Every summer we embed interns in our Karsun Innovation Center (KIC) to work alongside our technology experts, prototyping solutions to support our customers. Sanjana M Moodbagil’s internship projects ranged from no-code/low-code apps built using Google AppSheet to synthetic data and exploratory data analysis (EDA). In the interview below, she describes how her work improved career development resources, drove insights and contributed to the machine learning (ML) pipeline.
First please tell us about yourself. Where are you going to school? What are you studying? What do you like to do in your free time?
Hi, My name is Sanjana M Moodbagil. I’m a graduate student at University of Southern California, Los Angeles majoring in Computer Science. In my free time, I like to play basketball, badminton or go swimming. I also like to experience new things. Since coming to the US, I’ve gone surfing, paddle boarding, ballroom dancing, skiing, a few hikes, etc.
Could you share a little bit about the project you worked on as part of this internship? What challenges does it solve? What technologies and tools are you using?
Initially, I worked on creating a career path app using AppSheets for KIC Konnect. The purpose of this app is to keep track of career paths and transitions at Karsun.
For most of my internship, I worked on a Data Synthesizer project. I worked with a team to create a web application that generates fake data which is an accurate and scalable replacement for real-world records. The purpose of this is to generate PII anonymized synthesized data for AI/ML use cases. I mostly worked on the backend part of the project using Python, MySQL, Synthetic Data Vault (SDV) library, seaborn and matplotlib. I worked on data collection and preprocessing, created synthetic data models for time series data, automated the generation of metadata for relational databases required for modeling and performed Exploratory Data Analysis to understand and compare the structural and statistical properties of original and fake data. I worked with AWS services like AWS S3 bucket and AWS CLI to test the backend.
Towards the end of the internship, I worked on creating dashboards for the IT department on Google Data Studio. I gained experience working on API integration of Google Admin and EZOfficeInventory with App Scripts.
What is your favorite part about working with the Karsun Innovation Center? Is there a weekly meeting or ritual you enjoy? The opportunity to learn more or get a new certification?
I enjoyed the biweekly ‘show, don’t tell’ meetings where I learned about other ongoing projects at KIC. I was introduced to new ideas and tools. I was given the opportunity to work on a project in my area of interest. Working on the project with a small team allowed me to contribute to the entire ML pipeline. Despite working with people who were highly experienced, I was able to put forth my opinion with ease and I was always heard. Apart from the project, I was given access to many resources on AWS partner network to learn and to get certifications.
What is the biggest takeaway from your experience as an intern at Karsun?
My biggest takeaway from my experience is to be motivated, bold, and have ambition. This pushes you to think creatively, ask more questions, speak up about your ideas, take initiative and be authentic. There was so much research that had to be done initially, I had to define and discuss my own findings, explore alternate approaches and set of requirements based on analysis and results that align with end goals.
Sanjana was advised by Judewin Gabriel, Practice Advocate for the Karsun Innovation Center DevSecOps Practice.
Karsun Solutions proudly announces Anu Pajjur will join the American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council’s (ACT-IAC) 2023 Voyagers Program. This selective professional development program includes mid-career government and IT industry leaders. With over 40 years of government and industry collaboration, ACT-IAC is a 501(c)3 non-profit educational organization established to improve government through the effective and innovative application of technology. The Voyagers Program is a comprehensive nine-month leadership and professional development program.
Anu’s participation in the Voyagers Program is part of a long legacy of fostering leaders in the IT industry. Karsun’s support of ACT-IAC’s professional development programs spans over a decade. Past graduates include its co-founders, executives and other up-and-coming leaders. Several of these return to their ACT-IAC programs to serve as chairs, vice-chairs and mentors.
Meet Anu Pajjur
Anu is a Portfolio Lead at Karsun Solutions, currently leading a multi-million dollar Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) initiative. She manages modernization projects from conception through implementation with a focus on building high-performance teams that deliver business solutions in an efficient and cost-effective manner.
