Life At Nutanix POV: An Inside look at our Systems Engineering Academy
At Nutanix, our Systems Engineering and Solution Sales organization comprises 800+ customer-focused technical sales professionals worldwide, who are responsible for identifying and matching technology opportunities with our customers’ business needs and objectives, as well as channel partner training and enablement. Our newly launched Systems Engineering (SE) Academy provides a 12-month program for upcoming or recent graduates with a passion for technology and a desire to build the foundation for a career in enterprise technical sales. This international group of graduates have the opportunity to work in our beachfront Barcelona office while learning from our experienced team of Systems Engineers gaining skills, knowledge, and industry-recognized certifications. To give you some more insight into the program we asked one of our SE Academy graduates, Issi, to give their point of view (POV) on an average day working onsite in our Barcelona office. Here’s what they had to share: Issi: “After graduating with a Computer Science degree from Swansea University in the United Kingdom, I headed to sunny Barcelona, Spain. There, I joined Nutanix as an Associate Customer Success Systems Engineer (CSSE) in an office of almost 100 people from all over the world. Luckily, in this comparatively small office, we have a tight-knit community of co-workers I have the privilege of calling my friends. 8 AM - Rise and Shine! In the SE Academy, we follow a hybrid working schedule, with three days a week on-site and the other two from home. On a usual day in the office, I wake up at around 8 AM for my morning coffee while I get ready for work. During the summer I take the bus to work but lately, I’m taking advantage of the cooler weather by walking or cycling through the buzzing city and down to the beautifully situated Port Olympic beachfront, where our office is located, where I can enjoy the beautiful view. Once I arrive at the office, I deposit my laptop at my desk and head straight to the kitchen to catch up with my co-workers (while making a stop to raid the snack cupboard). 9:30 AM - Down to Business Around 9:30 AM, I sit down at my desk to check my emails and calendar for the day. I also use this time to check in with the other Associate CSSEs to ensure we are all aligned. This communal ritual helps ground my mindset and start the day. At around 10 AM, our Academy Manager, Vincent, will join us at our desk cluster to check in. Vincent uses this time to give us a roadmap of the work we should be focused on for the day. Typically, our workload consists of training, obtaining certifications, and shadowing our mentors or “buddies”. Our buddies are more senior CSSEs who already work with clients, and lead meetings, demos, and workshops. We sometimes get to prepare for mock demos, which we normally tackle together, as a cohort of graduates. I can’t write this without mentioning the amazing opportunities we are given as part of the sales team. Once a year, we are invited to Las Vegas for the Nutanix Sales Kick Off (SKO). Here, we can meet the entire global Nutanix sales team and network with all levels of the organization, all the way up to the CEO! It’s a week filled with incredible learning opportunities and unforgettable cultural experiences. Our team at the Nutanix Sales Kick Off 1 PM - Break time with Barcelona Buddies At around 13:00, we all break for lunch. We will normally either bring lunch from home or walk to the health food store together right around the corner. There is a beautiful area on the first floor of the office building where almost everyone congregates for lunch. We usually spend the full hour chatting and on sunny days, we even go to the beach to get an ice cream together! Beach Picnic for Lunch 2 PM - Shadowing, Studying, and Focus Work After lunch, it’s time for a little more coffee before heading back to our desks. In the afternoons, I find myself shadowing Zoom calls and quizzing the other graduates on questions for the upcoming certification. This is broken up by the occasional coffee run and chat session! Luckily when I need some silence to get focus work done, we all have access to our 27th floor workspace. And from here, you can see all of gorgeous Barcelona! Barcelona Office View Afterwork Happy Hours Once we have completed all of our tasks for the day, we’ll occasionally all go down to one of the local bars to unwind. The warm evening setting on the beach is perfect for decompressing and chatting about anything and everything with the wonderful team. We share interesting stories from our home countries or funny anecdotes from our day-to-day lives, fostering the creation of genuine relationships with one another. With colleagues from all over the world, I get to practice speaking different languages every day. I average about 3-4 different languages a day (and yes, they teach me all the good words)! Unwinding after work! When we’re not going out after work, I love meandering back home through the tiny side streets of the Gothic Quarter and exploring the beautiful historic area. In Spain, evenings only kick off at about 9 PM, leaving time to relax after work before meeting up with my friends for dinner, a glass of wine, or a bit of skateboarding. After only a few months at Nutanix, I can already feel the company's values of hungry, humble, honest, and heart in its people and office culture above all else. The Barcelona office is an incredible community and inclusive environment where everyone knows everyone. I can’t wait to continue my journey at Nutanix.”
