A career change, an international journey, and a fresh start after a layoff: Romulo Collopy shares what helped him find his next opportunity.
Finding a tech job in Canada became a different challenge for Romulo Collopy after he lost the role that had brought him there. He was already an experienced developer with an international career. But with a closed work permit tied to his previous employer, finding the next opportunity meant more than matching a job description.
In a conversation with VanHack, Romulo shared how a friend’s recommendation, a well-matched role, and support throughout the hiring process helped him join another Canadian company. He also explained why preparing for that new role meant rethinking his approach to AI tools.
A developer’s career that began outside software
Romulo did not start with a conventional software engineering path. He studied public relations in Rio de Janeiro, graduating in 2009, and worked in that field before becoming a project manager and product owner for a digital product.
Delivering the product gradually brought him closer to the code. Over time, development became a larger part of his work than management, and he made the transition into a new profession.
That change eventually opened international doors. He spent around six months in California with an American company before returning to its Brazilian branch. His career later included remote contracting for a New York company, a senior role in Brazilian healthcare and a move to the Netherlands.
A subsequent job with a Canadian company led to his transfer to Canada. That move happened before the job search in which VanHack became involved.
An international move is also a personal decision
His reasons for working abroad changed along the way. The early California experience was about developing his career, not necessarily settling overseas. Later, as a parent, he also considered the kind of life an international move could offer his family.
In the Netherlands, he valued the parks and outdoor activities his daughter could enjoy. At the same time, he found that building connections for himself was harder. Canada offered a different starting point: he already knew people there through his work with the Canadian company.
His account is a reminder that an international career is not only a sequence of roles. Personal connections, family priorities, and a sense of belonging can shape the next decision just as much as professional opportunity.
When a layoff changed the job search
After arriving in Canada, Romulo was laid off alongside others at the company that had transferred him. He explains that his closed work permit made the next search particularly challenging: he needed an employer prepared to support the necessary immigration process.
He describes a long, demanding search. In his experience, finding companies willing to consider that requirement was difficult, even when he could bring relevant technical experience to the conversation.
This is an important distinction in his story. He was not looking for his first international experience, and VanHack had not arranged his original move to Canada. He needed a new professional opportunity within a country where he was already building his life.
A role that matched his experience and circumstances
A friend recommended VanHack. Romulo explored the platform, although he did not initially find many openings suited to his specific profile. Later, Ilya contacted him about opportunities that could be relevant, prompting him to look again.
This time, one role stood out. Romulo felt that its requirements and experience closely described his own background. The alignment was apparent early in the process.
Just as importantly, he says the employer already understood his immigration situation through its contact with VanHack. He did not have to introduce that requirement as a surprise partway through the conversation.
He went on to join the company as a senior software engineer with a focus on growth. Looking back, he credits support with interview preparation, the legal side of the process, and identifying relevant roles. He presents the outcome as a shared effort rather than something he accomplished alone.
It was not my thing alone.
Romulo Collopy
Preparing for an AI-focused engineering team
The new opportunity also challenged him to develop another part of his skill set. Romulo says he had not been a major adopter of AI tools, but during the selection process he realized that the company used them extensively.
For his coding challenge, he concentrated on demonstrating his backend strengths and used some AI assistance on the frontend. Conversations during the process made him recognize that he wanted a deeper understanding before joining the team.
He chose a set of tools and spent a couple of weeks exploring them in practice, including pairing with AI and working with agents. When he joined, he could contribute to conversations and share tips from his own setup.
His advice is practical: focus on current tools and give yourself time to experiment. He sees the landscape changing quickly, which means learning has to continue. His experience is not a promise that everyone can become job-ready in a fixed number of weeks, but an example of deliberate preparation for a particular team.
The next chapter can start with a better fit
Romulo’s story brings together several kinds of reinvention: moving from public relations into development, building an international career, and finding a new role after a setback in Canada. The thread connecting them is a willingness to adapt without treating previous experience as wasted effort.
For candidates, his experience offers a useful perspective. Relevant technical skills matter, but so do the circumstances surrounding a hire, the employer’s understanding of those circumstances, and preparation for how the team actually works.
Considering your own next step? Explore VanHack and the opportunities available to see how your experience aligns with a new role. As Romulo’s journey shows, the next chapter does not always begin with another move. Sometimes it begins with finding the right opportunity where you already are.
Watch the full interview: Romulo Collopy’s success story