She is a seasoned professional with 20 years of experience spanning all areas of end-to-end software development life cycle, including Project Management, Business Analysis, and Software Development. She has industry standard certifications including SAFe Scrum Master (SSM) and Professional Scrum Master (PSM1) and is engaged in groups like ACT-IAC for continuous learning and sharing opportunities.
Software Solutions Delivery at FAA
Anu’s team began work on Karsun’s FAA Software Solution Delivery support services contract in 2017. The contract provides technical support services and assists in implementing and continuing support of enterprise-wide software application and database development. Under this contract, Karsun also performs maintenance and sustainment of existing systems.
About Karsun Solutions
Karsun Solutions modernizes enterprise systems enabling agencies to make the next technological advancement their next opportunity to elevate mission capability. IT solutions from Karsun are tailored to meet agencies’ unique needs and optimize operations. These solutions adapt and stay relevant to current trends while using secure, digital architecture built to last. It is a proven modernization partner whose expertise elevates agency capabilities and ensures every next opportunity is within reach.
I have been lucky to have great mentors in my career. “You are your own CEO!” quipped one of them during a session and I had not approached my career that way until then! It makes a lot of sense looking at ourselves from the outside, treating us as a Product that needs to have a mission and vision aligned with our values, with a plan and roadmap on how we develop, market, sell and continuously improve ourselves. Questions like “why should anyone be interested in you as a professional Product?”, “what and how do you add value, now or in the future, to anyone or any group?”, “what/how do you showcase strengths and address weaknesses?” etc. must have easy answers.
Develop Skills
You as a Product should be desirable in the marketplace – perhaps in multiple markets. Show openness and flexibility to be repurposed in ways you had not considered. Stay current with the latest innovations and improvements in your areas of interest. A desire to continuously learn and grow is a must.
Build Brand Equity
Be a good team player, with a good work ethic and a burning desire to succeed. These are highly appreciated and often difficult to demonstrate and gauge. Having a few 5* reviews through your network is a must. It is also about looking at yourself from the eyes of someone who can help you get to where you want to be. Be open and deliberate about the people associated with you – and keep growing it. Spend time on sustaining and growing existing relationships and the network you’ve built.
Selling
As with any other Product, your reputation should precede you before meeting new people as you build relationships. Your next level of engagements are more about discussing ideas and personality fits than about your abilities, attitude and skills.
Pricing
Know your value, do your research. If you are pricing yourself above market, have clarity about why you deserve to charge a premium. As you build skills, know their worth in the marketplace.
Housekeeping
Keeping your resources working well together and optimally is critical. Take care of your mental and physical health, you are only as good as your resources. Not all employees are superstars, they just need to work well together as a team. Exercise, have fun and take breaks and stay focused when needed. I would also add that as a human Product, be kind to yourself – we all have way more strengths that value if you bring the right attitude.
This story from Hari Vijay, Senior Director Karsun Innovation Center Lean Practice, first appeared on LinkedIn.
Every summer we embed interns in our Karsun Innovation Center (KIC) to work alongside our technology experts, prototyping solutions to support our customers. Sanjana M Moodbagil’s internship projects ranged from no-code/low-code apps built using Google AppSheet to synthetic data and exploratory data analysis (EDA). In the interview below, she describes how her work improved career development resources, drove insights and contributed to the machine learning (ML) pipeline.
First please tell us about yourself. Where are you going to school? What are you studying? What do you like to do in your free time?
Hi, My name is Sanjana M Moodbagil. I’m a graduate student at University of Southern California, Los Angeles majoring in Computer Science. In my free time, I like to play basketball, badminton or go swimming. I also like to experience new things. Since coming to the US, I’ve gone surfing, paddle boarding, ballroom dancing, skiing, a few hikes, etc.
Could you share a little bit about the project you worked on as part of this internship? What challenges does it solve? What technologies and tools are you using?
Initially, I worked on creating a career path app using AppSheets for KIC Konnect. The purpose of this app is to keep track of career paths and transitions at Karsun.
