Spark! Alum, Where Are They Now? Mark Bestavros
“Stay involved with Spark!. Mentor for the Innovation Fellows and the X-Lab. They’re a lot of fun, and you get to see familiar faces!”
Mark Bestavros graduated from Boston University in 2019 and earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Masters of Science in Computer Science. Currently, Mark is a software engineer at Red Hat.
A part of the emerging technology group security team, which involves discovering new tech for the future of Red Hat, Mark has been an amazing source of inspiration and knowledge at Spark!
How did Spark! help prepare you for your career?
Mark: “Spark! forced me to get closer to industry and the world outside BU through its class collaborations (especially with data science) and ample networking opportunities. The project-oriented focus of much of the work also encouraged teamwork and emphasized ‘soft skills’ that prove to be essential when working in a highly collaborative software engineering environment.”
How did you get to where you are today?
Mark: “I was able to interact with a few of the folks involved in the Red Hat collaboration, and that put me on a path to interviewing at Red Hat for an internship — which later turned into full time after I completed my Masters studies.”
What are a few of your career goals?
Mark: “As someone still relatively young in the industry, my goals are to find and establish myself in an area of expertise and have my work speak for itself. My interests still lie in engineering and making cool things, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.”
What is something you wish you knew when you were a student?
Mark: “That I should buy Bitcoin and GameStop stocks. Okay, actual answer: try and intern around! Internships are a truly unique opportunity to try out not just different kinds of work, but also different places without having to commit to them. All of my internships were in the Boston area — and while I love Boston to death, not branching out more is one of my biggest regrets.”
Thank you for all the amazing insight, Mark!