Hugo Cañedo

Hugo Canedo was a paramedic prior to starting his training at Per Scholas, and he knew he wanted to give tech a chance after feeling burnout in his career. He was also in the Navy, and discussed the severity of his time overseas and the difference between that and his time as a paramedic. He realized he didn’t want to put himself at risk anymore physically, and knew it was time to make a career change. Hugo started considering if he had any transferable skills to move into tech.

As he researched training options, Hugo found Per Scholas and saw that he needed some experience to take the Systems Administrator course. He took six months to study CompTIA certifications and network engineering through his G.I. Bill before he was accepted into our training at the end of 2019. 

During his training, Hugo was a mentor to his peers as he had previous workforce experience and felt a connection to everyone in his cohort. His class experience very different to his training and classroom experience in the Navy. Before the end of the course, the pandemic hit and his training had to go virtual. As a paramedic, he would see firsthand the effect of the pandemic in the city and commented on how everyone came together for support. “As a group, we held it together as best we could,” he recalled. “It was challenging, but nobody ever thought ‘what’s the point?’ because we had all worked so hard to get to this point.” 

Hugo mentioned that the holistic training of Per Scholas was really helpful to him in starting his career in tech. “The organization of the training really helped me be solid with interviewing, and I was able to understand what the interviewers were looking for. I appreciate what Per Scholas taught me.”

Now, Hugo is a Network Operations Center Engineer and is passionate about infrastructure and cybersecurity.  He is also in school right now pursuing his Masters in Cybersecurity and Information Assurance. Coming out of the military, Hugo found a passion for technology and wants to continue learning in the field. “I feel very fortunate to have had this training,” Hugo remarked. “It’s so necessary to give folks a chance at a career field they didn’t think was a thought or choice.”