What it does:
Virtusa provides all manner of IT products and consulting services, from cyber security and business consulting to platform engineering and process automation. It has six different facilities in Sri Lanka.
Financials:
Virtusa recently saw a net income of LKR 3.2 billion, with revenue totalling 217 billion. This represents an enormous increase in net income over previous years and an increase of roughly 36.2 billion in additional revenue. The company is highly reliant on a few specific clients, with the top five accounting for 42% of its revenue. One notable client, Citi Group, accounts for 17%.
The good:
Highly respected in Sri Lanka. Employees get experience with new technologies.
The not so good:
Hard to grow professionally and get promoted.
Hiring grads with degrees in:
Business and management
Software engineering
Computer science
Virtusa was founded in Sri Lanka by entrepreneurs Kris Canekeratne and John Gillis. Established in 1996 as ‘eRunway’, the pair decided to rebrand to Virtusa six years later.
It soon found itself dealing with high-profile accolades and projects. It was named the ‘best technology company in India’ in 2008 by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce and was responsible for pioneering a web-portal initiative commissioned by the Sri Lankan government in 2011.
Despite its Sri Lankan origins, the company is headquartered in Massachusetts, United States and now serves high-profile clients around the world. A notable example is JP Morgan Chase, who commissioned Virtusa to understand the millennial audience in 2017. With a growing portfolio of successful projects, it continues building its reputation to this day.
Virtusa is an opportunity to experience varied challenges. Your career progress is ultimately determined by your ability to get noticed and think laterally to complete projects, but even then promotions can be slow.
Nevertheless, the international experience combined with exposure to cutting-edge tech companies and relevant issues is useful, even if you choose to go elsewhere after two or three years.
Programming positions generally begin with an aptitude test, but is sometimes preceded by an interview with HR. The test is designed to test your logical reasoning, written communication and basic skills. You’ll next be faced with a bespoke programming test, where you’ll be asked either questions pertinent to the job, or a single programming problem. This is followed by a technical interview with a department head, where they’ll ask you about your programming knowledge and how you handle relevant challenges. If you’re successful, you’re in!
The following are samples of available pay grades and associated job titles:
Senior software engineer - LKR 91,500 per month base; 840,000 in bonuses per year on average.
Software engineer - LKR 58,000 per month base; 84,000 in bonuses per year on average.
Associate software engineer - LKR 28,000 per month base; 24,000 in bonuses per year on average.
Virtusa, like many consulting cultures, can be fast paced. It has a culture of long hours and hard work, with new challenges constantly presenting themselves. Finding a work-life balance can therefore be difficult, but the company provides a gym membership to employees to somewhat offset this and encourage healthy living.
Virtusa hasn’t forgotten its roots and believes strongly in bolstering Sri Lanka. One of its most notable accomplishments was building and donating a disaster management system in the wake of the 2004 tsunami. It also has over 25 partnerships with engineering colleges around the country, coordinates hackathons and has been issuing regular sustainability reports since 2008. Their headquarters might be in the US, but their hearts are in Sri Lanka.