Like every other college senior, I spent the tail end of my tenure at Indiana University Bloomington frantically attending career fairs and scouring Indeed looking for jobs. As many of you know, after looking through dozens and dozens of job descriptions you’ll find that many of them begin to read the same. Even hearing about a job directly from a representative at a career fair, you can almost predict what they’ll say before they say it. They’ll wax poetic about the great culture, the engaging work, and the exciting career opportunities. But often you’ll find that, after doing your own research, it is like every other workplace with its bad bosses, politics, and inconsistent opportunities. I found Atrium to be different.
The recruiter I spoke with at the IUB virtual career fair, Nick Burkland, was relaxed, personable, and honest. Sure, he mentioned the talking points everyone else mentioned, what recruiter hasn’t told you that their company has a great culture? Nick, however, encouraged me to do some more individual exploration about Atrium after our meeting. What I found was a company that truly practiced what it preached. Throughout the interview process I talked with congenial, friendly people that worked in a setting where egos were checked at the door, and they expected as much of me as well. After talking with other employees, I found that people who worked at Atrium were happy, and happy to go to work.
In addition to the fantastic culture, the Luminate program was marketed as a career focused, educational experience that would prepare me for consulting by giving me all the necessary tools and knowledge I needed to be successful. I was excited by the prospect of getting to explore various areas of interest, and that I wouldn’t be locked into one career path when I arrived at the company. As a curious and ambitious individual, I wanted to be able to try new things and find out where my strengths lie, and the Luminate program, and Atrium in general, promised to provide exactly that. While I had never considered consulting as a career path, I was excited to try something new, and the dynamic, fast-paced work that consulting offered sounded exceedingly interesting to me. So, when I was offered a position at Atrium, I hardly needed time to consider my other options.
Professional trainings and accomplishments
The Luminate program was an intensive educational experience. Many who have gone through it before me have described it as “drinking from a firehose”, which I can confirm. Throughout the course of the program, we completed 81.5 hours of training, which was done through 74 workshops performed by 53 unique presenters. In addition to this, as a team we earned 27 certifications across 9 Luminates. Despite the daunting analogy and statistics, I have thoroughly enjoyed the program and have learned more than I thought possible in three short months.
I gained basic familiarity with the Salesforce platform, particularly Sales Cloud, have earned several certifications, and completed an in-depth and practical training project that taught me the basics of the consulting and Salesforce implementation experience. I have explored various areas of interest in the company, and had my educational experience tailored to my particular interests and strengths.
Thanks to the approachable and supportive people at Atrium, and the high quality of educational resources given to me, I could not have had a better introduction to the consulting landscape and the Salesforce ecosystem. I am excited to learn more about the Salesforce platform, and am already getting started with a shadow opportunity in a strategy role within the company, where I can continue to learn and explore my area of interest, Business Analysis.
The bridge between tech and consulting
I would recommend the Luminate program to others looking to advance their careers in tech and consulting because of the supportive culture, quality of education, and freedom to explore areas of interest and expertise. The thing I have enjoyed most at Atrium so far is the sense of community. There is nobody in the company that I have met that I would consider unapproachable. There is a genuine commitment to transparency, open communication, support, and congeniality. Throughout the Luminate program, I was able to meet and talk with subject matter experts on a variety of topics, and all of them were happy to spend their time helping me develop my skills as a consultant.
In addition to getting to work with friendly, highly talented, and intelligent individuals, the course itself was well-planned, and emphasized engaging, informative work that helped me quickly garner the information I needed to be successful. I was given presentations that helped integrate me into the company and inform me of industry best practices and standards. I was also supported throughout the process of attaining my Salesforce certifications, which continue to be emphasized and supported even as I move on from the Luminate program. Finally, I was given the opportunity to complete a mock project, wherein Atrium strategists acted as our clients, which helped give me an idea of what real client projects would be like. This project also helped me develop my skills ahead of time so I could transition into project work with a strong foundation already established.
Lastly, one of the biggest reasons I chose to enter the Luminate program, and one of the biggest reasons I would recommend it, is that it allowed me to explore multiple areas of interest without having to commit to a particular discipline right off the bat. Atrium as a company understands that happy, engaged employees are more likely to be successful, and as a result the Luminate program tailored itself to my interests and gave me the chance to explore the different teams at Atrium. If you are anything like me, you will especially appreciate this facet of the program, as I sincerely had no idea what particular specialization I wanted to pursue upon the attainment of my degree in Informatics.
Entering strategy consulting
As I move on from the Luminate program, I look forward to getting started in the Strategy team here at Atrium. I am also looking to complete certifications in Salesforce Service and Sales cloud. Thanks to the Luminate program, I have a better understanding of where my strengths and interests lie, and I couldn’t be more excited to continue exploring and developing my career with Atrium.
Find out more about our Luminate Program.
