Life at Logicworks
Meet the team of cloud experts! Logicworks helps customers migrate, run, and operate mission-critical workloads on AWS and Azure with security, scalability, and efficiency baked in. Together with our team of dedicated certified engineers and decades of IT management experience, we ensure our customers’ success across every stage of the Cloud Adoption Framework.
Job Interview Tips: How To Best Showcase Your Skills!
💎 Prepare for your job interview with Logicworks! Learn how to best showcase your skills, build a stand-out resume, and more!
📼 Prepare for a job interview and learn how to showcase your skills with these tips from Jessica Cowle, Technical Recruiter at Logicworks, who will go over Logicworks’ application process and give you some insights into preparing for your interview.
📼 The best way to prepare before a job interview is to think about how to clearly and concisely showcase your background and skills. Logicworks' interviewers will ask probing questions that dive deeper into your experiences. Long-winded responses lead the interviewers to believe that you are trying to manufacture an answer. So if you don't know something, it's best to admit it! When asked about specific projects or experiences you've had, make sure you give examples of times when you demonstrated your earned skills in the workplace. Tell meaningful stories, focusing on context, action, and results.
📼 Apart from the job interview, your resume is another way to showcase your skills. There are many different ways to make your resume stand out from the pack. Typically, a resume with certifications like AWS Cloud Practitioner, Solutions Architect, or Azure Fundamentals will stand out more than a profile without any. These credentials prove you have the desire to go above and beyond to sharpen your skillset (even outside your role). And at Logicworks, recruiters like to see strong tenure. So if your profile is a bit hoppy, their team might scrutinize it a bit. They're also looking for candidates that have worked in customer-facing roles. When hiring for a non-technical position, like Accounting or Sales, recruiters like to see intellectually curious candidates!
Ace Your Job Interview At Logicworks - Showcase Your Skills And Shine!
There are a lot of things that Logicworks recruiters look for in candidates. One of them is professionals who embody their core values. Logicworks is a people-first business with a grow-or-die mentality. Suppose someone lacks specific technical skills but makes up for it with personality and attitude. In that case, recruiters will most likely be interested in hiring that person and invest the time to train them on technical skills. So, if you feel you could be a fit for Logicworks, even if you don't check 100% of the boxes, don't feel discouraged to apply!
🧑💼 Are you interested in joining Logicworks? They have open positions! To learn more, click here.
Get To Know Jessica
Jessica is a Technical Recruiter, Content Creator, Licensed Mechanical Bull Operator, and former Musical Theatre major with a Master of Science (M.S.) focused in Marketing Communication Management from Manhattanville College School of Professional Studies. And she’s a proud AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner. Ask her about coffee☕️, skiing 🎿 , musical theatre 🎭 , or punk rock music 🤘🏼🎸! If you are interested in a career at Logicworks, you can connect with her on LinkedIn!
More About Logicworks
Logicworks helps customers migrate, run, and operate mission-critical workloads on AWS and Azure with baked-in security, scalability, and efficiency. Their Cloud Reliability Platform combines world-class engineering talent, policy-as-code, and integrated tooling to enable customers to confidently meet compliance regulations, security requirements, cost control, and high availability. The team of dedicated certified engineers with decades of IT management experience at Logicworks ensures their customers’ success across every stage of the Cloud Adoption Framework.
5 Questions from Logicworks’ Donovan Brady to Help Grow Your Career
Donovan Brady knew he’d found the company he wanted to work for during the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
He was doing his first internship at cloud services company Logicworks, and his coworkers brought him to the dedicated conference room for watching the games.
“It was playing on a projector all day, everyday. People were getting work done and going to check on the scores in their free time,” he says. “I felt like I didn’t have to be just a cog. Logicworks truly embodied the value of ‘remember to always have fun.’ I didn’t have to wake up everyday not wanting to go to work. That was really meaningful.”
Now, seven years later, Donovan is the Director of Solutions Architecture at Logicworks and sees plenty more growth opportunities in front of him, whether that’s evolving the company’s diversity and inclusion group (for which he serves as chairman) or enabling his team to be more strategic partners to their customers. Donovan has come a long way from being an intern, and we sat down with him to hear more about his career path at Logicworks and his advice for others looking to make the most of opportunities in front of them.
Helping Technology Drive Business
As a kid, Donovan and his best friend Alan were big into video games. (Donovan still enjoys playing them; his all-time favorite game is Dark Souls, he says, because it’s extremely hard to play until you understand how it tries to trick you—just like life.)
Alan taught Donovan to program, and the two launched a business building computers and fixing Xboxes for their classmates. It sparked something in Donovan: “I decided that this is what I’m going to do. I’m going to start a technology conglomerate that’s going to combat Apple,” he says.
That dream stayed with Donovan until college, where he decided to study computer science and economics to build the core two skills needed for his business, but he quickly realized that other companies had filled that market. (Amazon and Microsoft among them.)
So he decided to pivot and find a role where he could apply his technological skills. His part-time job at his college’s career resource center meant he had an up-close view of the latest internships and job postings, and when he saw a role in cloud computing at Logicworks, he decided to apply.
