I have been a consultant at BDO Digital for almost three decades and I have seen and participated in plenty of technology evolutions and revolutions. One thing that has been consistent is the need for our team as consultants to evolve alongside technology. We’re expected to keep current on technology trends, emerging innovations, and new tools.

Consulting at Every Stage

Our team is made up of interns who are still in school, new hires fresh out of college, more experienced developers who joined BDO Digital from other companies looking to take that next step in their career, and veteran BDO Digital team members. One question we often ask ourselves is how can we help people at different stages in their careers constantly grow while operating in a fast-paced environment?

Consulting is a challenging business. Success on our team requires technical skills, business knowledge, and experience. We have high expectations for our team, and we want people, whether new hires or veterans, to be successful in our world. We have developed a variety of training materials and exercises over time. A few years ago, we consolidated these artifacts into what we call Software Solutions Group University, or “SSG U.”

Software Solutions Group University

Software Solutions Training & Career Development

SSG U consists of a series of customized training sessions and development exercises meant to enable new hires and interns to operate from the same baseline. Additionally, there are sessions designed to teach consulting skills, business tools, and BDO Digital project management and procedures.

New hires are assigned a mix of training activities organized into an onboarding project. The onboarding project will include a combination of online-training videos, presentations, and hands-on exercises. Onboarding project components are selected based on the requirements of the person’s role. Not all topics are technical – we also train on consulting skills, like time management, staffing procedures, and consulting scenario development.

Some topics must be covered in the first week or two as they are critical to the job role. Other training can be delivered in the first 30, 90, or 180 days. The onboarding project creation ensures that all training is planned even it if scheduled out far into the future. This way, we’re consistently learning as a team and in a structured way.

In addition to the onboarding project process, every new employee has 30-60-90 day reviews with their direct manager to set goals together and review progress. Development is a two-way street, and communication is key.

All new hires and Interns follow this structured approach. Interns will additionally, have opportunities to shadow more senior members of the team on projects. Some of our best long-term consultants at BDO Digital started out as interns and know BDO Digital inside and out.

I’ve been in this business for a long time, and I truly believe that BDO Digital has a top notch software team. SSG U has become key component in our team’s – and ultimately our partners’ – success.

If you’re interested in learning more how you can develop your career at BDO Digital, visit our Careers Page and apply – we’re always interested in adding to our growing team.