Pinterest Engineering: Meet Josan Gómez Castillo from Mexico City

Josan Gómez Castillo, Software Engineer I, sat down with the Life at Pinterest team to discuss being one of our first interns in Mexico City, highlights from his internship experience and his transition to a full-time role. 

Hi Josan! Thanks for joining us. Can you tell us how you learned about the opportunity to join Pinterest as an intern? 

Pinterest engineers based in Mexico City came to a recruitment event that my university was hosting. I traveled an hour and a half to meet the team and learn more about the internship program. 

That day, as I was learning more about Pinterest, I was excited and nervous about it being my last opportunity to intern at the company before I graduated. Once the role was posted, I applied that same week hoping for the best. 

Before the event, I never considered joining Pinterest because the team hadn’t previously hired interns in Mexico. I was part of the first cohort of Pinterns here, and it was the perfect timing for me to join. 

How was your transition from being a full-time student to working in engineering at Pinterest? 

It was definitely a change of environment and mentality – transitioning from being a student to corporate life. As a student, I was used to clear instructions on assigned tasks like homework and my schedule was clearly defined; I always knew what to do and where to go. 

Pinterest provides a more flexible environment, and any pressure I felt from school doesn’t exist here. At first, that made me feel lost. I needed guidance, and fortunately, the Web Modernization team I joined helped me in this transition by resolving my doubts, answering my questions and providing me the tools to gain independence and confidence in my work. Over time, I learned how to distribute and organize my priorities in a way that best met my working style. 

My internship experience was fun and filled with growth opportunities. I reached the point where I was the complete owner of the project I was working on, allowing me to be proactive, enabling me to create and assign my own tasks and ultimately helping me gain more independence. 

What made you want to come back to Pinterest as a Software Engineer? Did you return to the same team? 

When my internship first started, I was determined to receive a full-time offer from Pinterest. I loved the culture, the people, the values, the work and the impact I saw myself making. Throughout my internship, I consistently tried to deliver high-quality work, actively sought feedback from my manager and mentor which helped me get on the right track. Besides the feedback from my teammates, I was constantly looking at the role expectations to know areas that I needed to develop. Those two elements helped me redirect my efforts towards my goal.  Lastly, I built strong relationships across multiple teams to demonstrate my commitment and value to Pinterest.

Following my performance review, successful project completion and through the team's headcount planning process, I was thrilled to be offered a full-time position. While there wasn't an opening on the Web team where I completed my internship, my leaders recognized my potential and offered me a role on the Android team. Even though I didn't feel completely ready for a new platform, I knew that if I waited until I felt ready, I would miss a great opportunity. I returned to Pinterest full-time following my graduation.

How did our flexible work model contribute to your internship experience? 

The intern experience at Pinterest offers flexibility in how you connect with your cohort and the broader team. While day-to-day work may keep interns focused on their individual projects, office events and casual interactions create meaningful opportunities to build relationships across teams and learn about different areas of the company, especially valuable if you're working with a distributed team.

I was lucky that the team that I joined had members based here in Mexico City. Part of the team comes into the office once a week, and my mentor and manager both live near the office. This helps me collaborate with them and ask them questions in person with the turn of my chair. 

Yes, working from home is great, but for me, having my coworkers by my side is very helpful. Since this is my first corporate job experience, I’ve found that opportunities to collaborate in person have provided me with a better way to share my ideas and work on projects. 

What do you think students should know about opportunities at Pinterest? 

You can join Pinterest at any point of your career - whether you have years of experience or you’re a student entering the workforce. My advice is to be prepared for an amazing work environment, where every idea is well received no matter who it comes from.

From the values of the company to the mission and the people behind the product, Pinterest really cares for you and the well-being of its users. 

Applications to join our University programs are now open! Explore opportunities and apply here.