“It sounded like that might be the direction the world was going, with ‘that cloud thing,’” he says. “So I applied. I had a giant afro at the time and I showed up in a suit. Everyone made fun of me [for being overdressed]—they were in sweatpants. But I had to look good!”
He got the internship (and wore the suit again for his first day—then put it in the closet until he became a solutions architect, but more on that later). His area of responsibility was network engineering, which he didn’t love. When he flagged that to his manager, she invited him back the next summer to try their DevOps and software engineering internship, which he did.
Immediately, Donovan knew he’d found his subject area. “AWS had just come out with Lambda, which was serverless technology and just mindblowing, game-changing stuff,” he says. “I was tasked with deploying our first Lambda function, and I felt really proud of myself for being a pioneer in this space.”
It was Logicworks’ commitment to his growth—listening to his interests and inviting him back for another internship that more closely matched them—that convinced Donovan to join Logicworks full-time after graduation.
In his career there, he’s found that commitment to continue.
First, it was with his coworkers and mentors, Dakota and Phil, who introduced him to solutions architecture. The company had just introduced the solutions architect role, and Phil was the first one to fill it. The combination of business strategy and on-the-ground technology fascinated Donovan.
“It seemed really interesting. Just like architects for buildings, cloud solutions architects design the blueprint for what a customer’s cloud environment is going to look like—they're the producer and visionary, and the rest of the team carries out that vision,” says Donovan.
He couldn’t get the idea out of his head, so he talked to a few mentors in sales about transitioning into a sales and delivery role, and eventually to the company’s CRO and CEO about the solutions architect skillset.
“That’s why I love Logicworks’ culture,” says Donovan. “Who was this 23 year old kid talking to the CEO about his career plans? But they all made time for me and gave me advice.”
Stepping into Leadership
Donovan ended up joining as the company’s third sales solution architect. The team’s processes were undefined and messy, so Donovan raised his hand to build clear deliverables and processes. That set him up to step into a team lead role about a year and half into his new role, which gave Donovan exposure to cross-functional strategy and prioritization.
Two years into that role, Donovan was asked to take on a director role.
“It’s still a learning curve, but if you’re not learning, you’re in the wrong place,” he says. “We worked it out so that it’s a player-coach role, so I can still work with customers doing the work I love, but also be intimately involved with my team and their opportunities.”
The best parts of each week, says Donovan, are his 1:1s with his team. “I love helping people and solving problems,” he says. “I have a great team, and creating opportunities for them and allowing them to succeed is really a highlight.”
Now that he’s also the chairman of Logicwork’s diversity and inclusion group, Donovan is extra motivated to keep making the company’s culture one that works for everyone. Current initiatives include running solidarity sessions that take place every other week for underrepresented employees to talk about things that are bothering them or to raise awareness of issues they face, and creating cultural learning opportunities to share cuisines, history, and art from different groups.
“Things happen in the world all the time,” says Donovan, referencing the deaths of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery last year. “That doesn’t mean that the world has to stop, but we should also acknowledge the current political and social climates and how they affect our coworkers with respect to their jobs. I wanted to create space for Logicworks employees to come together and discuss what they’re experiencing to raise awareness for those of us who are unaware of these struggles. I am a firm believer that the only way to grow is to grow together, and I wanted to facilitate that growth at Logicworks.”
5 Questions to Find a Company Where You Can Grow
Donovan’s internship at Logicworks grew into a return offer for another internship, then a full-time job offer, and then several promotions, all the way up to his current role of Director. As he navigated that path, he came up with a few guiding questions for other entry-level or new hires who are evaluating whether or not they see a long-term future at their first company:
- Do you like the culture? “Search for culture first. How do you fit in with the people, with the company, and with what they’re trying to accomplish?” he asks.
- Are they flexible when it comes to transfers and promotions? “Some companies say you have to stay in a role for four years before you can move,” says Donovan. “It’s very rigid and structured. At Logicworks, I said I wanted to do something else, and they said, ‘Great, let’s see how that looks.’ They’ve rewarded me for being hungry.”
- Are they on your side? Donovan was nervous to ask for a raise when he transitioned from software engineering into solutions architecture. “My heart was racing, and I didn’t know what to do,” he says. “I asked for a number that I thought was in line with the market, and my voice was trembling the whole time.” But Donovan’s manager took it seriously and told him they’d work it out.
- Are there people you’d want to learn from? Donovan has half a dozen mentors at Logicworks alone who have helped him determine his career path, and he encourages people to look for their own. “You need somebody you can turn to for advice when otherwise you’d just be alone in it. Find people in your corner that you can talk to and bounce ideas off of, because they’re going to help you go further faster.”
- Can you envision yourself succeeding at the company? “Don't be afraid to ask the hard questions in interviewing,” says Donovan. “You can ask, ‘What's it like to be a Black person at this company?’”
Interested in growing your career at Logicworks? Check out their open roles!
10 Questions with a Client Engagement Manager
Below is an article originally written by Melissa Schultz, and published on January 1, 2020. Go to Logicworks company page on PowerToFly to see their open positions and learn more.