For most of my internship, I worked on a Data Synthesizer project. I worked with a team to create a web application that generates fake data which is an accurate and scalable replacement for real-world records. The purpose of this is to generate PII anonymized synthesized data for AI/ML use cases. I mostly worked on the backend part of the project using Python, MySQL, Synthetic Data Vault (SDV) library, seaborn and matplotlib. I worked on data collection and preprocessing, created synthetic data models for time series data, automated the generation of metadata for relational databases required for modeling and performed Exploratory Data Analysis to understand and compare the structural and statistical properties of original and fake data. I worked with AWS services like AWS S3 bucket and AWS CLI to test the backend.
Towards the end of the internship, I worked on creating dashboards for the IT department on Google Data Studio. I gained experience working on API integration of Google Admin and EZOfficeInventory with App Scripts.
What is your favorite part about working with the Karsun Innovation Center? Is there a weekly meeting or ritual you enjoy? The opportunity to learn more or get a new certification?
I enjoyed the biweekly ‘show, don’t tell’ meetings where I learned about other ongoing projects at KIC. I was introduced to new ideas and tools. I was given the opportunity to work on a project in my area of interest. Working on the project with a small team allowed me to contribute to the entire ML pipeline. Despite working with people who were highly experienced, I was able to put forth my opinion with ease and I was always heard. Apart from the project, I was given access to many resources on AWS partner network to learn and to get certifications.
What is the biggest takeaway from your experience as an intern at Karsun?
My biggest takeaway from my experience is to be motivated, bold, and have ambition. This pushes you to think creatively, ask more questions, speak up about your ideas, take initiative and be authentic. There was so much research that had to be done initially, I had to define and discuss my own findings, explore alternate approaches and set of requirements based on analysis and results that align with end goals.
Sanjana was advised by Judewin Gabriel, Practice Advocate for the Karsun Innovation Center DevSecOps Practice.
Karsun experts and innovators took the stage at Imagine Nation Executive Leadership Conference (ELC) 2021. The annual conference for the American Council for Technology – Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC) is the organization’s marquee event. In addition to graduating Karsun’s 11th ACT-IAC Fellow, Raminder Saluja, Karsun Senior Vice President Ben Marglin joined a panel on Exploring the Next Generation of Acquisition Innovation. Also an event sponsor, Karsun is a longtime supporter of ACT-IAC. Its leadership acts as mentors, experts and participants in its industry programs.
Raminder Saluja Graduates from the Partners Program
In a recognition ceremony held at ImagineNation ELC, Karsun Solutions Senior Director Raminder Saluja graduated from the prestigious Partners Program. Over the last two decades, the Partners Program has been ACT-IAC’s premier professional development program. Participants are selected among rising senior executives. Karsun boasts one of the largest cohorts of Partners alumni in the industry.
At Karsun, Saluja leads the modernization strategy for its Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) portfolio. He internally steers technical delivery teams to leverage AWS and Azure infrastructure and DevSecOps frameworks. With over two decades of technology experience, he is also well versed in working with agencies within NATO, the Intelligence Community, and Immigration services. His core belief is that innovation and technology are tools to solve business problems and not constraints around which processes are reorganized. This often resonates with customers seeking modernization and upkeep of their legacy systems.
Ben Marglin Explores Next Generation Acquisition Innovation
Earlier at the conference, Karsun Solutions Senior Vice President of Client Solutions Ben Marglin spoke during the panel discussion on Exploring Next Generation Acquisition Innovation. Adopting the overall theme Adventures in Change, the conference examined the impact of innovation on the federal IT industry. This talk was included as part of the Changing the Way We Work track. The collaborative session examined if accelerating IT modernization and innovative acquisition practices supported agencies’ goals to meet mission critical needs faster, cheaper and more efficiently.
During the panel, Marglin briefly described Karsun’s novel approach to enterprise modernization with its acquisitions customers. Karsun’s Acquisitions Modernization domain is not only one of its most innovative, it is one of its original offerings. Past solutions include analytics platform modernization, cloud migration and legacy application modernization from an on-premise database. Karsun currently performs work acquisition innovation under the GSA COMET BPA.
