Adventure can come in many forms. Living in multiple countries, traveling as often as possible, and choosing a career where every day is different, are just a few examples. And, Taras, one of the Help Desk Engineers at Intivix, chose all of those examples, as well as a few more.
Taras has been with Intivix for just under a year, but in that time has made a tremendous impact on our clients. As a Help Desk Engineer, Taras focuses on supporting clients with their IT challenges and questions. That may come in the form of answering their calls or emails or visiting clients on-site. Taras focuses on listening and understanding the problem and working with them to find a solution. The best part, for Taras, is that no two days are alike. The questions are always different, the client needs change, the world of IT changes — and Taras wouldn’t have it any other way.
The IT Life
The evolving landscape and the ability to continue to learn is what pulled Taras towards a career in IT. He attended the City College of San Francisco to pursue his interest in IT and had a few great experiences along the way. One of those experiences was representing his school in the Collegiate Penetration Testing Competition, CPTC, a Cybersecurity competition that focuses on “real-world penetration testing engagement conducted by companies, professional services firms, and internal security departments around the world.” Taras, and his team, put in multiple nights of studying and research, along with their regular courses, to prep for this competition. In the end, their extra work was worth it, as they took first place in the Western Regional.
Another great experience was meeting Rob Schenk, Partner at Intivix. They originally met at a job fair, which enabled Taras to learn more about Intivix. They were also on the same team for the CPTC competition. Working at Intivix seemed like a natural fit after that.
Taras also met his girlfriend while at City College of San Francisco. While both were involved in the IT program, they met on the volleyball court. Both enjoy playing volleyball and happened to be playing on a similar night at a local spot around two years ago. Since then, they’ve enjoyed studying together, continuing to play volleyball when they can, trying out kayaking, testing out their legs on snowboards, and meditating to stay centered.
Traveling The World
Although Taras has lived in the San Francisco-Bay area for five years, California is not the only place he has called home. Taras grew up in Belarus, located in Eastern Europe, and lived there for 23 years. It was time for new experiences, so he moved to Moscow, Russia, for five years and lived in India for 6 months before moving to California. California had two things calling his name — a strong IT opportunity and his older sister. Yep, the combination of family and his desire to get into IT is what brought him to CA.
But Taras isn’t a sit still kind of guy — he’s a traveler by heart. In addition to where he has lived and called home, he’s traveled to Italy, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Cambodia, Florida, Illinois (Chicago), Texas, Nevada (Las Vegas), Hawaii, and down to Southern California as well. Traveling seems to be in his blood because he has hopes to travel to Japan one day — the fact that it is isolated and immensely developed has piqued his curiosity.
These travels, especially through Europe, have cultivated his love for coffee. But you probably won’t catch him with an extra-large cup of coffee. He’s an Espresso kind of guy — plain black to be exact. In fact, he has fond memories of a local coffee shop in Italy that served great Espresso, and some amazing, from scratch, croissants.
And while he’s certainly sampled plenty of international cuisines, his favorite food is still one that draws him back to Belarus. It’s called draniki, and it’s the national dish of Belarus. It’s a mix of potatoes and onions, fried into a pancake like shape — they remind him of home, and taste amazing as well!
Enjoying Other Interests
When Taras does have spare time and isn’t out and about traveling, you might catch him watching a San Jose Sharks game, playing FIFA 21, digging into a fiction book by author Haruki Murakami, or cooking up an omelet, his signature dish. His preference, as you might expect, is to be out in the world, or his local community, exploring.
It all ties back into no two days being the same — it not only keeps things interesting for Taras, but it means he can constantly be learning new things and absorbing new experiences.
Contact the Intivix expert team now at (628) 867–6130 or success@intivix.com. Intivix is your San Francisco based IT team ready to meet your needs. Stay in the know, Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram for more tips and tricks.
