My first week at Everest Engineering

“Definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement”. These famous words by W.Clement Stone comprehensively describe the beginning of my journey at Everest Engineering. The sense of wonder how such like-minded people can solve challenges, big or small and create value in business, inspired me to be part of this team.

Before starting at Everest, I was quite overwhelmed, nervous and excited. The reason being, there is a lot to learn, a new culture to adapt in and consulting world.

On-boarding:

Before the start of my first day, Irene (Director of Business Operations) did a shout out on Slack which was very welcoming.

My first day at Everest started with an introduction call with Craig (CEO), Paul(Head of People & Culture), Irene and Karl (Principal Engineer) and everyone took turns to introduce themselves and the company. Everyone is smiling and so welcoming that you instantly feel relaxed. That’s when my nervousness scale went down a bit. I got introduced to Karl who is my buddy at Everest and team coach as well. He took me through the company policies and diverse communities at Everest. He is a great mentor to have, who shares his wisdom, knowledge not just from a specific project but from his past experiences as well. He is always there to guide and direct you whenever you need his help.

I was quite overwhelmed especially because it was a new environment and asked a lot of questions to Karl and he answered all of them patiently.

The next day I spoke to Nick(Senior Software Engineers) for couple of hours, about the company and the project. Nick is a DevOps master and always there to help you with everything. He even gave me tips which would help me in any project going forward.

Fast forward to Friday, I met a lot of people in person and enjoyed having a chat over coffee. Also, did a TDD and pair programming exercise in person with Dan (Director of Coaching) which was quite insightful. The reason being that you get different and better perspective to solving problems which make you better as a developer. Also, knowledge is transferred throughout the entire team rather than in silos.

In terms of my experience, I was made to feel as a part of the team when I spoke to anyone at Everest Engineering. Everyone made sure I was comfortable and I was enjoying what I was doing here. I felt really welcomed and inclusive, the whole experience has been amazing.

My observations at Everest Engineering:

1. People first culture: There are a lot of companies who talk about the culture and people’s first approach but rarely follow it. Everest is one of the companies who follow it and believe in it. People for them are more important than anything else.
2. Communication: Virtual on-boarding can be tough but people at Everest will make you feel so comfortable. They will inform you about each and every detail they know about the company or project to keep you in the loop and you are not just left alone.
3. Open Door Policy: It is so easy to talk and communicate with the management. In large companies, sometimes you are just limited to your team and communication with the management is minimum. That’s not the case here at Everest, you can speak to Craig, Ranga or Rick with any issues you have and they are always there to help you.
4. Fun: It is not just work at Everest, people have fun while they work which is quite important.
5. Learning: Everyone I have spoken to Everest supports learning and continuous improvement. This helps the developers to shift gears and improve themselves by keeping some time for themselves every week.

Did I make a right decision?

Of course yes ! I have talented, helpful people to work with, I am enjoying what I am doing and there is a lot to learn :) It’s a great place to work !