Josué Murillo isn’t just a regular gamer: he will be representing Costa Rica in the Bali 2022, World Esports Championship from December 1st to 12th. Apart from being a Principal DevOps Engineer at Encora, Josué Murillo recently became a dad. Here is his story.
How do you manage your life at Encora, your career as a gamer, and more importantly, family-time as a new dad?
I’ve been playing since I was in high school, which is about 15 years of experience. With time, I have learned that it is all about managing your time and scheduling your hours. You must sort out your priorities and make time for personal matters: work and family, and then use your free time to grow as a gamer. I am also a night owl so that works in my favor! I usually play at night so that leaves me plenty of time to train and become better.
One of my co-workers once saw me at the office late in the evening and told me that it doesn’t matter what happens today, your work is still going to be there waiting for you tomorrow, so you must take it easy, everything is about balance, and remember to separate your work life with your personal life. You just have to be organized. That is great advice!
Tell us a little bit more about your life as an E-Sports Athlete and the competitions. How do you usually train? Do your colleagues challenge you?
Dota 2 is a game of 5 vs. 5. The competitive scene here in Costa Rica is very volatile in contrast to soccer or any other conventional game. Every year, players form teams with friends and other people they know. It is not usual for an entire team to stick together after a competition!
We usually train in different ways; we use a platform to find Scrims and practice against other teams to gain more experience. We schedule our training and try to find teams that are within our same level. Then, we give each other feedback and improve specific areas that we need to work on. We also play alone at night so that we can improve our individual skills and develop new ones.
You’ve been working with us for over 7 years now – what’s your favorite thing about being an Encorian?
The first thing that caught my attention was that the work environment is 100% human-oriented. I felt integrated since day one, it didn’t matter if someone was more experienced than you, there were always ongoing conversations. New opportunities were always presented, and the leadership was always finding ways to help you grow. Anytime someone had a personal issue, our coworkers tried to find a solution and ways to help, instead of being “soulless machines”. I would say my two favorite things about Encora are the kind and warm environment as well as the constant new challenges and opportunities that we are given and trusted to work in.
What final advice would you give to someone pursuing two passions at the same time?
The most important thing is to identify what are your actual passions and which are just your hobbies, otherwise, you are going to feel like you are “drowning”. Once you have them sorted out, you can dedicate each once the specific time it needs. To get where you really want to be, there has to be a motivation that makes you want to work really hard.
Finally, any tips for “DOTA 2” fans?
It depends on what you are playing for and what your goals are. Make sure you understand why you're playing and how you find fun in gaming. Do you enjoy playing casually with friends? Do you enjoy chilling out and spending time together no matter if you win or lose? Or do you enjoy trying your best for every game, challenging yourself, and seeking to improve after each match? Both approaches are good, but make sure you don't mix the way you play with the result you want.
In Dota, there is a popular quote that says: “The tutorial is over once you have played for 10 years”. If you want to improve and start competing, you have to work really hard. There is a whole process that takes many years for you to start seeing positive results. Based on my experience, I recommend finding a coach to help you grow faster and achieve your specific goals. Otherwise, growth can be slow. It's not impossible to grow quickly without a coach, but you may start to feel stuck. It varies according to your goals. You just have to know what you are playing for!
⌨️Follow Josué’s journey on his Twitch channel: https://www.twitch.tv/battou28 and
🏅learn more about this amazing competition at https://wec.iesf.org/
👨💻Are you looking for an engineering career that grants you the work-life balance you need to pursue your passions? Start your own career path at Encora: https://careers.encora.com/find-more-than-job