About Karsun Solutions
Karsun Solutions is a fast-growing, innovative enterprise modernization firm. Recently awarded Best Company Culture by Comparably.com, its teams deliver modern software development, cloud, and data solutions to customers at government agencies including the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Aviation Administration and General Services Administration. Leveraging GoLean, Karsun teams drive digital transformation and help its government customers Do Extraordinary. Learn more at Karsun-LLC.com.
After winning several new contracts in 2020 Karsun Solutions continued its rapid expansion. It recently ranked for the seventh year in a row on the Inc. 5000 list of America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies. Sharing his plan to include employees in that growth Karsun Solutions CEO Sundar Vaidyanathan joined I Heart Radio’s CEOs You Should Know.
“When we grow, they will grow,” Vaidyanathan says in this short fifteen-minute snapshot into the growing IT modernization firm.
Throughout the interview, he underscores Karsun’s investment in a people-first experience. He discusses the company’s employee journey process which emphasizes key touchpoints throughout team members’ careers at Karsun. This journey mapping is integral to his vision for the future of the company.
Vaidyanathan explains how Karsun integrates core values into the employee experience.
With more than 270 employees based in the DC area and a total headcount including subcontractors topping 700 people, he recognizes Karsun’s growth comes as a result of the innovative work performed by its teams. Indeed, innovation, teamwork and fun are all core values supported through activities like company picnics, group recognition events and innovation center town halls.
To fuel this ongoing growth Karsun is currently hiring IT professionals across the country. Most positions are available both locally in the Washington D.C. region and remotely. From wellness classes to workshops on the latest technologies the company ensures teams stay connected regardless of location through its Karsun Konnect employee app. Current job openings may be found at KarsunCareers.com.
Listen in on M&T Bank Presents CEOs You Should Know.
About Karsun Solutions
Awarded for culture and driven by innovation, the Enterprise Modernization Experts at Karsun Solutions deliver innovative technology solutions to customers throughout the government. The Virginia Chamber of Commerce, Washington Business Journal and Inc. all recognize us among the fastest-growing companies in the Washington, D.C. region. Our modern software development, cloud, and data solutions are found at agencies including the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Aviation Administration, and General Services Administration. For the latest job openings visit KarsunCareers.com.
This week the American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC) kicked off its 2021 Partners Program Class. Karsun Solutions Senior Director Raminder Saluja was among the new cohort. The prestigious program connects senior industry leaders with their public sector counterparts. Beginning in 2010 Karsun Solutions leadership prioritized participation in these professional development programs. In 2019 Karsun President Terry Miller served as the Partners Program Industry Chair. Ten members of its leadership team graduated from one of the ACT-IAC fellowship programs including 2020 Voyagers graduate Satish Alluri.
About Raminder Saluja
Raminder Saluja’s all-encompassing experience in the Private, State, Federal, and International sectors allows him to bring a forward-looking innovation mindset to Karsuns Federal and State clients. He leads the modernization strategy for the FAA portfolio of programs and internally steers technical delivery teams to leverage AWS and Azure infrastructure and DevSecOps frameworks. Having designed, managed, and delivered Identity Access Management products, he is well versed in working with agencies at NATO, Intelligence Community, and Immigration services. Raminder has over two decades of technology experience, setting him to be a versatile leader managing cross-functional, cross technical and distributed international development teams. His core belief that innovation and technology is a tool to solve business problems and not a constraint around which processes are reorganized resonates with customers seeking modernization and upkeep of their legacy systems. Raminder is an Engineering Graduate and has several certifications, including patents that substantiate the subject matter expertise and technical depth he brings to all his client programs.
When our leadership revealed its vision for the next decade at the start of 2020 they could not anticipate the challenges of a global pandemic. Nevertheless, even then Karsun had already created the infrastructure to allow our teams to grow remotely together. This year we celebrated continued recognition as one of the fastest-growing companies in the country. As we scaled in this remote environment we also affirmed our commitment to team member development welcoming new intern cohorts, sponsoring professional development programs, and introducing virtual training programs.
