Network, focus on project work, follow your passion and work hard: Molina Sharma offers advice for engineering students
Molina Sharma
- Degree: Master of Applied Science
- Program:
- Campus: Vancouver
UBC Engineering alumna Molina Sharma’s enthusiasm for engineering is limitless. Now working as a Cloud Solutions Architect at Microsoft, Molina’s career trajectory is testimony to her enthusiastic embrace of new opportunities and commitment to being at the leading edge of her field.
Launching her career in the cloud
After gaining some engineering work experience, Molina landed a position that was the foundation of her career trajectory. Cloudreach, a UK-based company, was setting up an office in Vancouver and looking for cloud engineers and analysts. Did Molina have direct experience in this area? No. Did she have the foundational knowledge needed and a commitment to problem-solving that got her hired? Definitely.
“I was told that my degree from UBC combined with my passion and enthusiasm for learning were deciding factors for why they hired me,” she says, noting that within two years, she was the senior-most specialist on her team.
In 2017, she was approached by MicroStrategy, a US company that was impressed with her resume and accomplishments. They were soon to be impressed by her can-do spirit. “In the last of my three interviews, I was asked ‘are your ready to pack your bags?’ to which I said ‘I am ready to fly out this evening.’ The interviewer was shocked, but that’s the level of passion I had for this company and the work I would be able to do for them.”
Molina flew down to Fairfax, Virginia, with two bags, and soon set up her life. Over the next three years she become a Senior Cloud Systems Engineer, working with clients to manage their technology infrastructure and migrate existing solutions to the cloud, all while managing a team of engineers.
Shortly after the initial outbreak of COVID-19, Molina received an invitation to interview with Microsoft, and she soon found herself packing her belongings once again to move back to Canada.
Cloudreach MicroStrategy Microsoft
Advice for engineering students
Molina has lots of advice for engineering students. First and foremost: network! “Do as much networking as you can,” she advises. “Attend career fairs, talk to people, get their email addresses and connect on LinkedIn. Then, when you are applying for a co-op job or job after graduation, you have connections you can start from. Also, don’t be shy to reach out to ask for a virtual or in-person coffee chat. Many times, you won’t get a response, but I promise that if you make that extra effort it will pay off some day.”
She advises focusing on experiences rather than grades. “Work hard on your class projects or projects you’re working on as part of design teams or co-op. That experience is so important and can help you land your dream job.” She also advises that students pick up external certifications in areas outside their focus of studies to round out their skill sets.
Her second-to-last piece of advice reflects her unbridled love of her area of work. “Consider working in the cloud! This is an amazing field and when you work in this area, there is the opportunity to learn so much, all the time.”
And her final words of wisdom? “Self-belief and hard work will always earn you success.”
