Equal Experts prides itself on being a network of self-starting, experienced practitioners. However, what you might not know is that we also have one eye on the future.

In fact, we’ve been running an accelerated career development programme, called EvolvE, since 2016.

EvolvE fast-tracks skilled software practitioners and gives them the breadth and depth of experience required to be an Equal Experts consultant. Once they complete the programme, which takes around three or four years, they can remain with Equal Experts as a consultant, or choose a different path.

A success story

We’re delighted that the programme is now bearing fruit. One of the first people to join it, Matt Ralph, has recently graduated from the programme as a fully-fledged DevOps consultant. And best of all, he’s stayed at Equal Experts!

“EvolvE has always been light-touch, which I’ve greatly appreciated,” says Matt. “Having done a grad scheme before, I didn’t want a curriculum of training courses or independent performance objectives to hamper me – the real value is in pairing with good people, and seeing how they work with / challenge the client.”

Matt worked on a selection of client projects throughout the programme (someone on EvolvE will typically work alongside Equal Experts consultants on up to six different engagements), and at the end of it we were pleased to be be able to offer him a practitioner role at Equal Experts.

From EvolvE to consultancy

“Completing and progressing on from EvolvE happened naturally and organically,” added Matt, “I’m grateful there was no formal presentation to a room of people I didn’t know. It was simple and celebratory, a recognition of all the client-side exposure I have had, the tech I’ve worked on and the problems I’ve worked with other people to solve (technical and organisational). I was mainly grateful to the incredible patience of some of the people in the DevOps space that I have now worked with for several years and who have definitely changed the way I work.”

Matt Ralph

We’re thrilled for Matt, but we can’t rest on our laurels. We’re always looking for new candidates to join EvolvE, not only so we can expand our own pool of talented, experienced practitioners, but also to do our bit for the wider tech community in general. It’s an experience that Matt gained a lot from, and since graduating from the programme he’s been heavily involved on a number of client engagements.

“I’ve done a discovery on Guernsey with one client, gone to Cape Town to build out a platform there with another, and written orchestration code on Azure for a third – if anything, it’s more busy and varied on the other side!”

Are you interested in joining EvolvE, or do you  know someone who might be? For more information, or if you’re interested in applying, get in touch at EvolvE@equalexperts.com