Climbing his way to a successful career

“I had no faith that I was going to find the perfect job; I just lucked out.” Luck or skill? In Mathieu Cloutier’s case, it’s likely a combination of both.

The 37-year-old former construction worker knew he wanted to find a career that served his passion to do good in the word and provide a flexible lifestyle.

As an avid rockclimber and hiker, Cloutier loves spending time outside and being able to blend his work and leisure time.

Mathieu had dabbled in computer programming in his early ears, but knew he needed to upgrade his skills, learn modern computer languages and spend time working in a collaborative team environment and agile methodology. That’s what brought him to InceptionU.

“I really liked that the InceptionU program offers the opportunity to work on projects that are linked to industry. That was the key deciding factor for me. In the end, the company I worked with, Inqli, is the one that hired me,” says Cloutier.

Inqli is a mentorship app for learners based in Victoria, but Mathieu works remotely from Cochrane. He says the job is challenging because there is something new coming at him every day. Some times, it’s hard to keep up with all the new ideas and development projects, but that’s also what keeps things so exciting.

The workplace culture at Inqli allows him to have a flexible work-life balance and make time for other things that are important to him.

“I’m going on a two-week climbing trip with some other software devs in Penticton, we rented some Airbnbs and there we go! We will keep working and that’s really the dream. That freedom of being able to work and go somewhere else is a great lifestyle - it is amazing.”

Reflecting on his time in the InceptionU Evole program, Mathieu says he gave 100%. He was determined to make the most of his experience and develop industry connections that just might land him a job.

Mathieu took to the InceptionU program instantly, and thrived in the dynamic and engaging learning environment. In fact, he often mentored other learners who were struggling. By the time Project 3 rolled around, Mathieu and his team developed a new feature for Inqli, which impressed the startups founders and Chief Technology Officer. Here is a link to their Demo Day presentation.

Mathieu admits he’s not a great networker on LInkedIn, and shies away from social media, so building the connections directly with the team at Inqli was key for him.

“I know that it’s with the people that I work with who will help me advance in my career. This is who I am, this is what I bring to the party. That was my whole goal and what I worked really hard on the whole time,” he adds.

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