From hopeful DREAMer to finding belonging and an inspiring career in tech

Alejandro Vasquez Lam grew up in a low-income immigrant household, where he learned about the importance of money management. He became intrigued by products like QuickBooks and his interest in these products led him to Intuit where he interned in the summer of 2017 and was later hired as a full-time software engineer.

We recently sat down with Alejandro Vasquez Lam to learn about his path to Intuit, his current role and what his experience of working at Intuit has been so far. 

How it started

As a DREAMer hoping to be employed full-time with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status (DACA), I was worried about whether Intuit or any company would be able to hire me after graduating college. I was thrilled to have an internship at Intuit, where I had a number of learning opportunities and experienced a collaborative community that helped me grow. 

When I first joined Intuit as an intern, and later as a full-time software engineer, I really struggled with imposter syndrome. I questioned whether I belonged at Intuit and in tech as a whole. Over time, my team helped me realize that it’s OK not to know every technical detail when starting out and challenged me to continue learning as much as I can.

The intern experience made me comfortable with tackling new technical challenges and also helped me to discover the importance of networking. I felt an even greater sense of belonging at Intuit when the company signed an open letter in support of DREAMers and DACA.

How it’s going

As a full-time senior software engineer, I’m responsible for creating and maintaining the Extract, Transform, and Lead (ETL) pipelines that populate our data lake. My current scrum team focuses on data required for TurboTax-related dashboards and reports that ultimately enable leadership to make business decisions. 

I appreciated the level of collaboration and mentorship I experienced as I grew my career, which led me to feel more comfortable taking on larger problems. Now every new problem or project becomes a learning opportunity to continue growing as an engineer.

As someone who considers themselves to be relatively shy and quiet, I’ve found myself being comfortable sharing my experience and perspectives for solving both technical and non-technical problems.This type of inclusive environment encourages all team members to voice their ideas, allowing us to continuously improve and innovate for our stakeholders. Being comfortable bringing my whole self to work has allowed me to share my experiences with different members of the Intuit community, ranging from interns and local team members to members of the company’s leadership team such as our CEO, Sasan Goodarzi.

I’m also getting to explore opportunities in management as one of my goals is to be a resource to my team members and help promote a more inclusive environment. I’m currently helping with the team’s summer interns and try to meet regularly with other early career team members. This experience is allowing me to explore if I’d like to move towards a management role in the future.

I really value how Intuit encourages people to bring their whole self to work. 

Do you have dreams of creating a career in tech? 

Whoever you are, whatever your starting point is, there’s a place at Intuit for you. While Alejandro first joined Intuit through our internship program, there are many different paths to find a career at Intuit. Learn more about our recruitment programs and career opportunities at Intuit.com/careers.