What moves a software career forward?
There’s no single answer. What matters in your first year looks very different from what matters five or ten years in.
So we asked 25 BBDers across three career stages what had shaped their growth, what they valued most and what kept them moving forward. The answers revealed a clear career arc – and a few themes that stayed remarkably consistent.
Early career: learn fast, but learn from the right people
For first-year employees, growth came down to exposure.
Five out of seven said learning from their team had been one of their biggest growth drivers, while four pointed to working on real client projects. Mentorship, feedback, early responsibility and the ATC grad programme also featured strongly.
That tells us something important about the beginning of a career in tech: learning doesn’t happen in isolation.
It happens when you can ask questions, see how experienced people approach problems and start contributing to real work.
As Michael Todd, a first-year BBDer, put it:
“BBD genuinely feels invested in supporting your career and appreciating your growth naturally. Nothing feels forced or pushed. It isn’t something you think about often, but getting that balance right is incredibly impressive for a company of this size.”
Mid-career: experience needs somewhere to go
A few years in, the focus shifts.
Among intermediate and mid-level respondents, career progression was the clearest priority, with 10 out of 11 ranking it among the things that matter most to them now.
And when asked about their most valuable experiences at BBD, nine out of 11 pointed to learning from strong peers. Greater responsibility, better engineering practices, broader project exposure and more technical ownership followed closely behind.
At this stage, growth is less about learning how to do the job and more about sharpening judgement, taking ownership and being trusted with harder decisions.
Steven Pinto captured another part of that experience:
“If you want a place that cuts through the noise and genuinely appreciates your hard work, go to BBD. No fluff, no excuses. Just pure accountability. Do your work, ask for help, keep pushing the line, and you get rewarded. It feels transparent and really simple.”
Senior career: influence matters
By senior level, growth looks different again.
Four out of seven senior respondents pointed to the ability to influence delivery as one of their most important experiences. Strength of the engineering team, real-world impact and project ownership were also recurring themes.
For experienced engineers, it’s no longer only about being given challenging work. It’s about having a say in how that work gets done.
As Petrie Van Eeden said:
“BBD is a great place to work if they enjoy solving interesting problems along side highly skilled and supportive people. The company provides exposure to a wide range of technologies, industries, and clients, which creates excellent opportunities for both technical and professional growth. ”
Different stages. The same foundations.
The priorities change as careers progress.
But across the survey, the same things kept surfacing: capable people, meaningful work, trust, responsibility and opportunities to stretch.
That’s the career arc.
Not a straight climb through job titles, but an environment that gives you what you need for the stage you’re in – and enough room for whatever comes next.