Longtime Programs Adapt to Virtual Work
Through New Remote Program Interns Grow with Karsun
Through our Karsun Innovation Center (KIC) Internship Program each of our interns has a voice in the future of our company. These interns support the Research and Development teams rolling out new tools and processes across our organization. Interns learn and grow during their time with us. Shadowing team members in our Innovation Center and customer delivery teams, they participate in cross-functional projects, sharing their insights with teams across the company.
Coffee with Leadership Goes Online
Launched in 2017, Coffee with Leadership is a longstanding monthly tradition at Karsun. During this open discussion, executive leadership hosts a small gathering with frontline team members. In this open forum anyone may share their experiences, make suggestions or discuss opportunities to improve work at Karsun. This year saw a transition to a remote format for Coffee with Leadership and the addition of a second monthly Brunch with Leadership group expanding the diversity of feedback across management levels. We included these breakfasts in Karsun’s new remote environment to ensure all employees have the opportunity to contribute to our vision for growth.
DataOps NoVa Launches Virtual Series
Hosted by Karsun’s Data Practice, DataOps NoVa is a monthly Meetup designed to introduce best practices and tools to the data, analytics, and IT community. Its DataOps 101 series was among the last of Karsun’s in-person training events at our Herndon, Virginia headquarters. This first series included discussions and demonstrations from DataOps vendors and an introduction to data encryption using middleware components presented by our Innovation Center.
After taking a short break from in-person events, the Meetup returned virtually in August. The new series will cover topics like data fabric, analytics foundations for MLOps, and vendor demos. The new format also allowed the team to expand outside Virginia hosting data experts from around the world. These new virtual sessions are published on the DataOps NoVa Meetup Page.
Karsun Leaders Grow Through Industry Groups and Fellowships
Karsun Executives Recognized as Industry Leaders
As Karsun celebrated its tenth year in operation and its tenth year supporting the American Council for Technology-Industry Advisory Council (ACT-IAC) our President, Terry Miller, was recognized in part for his leadership within the organization. In March 2020 Miller was named to FCW‘s prestigious Federal 100 list. This list includes 100 men and women who personify what’s possible in federal IT. He also served as the 2019 Industry Chair of ACT-IAC’s highly regarded Partners Program. This training and professional development curriculum pairs “rising star” leaders from government and industry. New under Miller’s leadership, the group formed three challenge teams to provide direct solutions to government agencies (GSA, NASA, SBA). He is also a graduate of the Partners Program and was the Chair of the Management of Change (MOC) event in 2013.
Also early in 2020, the College of Engineering Guindy Alumni Association of North America (CEGAANA) named Karsun CEO Sundar Vaidyanathan its 2020 Chairman of the Board. Sundar is committed to making the organization a self-sustaining entity. His ultimate goal is strengthening collaboration between students, the college and the alumni network.
Satish Alluri Graduates from Selective Fellowship Program
Meet Satish Alluri, the Deputy Program Manager for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Grants Management Modernization initiative. He graduated in 2020 from the selective ACT- IAC Voyagers Professional Development fellowship. In September we spotlighted this longtime Karsun team member. Over the course of his career he grew from a Senior Business Analyst to a leader in both our DHS FEMA and GSA programs. Learn how Satish grew with us here.
Karsun Concludes 2020 with Virtual Team Recognition Events
Both our FEMA and KIC celebrated successes transitioning from in-person to virtual work through team recognition at the end of 2020. While our FEMA program hosted team lunches, our Innovation Center recognized our Karsun Academy and Practice Area mentors during an Innovation All Hands event in November.
As an organization Karsun Solutions also celebrated with a holiday lunch in December 2020. Every team member had lunch delivered to them as Karsun looked back on contract wins, team events and other small victories throughout the year. It was a final opportunity for our leadership to say “Go Team Karsun! Thank you for all your hard work!”
At its final All Hands event, Karsun Solutions celebrated the more than 1400 hours of training, professional development, and certifications earned by its team members in 2020. This incredible accomplishment was driven by the Karsun Innovation Center (KIC) and its newly launched Practice Areas. These employee-centered teams introduced a series of Dojos, Brown Bag, and certification workshops to ensure all teams had the experts they need to Do Extraordinary while Defying Assumptions.
