Set to receive a degree in Computer Engineering from Concordia University, Ioannis Kromidakis shares his experience working at Aruba’s Montreal location. Sylvia Ruiz, Aruba’s HR and university program manager chats with him about his love of working in networking equipment and his musical talent.
Sylvia: Where are you from and what are you currently studying at your university?
Ioannis: I'm from Montreal, Quebec, Canada and I'm at Concordia University, also in Montreal. I'm studying Computer Engineering.
Sylvia: Why did you choose to apply for the internship at Aruba?
Ioannis: I had heard of Aruba before and thought it would be really cool to work with them. I knew they made networking equipment, like access points and switches. Working in networking is definitely one of my passions, so that’s also why I applied. I've studied networking before, and I came in with some background knowledge that only grew while working here.
Sylvia: What group or department do you work for? What are some of your day-to-day responsibilities?
Ioannis: I'm a jack of all trades. I do a lot of things at the same time, including working in labs and in our server room. I also love working in the server room, setting them up, configuring them, all that kind of good stuff. It’s really fun setting up servers for our environments.
Sylvia: Are you working on any long term projects?
Ioannis: Pretty much every project I did could be considered long-term. One project I did was work on automation for the web UI, and that took me some time because I had to get used to the framework and how it works. Plus we were working with Selenium and the framework at the same time, you have to know how to use it properly. 
Sylvia: What intern event are you most excited about? (It may not have happened yet!)
Ioannis: The Escape Room was my favorite. We played laser tag and did the Escape Room and I really liked the Escape Room experience. You’re working as a team and it reminds me, you know a bit of teamwork. It felt similar to work in a way, like how we all work together to accomplish one main goal.
Sylvia: What has been your favorite memory at Aruba so far?
Ioannis: I find that the site BBQ brings everybody together. It's not only your department, and you get to meet all these people throughout the company. You're all talking, how's this project going, how's that project going and you also get to talk about other things not related to work, which is good too. I find that's a good memory and plus we also took some nice pictures, it was really fun.
Sylvia: What person (or group of people) has been the most inspiring mentor for you and why?
Ioannis: My supervisor's name is Kacem. He's been a great mentor to me, and has taught me a lot. He showed me around, how everything works and we work great as a team. He really showed us what great teamwork is and how to accomplish things the right way. He's a great mentor. He always tells me never to give up and that's the most important thing I can remember at this internship, as it really applies to everything I do. John McCabe, who is the head network and systems admin here, is also a huge mentor for me, and I’m really lucky to work with them both.
Sylvia: How would you describe the corporate culture at Aruba?
Ioannis: Interns at Aruba get treated really, really well. We’re treated the same way as any other employee and co-worker, which is how it should be in my opinion. We work with incredibly helpful managers and co-workers. We’re always included in team-wide events, and it just adds to the focus that Aruba puts on teamwork, which is awesome.
Sylvia: What have you enjoyed most from working at Aruba and what are some favorite takeaways?
Ioannis: I like that it's not just work all the time. Sometimes you just want to de-stress, you want to just sit down and talk about other stuff, just to get your mind off things. I like the fact that my team is able to do that. We can chat and laugh for a few minutes, get our minds off work, and then we go back with fresh minds and often produce better work.
Sylvia: What is your ideal future career path?
Ioannis: I want to graduate as an engineer and eventually work in the networking or computer business. That's my passion. I like working with servers and all sorts of networking equipment, that's my priority.
Sylvia: What is one thing most people don’t know about you?
Ioannis: One thing that most people don't know about me is that I play a Greek musical instrument called the Bouzouki. I started when I was five years old, and since then I’ve loved producing music and playing music live for entertainment purposes.
Check out our previous intern interview, and look out for more blogs on our 2019 Meet the Intern blog series!
