with colleagues. On the finish of this system, you left with a stable understanding of how trendy expertise corporations function.
“It was so attention-grabbing to listen to all of our colleagues share in depth what they do and what their division works on that I even realized together with him,” Julia stated. “I did not anticipate to have a lot enjoyable, however he was very engaged and it was simply nice.”
Julia additionally takes benefit of one other Cloudera volunteer initiative and spends a few of her time with Second Harvesta meals distribution group of their native space of San Jose, California. Via this volunteer program, a bunch of Cloudera staff (led by Govt Insights Program Director Amanda Allen) assist the group distribute meals to individuals in want.
“Cloudera affords fairly a number of volunteer alternatives and that is one in every of my absolute favorites,” Julia stated. “I make the most of each alternative to take part in it. It does not matter if it is sunny or raining. I get to go and spend time with different superior Clouderans that I would not usually see, and I actually get pleasure from it. “This can be a nice group that places meals into the palms of people that actually need it, and I actually recognize Amanda’s sturdy advocacy in organizing these alternatives for Cloudera.”
Julia is captivated with her philanthropic efforts and serving to these in want, each by Cloudera and out of doors of labor. She continues to foster canines and cats for native animal rescues (and sometimes they discover eternally houses together with her!). She loves having the ability to make a distinction in her function at Enterprise Entitlement and appreciates the flexibleness Cloudera gave her to discover a brand new function in IT that she actually enjoys.
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