The KIC was first introduced as an in-house Research and Development unit. Later, in 2016, it added Karsun Academy, a professional development program aimed at supporting team member technical certifications. In 2018 it introduced the first of five Practice Areas. These currently include Solution, DevSecOps, Lean, Data, and Development Practice Areas.
These areas span Karsun offerings with a dedicated lead for each and a core set of practice advocates in every delivery program. They also drive excellence through the creation of reusable assets and toolkits, the establishment of guidelines, industry certifications and technology partnerships, and the enablement of active collaboration among employees. It is through these industry partnerships, with vendors like Red Hat, AWS, and StreamSets, that the center offers a full training curriculum designed to familiarize teams with the latest enterprise modernization technologies and solutions.
Subject Matter Experts Share Experience in Multiday Dojos
Karsun Practice Leads introduced Dojos as a format to deliver multiday, hands-on training to delivery teams. These in-depth workshops bring team members up to speed on best practices and emerging methodologies. While initially created as in-person events, the Innovation Center quickly enhanced its digital workplace tool suite, Karsun Konnect, to offer these events in a remote environment.
DevSecOps Practice Adapts Ansible 101 to Virtual Workshop
Karsun is a long-standing Red Hat Ready Partner. Karsun Academy previously hosting multiday in-person workshops led by Red Hat experts. This year the KIC adapted some of this training into an Ansible 101 Digital Dojo. Led by Samir Bham, the Director of the DevSecOps practice, this virtual workshop allowed team members to log in remotely, gain hands-on experience with a subject matter expert all while learning best practices.
Employee to Employee Sharing in Weekly Brown Bags
Brown Bags, hosted by any Karsun team member, spotlights team member expertise in short, one-hour presentations. The training and professional development team introduced these shorter sessions to augment Karsun Academy certification courses. Today, sessions cover a range of professional development topics from new vendor solutions to soft skills.
Lunchtime Workshop Focuses on Migration & Disaster Recovery
Madhu Chellappa, of Karsun’s DevSecOps practice, led one such workshop on Migration and Disaster Recovery. This short, one-hour session discussed a solution using Cloud Endure. This highly automated rehosting solution from AWS simplifies and expedites migration.
Certification Programs Ensure Expert Teams Ready on Day One
Certification programs formed the original backbone of Karsun Academy. This provided employees with industry-standard certifications. Through this program, for instance, the Innovation Center ensured over 40 Karsun team members are AWS certified!
DataOps NoVa Hosts StreamSets Certification Workshop
The Innovation Center also hosts DataOps NoVa through its Data Practice. Members in that Meetup group attended a three-day data engineering workshop from StreamSets alongside Karsun team members. Participants enhanced their data pipelines skills with a combination of vendor-led presentations and hands-on challenges using the StreamSets DataOps platform. After the workshop, most participants had the opportunity to be fully certified as Expert StreamSets Developers.
Karsun Solutions is repeatedly recognized for growth by publications like the Washington Business Journal and Inc. Magazine. Innovation Center Practice Areas ensure team members will continue to Grow with Karsun. These programs in turn create a pipeline of Enterprise Modernization Experts ready to solve difficult government transformation challenges. To learn more about how Karsun’s modern software development, cloud solutions or data solutions complete the form located here.
Meet Satish Alluri, the Deputy Program Manager for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Grants Management Modernization initiative. He recently graduated from the selective ACT-IAC Voyagers Professional Development fellowship. A longtime Karsun team member, he has held several positions including Senior Business Analyst and Scrum Master serving both our DHS FEMA and GSA programs.
We sat down with Satish Alluri to hear his advice on advancing your product, delivery, and program career. Learn about his tenure at Karsun plus his secrets for growing as an enterprise modernization expert.
Life as Program Manager at Karsun Solutions
How would you describe your role at Karsun?
