Vatsal Dhar, DevOps Engineer

When did you join BlueOptima?

I joined in January 2018 as a Software engineer intern. In July I became a full time employee as a graduate software engineer. 

What role are you in now?

I’ve been a DevOps engineer for almost a year now. 

My career at BlueOptima has taken multiple movements from Intern to graduate Software Engineer, Associate Software Engineer and then transitioned and transformed to Devops and most recently became a full-time DevOps Engineer.

Why the transition? 

From core engineers to DevOps. Salman (Kagzi, BlueOptima CTO) was a direct manager and he was a mentor and had a great deal of influence on how I choose to pursue my career in BlueOptima. It was not a one-day change. I had some tasks associated with DevOps and enjoyed it and then Salman exposed me to the DevOps world and showed me all that can be achieved as a DevOps engineer. This fascinated me and eventually, I settled on what I wanted to do. And it has been an amazing journey since!

What attracted you to BlueOptima in the first place?

When BlueOptima came in I went to the profile, and it was something new, and different especially in the development domain. It was in the startup world. 

What attracted me the most was the scope of our development, the possibilities were humongous since we were very few people, I was one of the first batches of interns, and it was a great opportunity to join a company to grow. And the growth of the company can be big and quick if we stick to it. 

The possibility of growth,  a start-up environment and doing something different (Developer Analytics and Coding Effort), were the main aspects that attracted me. 

Also, the process was different: interview, Work Sample, and testing the real capacity of a developer in the real world. 

What do you like about your current role?

The most important thing I like is that I get involved in different stages of the Software Development Life Cycle. There are days when there is a lot of pressure, but other than that I love it: security, networking, compliance, and development.

If you work with BlueOptima for 1 year it is like you’ve worked 2-to 3 years in another organisation. You learn and do so much in such a short time that it boosts your career. And that has happened to me. 

What is the best thing about the team you’re in?

Before 2022, there were only two people.  Three more people have joined so far this year, and the last four months have been amazing! One of the things I love is the opportunity to keep learning, learning about everything. With the new joiners, there is such great curiosity in them. They come to us, they don’t wait to be told, they come by themselves with different aspects, always looking to learn. 

Ashutosh has been a fantastic manager for the last four years. He’s very supportive, and the bond grew. He helped me realise my personal capabilities and what should do to develop more with BlueOptima.

What are you looking to do next in your career?

Currently, I have touched on various aspects of Software Development Lifecycle and DevOps and I know a lot of things and how they happen but I wouldn’t describe myself as an expert. What I want is to see myself grow in developing deep expertise across a number of different areas including security, and architecture. Whenever you develop expertise in your domain that gives you greater insights into other areas because it is all about asking the right questions. 

What do you like about the culture of BlueOptima?

We were a very small community when I joined, there were 7 people, all new, in the Gurgaon office.

The community was small and we grew up bonding with each other. We developed a family culture, that feeling of accountability, if I don’t do something it will affect the rest. 

Over time we’ve seen a lot of new joiners. We all bond very well and work in sync, and there is no resistance to reaching out to each other. Even if it’s Jason (CEO), BlueOptima has a really approachable team. 

What’s the most unique part about working here?

I can’t say if it’s unique, but something very positive, reachable, and supportive team members. Fast-growing company, very dedicated company. 

How have you grown since starting at BlueOptima?

I’ve gained maturity, in the sense of thinking about how a change will affect the bigger cycle. Also, the ability to ask questions even outside of my domain. Those are the things that have helped the most. 

Any advice for people looking to get into this role?

If you want to boost your career and increase your knowledge, domain knowledge and learning, you should join BlueOptima. In the course of 1-2 years, you will learn about technology and industry. We are building and improving. You will have the opportunity to work with new technologies and tools, give new ideas and implement them. 

BlueOptima has been amazing to me. I consider myself lucky and thank Salman for introducing me to the world of DevOps as there are always new things to learn. You will always experience that kick in your career, always experience new things and improving and that joy, which I really love.