From Orkut to Altis: Why I took the leap (and never looked back)

I joined Altis before I ever set foot in Australia.

Depending on the day you ask me, that was either very brave or very naive.

The beginning: curiosity over planning

Rewind a bit. I had just graduated with a Computer Science degree in Brazil. I was keen to see the world but if I'm honest, I didn't have much of a plan for how to make that happen.

This was the Orkut era. Before LinkedIn, before Facebook took over, Orkut was where everything happened. I joined a community of IT professionals in Australia, mostly out of curiosity, and asked a fairly niche question:

What was the Business Intelligence market like, and was there demand for Cognos people?

For context, this was so long ago that IBM hadn't even acquired Cognos yet.

A fellow Brazilian replied. He mentioned the market was strong, his company was hiring, and he'd be happy to pass on my CV.

My thinking was simple:
"I've got nothing to lose. At worst, I get some interview practice in English."

That company turned out to be Altis.

First impressions that stuck

Altis reviewed my CV and brought me into the interview process.

One comment from the HR manager stuck with me and still does today. They said that Altis genuinely cared about its consultants as people.

At that point in my career, I hadn't experienced that before. Work had felt transactional - more like being an employee ID than a person. So hearing that was unexpected.

A few rounds later, I received an offer for a Consultant role.

Three months after that, I was on a one-way flight to Australia.

Landing and being surprised (in a good way)

Starting a new job in a new country comes with a lot of unknowns. I didn't know what to expect, I just decided to embrace whatever came.

What followed were some pretty incredible firsts.

Within my first month at Altis, I attended a course led by Ralph Kimball and Margy Ross widely recognised as pioneers in dimensional modelling. If you work in data, you'll understand just how rare that opportunity is.

Within two months, I was at a resort in Port Stephens celebrating Altis' 10-year anniversary with the broader team.

And in between, I was working on a complex data transformation project for one of Australia's large energy retailers.

Not a bad way to start.

What Altis actually delivered on

Throughout the interview process, there were a few themes that kept coming up:

• Professionalism
• Competence
• Strong work ethic

The real test was whether that would hold true once I joined.

It did.

What stood out wasn't just the quality of the work, but the environment around it. There was a clear expectation to deliver but also a strong sense of camaraderie that made the work more rewarding.

The simple version

If a friend asked me to sum up Altis in one line, I'd say:

"It's where camaraderie meets work ethic."

And even if you're not actively job hunting, that combination is rarer than you might think.

It's worth a conversation.