ICUC Employee Spotlight: Ricardo Simões

Meet Ricardo Simões

We had the pleasure of chatting with gamer, remote worker, shy-but-not-so-shy Senior Content Specialist Ricardo. As it turns out, there is a viral trend running through ICUC: our employees love being around each other, even if it’s all virtual, and Ricardo’s opinion is no different. Ricardo’s only complaint about his job is that he wishes he and his colleagues were ‘in person’ just a little bit more! Let’s dive into Ricardo’s ICUC experience, how it changed his life for the better, and where he is at today (Hint: this will surprise you!)

What’s your role and what do you do every day?

“My role right now is a Senior Content Specialist. As far as the Senior part of Content Specialists go… We handle ad hoc client tasks that require a bit more care. For example, certain clients are not comfortable with a lot of people having direct access to their Social Media accounts and prefer that just one person has their login information. Other clients occasionally request special tasks or provide us with sensitive information, project updates, etc. We handle all of those “special” tasks, as well as working our normal shift of course. Right now, I work 4 times a week with 8-hour shifts, and I also take about 3-4 hours to verify that our work meets the expectations of our clients.

I’m lucky that the people I work with are all phenomenal, so I really don’t catch many mistakes.”

How did you first learn about ICUC?

“I started working here over 5 years ago… I think March 2016. At the time ICUC had a temporary project that completely blew up. The amount of content was completely unexpected. I knew a senior employee personally outside of ICUC, and they asked me if I’d be interested just to help with that project and make some extra money. It was supposed to be a temporary arrangement, but it was such an amazing experience! The people, the project, the company… what was supposed to be a 3-week thing, turned into what has now been 5 years of awesome opportunities and both professional and personal growth!

What’s amazing is that at the time I was studying at night, making up for time lost, and I was trying to get my career back on track. ICUC took me in and gave me an opportunity. To be honest, ICUC kind of changed my whole life.”

What do you like most about your job?

“The people. It has to be the people. Not only is everyone amazing, but you meet people from all over the world and from all kinds of cultures. From the U.S., Canada, India…all over Europe. And everyone is always so friendly and I’ve made a lot of good friends.

I even met my girlfriend through ICUC and now we’re living together! I moved to Panama from Portugal to be with her. I also love how working remotely has allowed me to work with companies that I would have never had the chance to.”

If you could change one thing about your job, what would it be?

“Honestly the only thing that could be better but at the same time is just the nature of the job…is that I meet all these amazing people, but I don’t get the chance to meet them in person. One thing that would be amazing would be to find a way to somehow be closer to them geographically. At the same time, that’s not the nature of the job.”

If you could tell your younger self some career advice, what would it be?

“Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

I always thought asking for help would make me look bad or less competent, and I’ve learned that’s simply not true. We all have problems we can’t fix on our own. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness, it’s just what we have to do. It’s better asking for help than end up resenting an end result that you know isn’t as good as it could be.”

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

“I’m a bit of a tech nerd. If I’m not working, I’m probably either gaming or watching tech-related videos. Phones, computers, consoles …I’m super fascinated by all things tech-related.”

Three words to best describe you?

“Nerdy. Shy. Weird.”

(Ricardo, we’re here for it❤️️)

Tell us something about yourself that would surprise us.

“I dropped out of school when I was in 6th grade, which was an awful decision obviously, but I managed to learn English all on my own. Fortunately, with the help of some amazing friends and family, I’ve been able to move forward with my life and overcome the depression that I lived with for a very long period of my life. It’s a part of my journey, and it’s part of what has led me to where I am today so even though it was the darkest period of my life, in a way, I’m still grateful for it. I was always fascinated by the English language. I’d hear it in movies, I’d read and hear it while gaming, I became obsessed with it. I picked up a dictionary, a notebook which I used to write word translations and notes, and the rest is history.”

Anything else to share with us?

“I’m just hoping I wasn’t too boring ????

You know, these are tough times we’re living in and we’re all going through difficult situations – personally and globally – COVID, all the division in the world… So, I just want to say to everyone, hold on to the people you love. Give them all the support that you can and go to them when you need their support. We’re going to get through all of this.”