[5][6] In addition to music, after school Cordeiro was active in theatre and literature: his mother was an author of dramas and comedies, and he and his friends would represent these roles throughout the island, such as Tradição and Sogra.

[5] He returned to the Azores in 1995, and began to practice law,[6] while at the same time beginning his role in the Juventude Socialista (Socialist Youth).

[5][6] He completed a dissertation on the A Dissolução dos Órgãos de Governo Próprio das Regiões Autónomas (The Dissolution of Government Bodies in the Autonomous Regions) (1998), before beginning an internship with the Portuguese Order of Lawyers, producing a dissertation on Breves Notas sobre a Deontologia Profissional do Advogado (Brief Notes on the Profession Ethics of Lawyers).

[6] At this date he abandoned his work as legal counsel and substituted Ricardo Rodrigues, who resigned following the Farfalha scandal, in the Secretary of Agriculture and Fishing.

[5] It was during his inter-island campaigning that he met Paula Cristina, a senior member of the cabin crew of SATA Air Açores, whom he later married in 2008.