Meet Melissa Schultz, one of our Client Engagement Managers, located in Colorado!
What is your favorite thing about Logicworks?
I worked at a lot of other companies, and Logicworks is the first place where I have ever felt at home. When things don't make sense, we openly discuss and make changes. My problems are not considered small by my superiors and often get resolved for me. I really love that.
Additionally, my favorite thing about Logicworks is our CEO, Ken Ziegler. Ever since we began working from home due to Covid19, he sends weekly update emails where all department managers highlight their teams. Being in Denver, we're a few weeks behind New York in regards to the virus, so whenever there's an update I know to go buy some toilet paper to prepare!
Outside of that, he has not shied away from saying anything regarding Black Lives Matter. I have talked to my superiors about potential landmine topics, and they respect me and my concerns. I feel I can talk to them about anything.
What is your role?
As a Client Engagement Manager, my responsibility is to onboard customers onto our managed services and navigate any technical, operational, or political pitfalls that may arise. I'm responsible for building customer relationships, managing first impressions and getting them excited about our managed services and their long-term relationship with us.
I also manage the team that turns a statement of work into reality. I partner with a Solutions Architect to discuss with the client their business needs and technical drivers which we use to produce a custom designed environment. We map out the work, aligning it to best practices and Logicworks security standards, and transfer the information from the Solutions Architect to the Build Engineer.
Once we build out the environment, the customer will load their application onto the infrastructure layer. The customer is then responsible for the application layer and testing it through to full functionality. Once the application is there, we apply Logicworks' suite of managed services including monitoring and alerting processes, Trend Micro security packages, ThreatStack security event management, and any other needed processes to secure the customer's specific needs. Following this process is vital to maintaining the customer relationship while plugging and playing resources and changing subject matters over months of work.
What's a typical day like for you?
The first thing I do every day is spend 30 minutes organizing my day and building a task list for myself and my projects. As I get new items throughout the day, I will throw them on the list. At the end of the day, I go back and flesh out what still needs to be done and tie up loose ends.
In between time management, I have meetings. I'm the primary contact for my assigned clients, so I'm often having calls to discuss their needs. I'll also have general project management meetings where we're looking at timelines, talking about contracts and technical working sessions that are led by an engineer. I rarely have less than 5 hours of client meetings a day.
What is the most exciting part about your job?
Everything we do here is highly technical. From our customers' perspective, this may be the most anxiety-driven business operation they had to do in years. It's a great opportunity to help people get through it smoothly and easily.
There are a lot of wins to be had, and I enjoy getting those wins. My favorite part of my job is onboarding our customers and calming their anxieties. That's a win. Or finding and discovering a solution to a technical problem that was causing things to get muddied. That's also a win.
Did you ever think you would be in the technology industry growing up? How did you get into the Cloud industry?
When I was in college, I minored in music. I was a singer and a dancer, and I played five instruments. To this day, I still have a ballet bar in my workout room. I was also an off-broadway performer and was in the national tours of Chicago, Victor Victoria, and the Disney Musical Revue (which was my favorite to perform).
I went into the IT industry because I had to make a conscious decision about the direction of my life and performing wasn't panning out in terms of money and stability. So, I decided to go to business school. I picked IT because there wasn't enough female representation, and I wanted to go into a male dominated industry.
What are you currently watching on Netflix/Hulu/Prime?
I just finished watching a few documentaries. I also like a lot of weird horror movies and have been digging the bottom of the barrel on Netflix. I love anything dumb, bloody, or scary. If it's won an academy award, I don't want to see it.
Where is your favorite travel destination and why?
I have two favorite spots. Mexico is my favorite place. The beaches are perfect, the people are nice, and it's a short 6-hour flight. I have the best group of friends. We pick up and run to Cancun for a weekend a few times a year, and it's the best.
My second favorite travel destination is Teton Valley, Idaho. It is on the other side of the Tetons from Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Teton Valley is considered America's greatest unspoiled wilderness and has the largest elk preserve with over 45,000 elk that you can view on a sleigh ride during the winter.
What are you passionate about outside of work?
I love hiking in Colorado. We have "fourteeners" which are the 58 peaks in the Rocky Mountains that are all over 14 thousand feet tall. If you hike to the top of a fourteener, you have bragging rights.
I have personally hiked four fourteeners and failed two, which take about 12 hours to complete.
Other than hiking, I love yoga, dancing, and singing. I spend time volunteering at the Happy Trails Horse Rescue whenever I can to work with horses and pigs because I love animals. I'm also passionate about civil rights and that has taken up a lot of my time lately.
Advice for anyone looking to join the cloud computing industry?
Start doing it! There are so many reasons to get into the cloud. If you want to, there's no reason to not start now. All you have to do is say yes. You don't need to work for AWS to create an account and launch a VPC with an instance inside it and a load balancer in front of it. And the Cloud Practitioner courses are free to take.
I got into the cloud industry because it's exciting, constantly changing, and allows me to work with cutting edge technology.
This interview is part of a series of interviews with Logicworks employees. If you're interested in applying to Logicworks, visit our Jobs page or email us at jcowle@logicworks.net.