Getting to know datacenter employees: Shuaib Hamid
Microsoft’s success depends on our people. We are proud to introduce some of the talented folks in your community who work in our global datacenters. Discover what inspired them to seek a career in the tech industry, the different pathways they pursued, and what a day in the life of a datacenter employee looks like.
Introducing Shuaib Hamid
Datacenter Technician
Cheyenne
Employee since 2019
Early days
Shuaib was born in a small village called Al-Sahlah, located in Ibb governorate, Yemen. Growing up, he had to walk about 3 miles to school every weekday to study. Basic human needs were very limited and hard to get in a remote village like his hometown. Shuaib grew up away from technology and spent most of his time playing outside with his friends. In 2008, his older brother sent him an old desktop PC to watch the cartoon Future Boy Conan. Playing with that desktop PC really got Shuaib’s attention. In 2009, his family got the opportunity to move to the United States.
The path to technology
After finishing an Associates degree in criminal justice, Shuaib felt like criminal justice was not for him. While playing soccer, one of Shuaib’s buddies talked him into taking an intro class to computer science. Shuaib took his advice and signed up for the class. One of Shuaib’s teachers, Troy Amick, introduced him to Microsoft’s Datacenter Academy. He went to his advisor and signed up for the program.
In the summer of 2019, Shuaib finished the Datacenter Academy program and got his certification. As part of the DCA program, Shuaib was notified about a job opening at the local datacenter in Cheyenne, he applied for it, went through the interview process, and got hired on September 9, 2019.
Superpowers
Training the new technicians is one of Shuaib’s favorite things to do. Seeing the “aha” moment on their face when everything clicks is out of this world. Just being a resource to everyone at work is something he likes doing—being that person everyone can reach out to when they have difficulties troubleshooting servers, understanding what the ticket is asking for, and helping them with any barriers they may face. Shuaib likes doing the most difficult tasks on the team to further his knowledge and challenge himself.
A day in the life
Shuaib gets to work at 6 PM, goes through his emails, makes sure everyone on the shift gets assigned tickets to their respective building, and looks at his assigned tickets to start creating a to-do list for the day. Around 6:30 PM, he attends a 5-in-15 meeting to discuss safety, highlights and lowlights from the previous shift, weather conditions, and if any major projects are going on for that day. Around 11 PM he takes lunch, during which he video chats with his wife who currently resides in Saudi Arabia waiting for her immigration visa to get approved. After lunch, Shuaib monitors the queue for anything unusual. He goes back to work till 6 AM. When he gets home, he tries to go to bed right away so he can get up early in the afternoon to run errands and make lunch for the day.
Favorite childhood food
Yemeni shakshouka
Yemen has a variety of dishes. Shakshouka reminds Shuaib of his childhood. His sister-in-law used to make this dish for the entire family for dinner. It reminds him of childhood when his family would gather around to share dinner with laughter and good memories.
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