I am currently serving as the Deputy Program Manager for our FEMA GMM modernization contract and assist in the overall program management. My key responsibilities include employee engagement, motivating the team towards successful and continuous Product Delivery and also provide operational oversight for the Process and Product Management disciplines within our program.
How did you end up at Karsun?
Over the past several years, I had worked in various consultant opportunities and one of those stints gave me a chance to work with some of the now seasoned Karsun employees. This past relationship paved the path for me to join Karsun in 2015. I joined as a Senior Business Analyst and gradually progressed in my career. During my current tenure, I supported the GSA program in different roles as a Senior Business Analyst, Scrum Master, and now supporting the FEMA program.
What is your main goal or focus?
Given my background, I have always been aligned with Product Strategy and Delivery. My career goals have been getting into Program Management, Product Management, seeking an opportunity to lead, collaborate, and oversee a big team and eventually run a successful program.
What gets you excited to come to work here?
Coming to the office gives me the opportunity to talk and collaborate with my peers. That’s pretty much what excites me. The kind of work that we do, the things that we deliver, it’s an evolutionary process. The key aspects are meeting people, talking to people, and helping things get delivered for the federal government.
What do you love most about the culture at Karsun Solutions?
I think there’s a certain openness within the company. I can openly collaborate with my peers on different ideas at Karsun. Whether it is my supervisor, colleagues, or the CEO, I can walk around and find somebody to share that idea. Even if it doesn’t get implemented, the conversation that happens is engaging enough for me to go back and think through it and come back with more food for thought. The openness of these conversations and the support structure around us employees is personally the favorite part of the culture here.
Do you have any unique traditions that you feel embody Karsun’s culture?
When I was supporting our GSA program, we used to follow the national day program and that pretty much set the mood for that day. Another of my favorite traditions are the Plank challenges in our FEMA program and also the potlucks at the office. Our last Thanksgiving Potluck was very successful and gave us an opportunity to be relaxed and work in a casual environment. Although the recent situation has disrupted some of these traditions, I am looking forward to getting back into the office and engaging more in-person fun activities with my colleagues.
Envisioning a Future at Karsun
What are you most excited about for the future of the company?
When I joined Karsun, it was a small business and while I was supporting the GSA program, we were awarded the FAA contract and now the FEMA contract. As we are turning towards becoming a large organization, the prospects that I see for myself within this growth is what excites me the most.
What is your experience with professional development at Karsun?
For myself, when I approached my supervisor regarding certain certifications, it was welcomed. Actually, after joining Karsun, I went through a couple of certifications: Certified Scrum Product Owner, Certified Agile Leadership, Certified Scrum Professional, and the Voyagers Program. This states what the company gives its employees. If an employee can speak up, there are always opportunities here.
What is your relationship like with your manager?
It is a great relationship. Some of the things I have done at Karsun would not be possible without his cooperation. His openness and upfront attitude towards giving timely feedback helped me improve certain things. When there were aspects I did not do what had to be done, he was quick and upfront about it. He gave constructive feedback and gave me guidance on how I could fix it.
What can you tell us about Mentorship with Karsun?
It’s the relationship that you have with your supervisor. It’s your career. Tell them what you want to further enhance your career. There was a dialogue with all my supervisors across the different programs. They tell me what I could do, and I ask them questions. I think it comes back to employee openness and finding a way to connect with your supervisor and senior colleagues.
Advice to Future Team Members: Be Open, Be Honest
What is one quality people need to be successful at Karsun?
At a company like Karsun, you have to be open, communicative, and responsive. If you are somebody who just sits at your cubicle, you might find it tough to be successful at this company. You need to open up and say this is what I can do and how I can contribute towards company success. The reason I say that is because it is a growing company and as we are growing from a small to a large organization every employee will have a way they can contribute to that growth.
What advice would you have for a candidate coming to interview?
The one piece of advice I would give is to be honest. As I said, Karsun is a growing company. It is important that the people we are hiring are as they present themselves in the interview. There’s a decent opportunity for growth based on the skillset you present in the interview. Being honest in the interview, saying what you have done in the past and what you can do is very critical. Just keep it straight.