31.12 From Offer Letter to Week 1 on an MNC Client Project

Suppose we are joining a large IT services company and are placed on a client project (for example an Infosys or TCS team building reports for a UK retail client). The interview is over. Week 1 on a client project has a few extra rules that a product company may not have.

What a client project expects in week 1

1. Client access takes time. Client VPN, client e-mail and workspace access can take days. Use the wait to read the project documents and the existing report.
2. Data privacy first. You may sign an NDA. Never copy client data to a personal laptop, personal e-mail or a public tool.
3. Work comes as tickets. A ticket says what to change, by when, and how it will be tested. Read the acceptance criteria twice.
4. Daily stand-up. Say three things: what I did yesterday, what I do today, what blocks me. Keep it under one minute.
5. Time zones. The client may be 4.5 to 13.5 hours behind IST (UK to US west coast). Write clear messages so work moves while they sleep.
6. UAT (user acceptance testing). The client tests your change before it goes live. Keep a small test table: expected number vs actual number.

Questions to ask your lead in week 1

1. Which workspace is DEV, TEST and PROD? Are deployment pipelines used?
2. Who owns each data source? Who do I ask when a number looks wrong?
3. Is there a measure naming rule and a report theme I must follow?
4. Which reports have RLS, and how do we test it?
5. When does the scheduled refresh run, and who gets failure e-mails?

Build your mini portfolio (one PBIX, an RLS demo and a published report) before the interview. See 30.10 for the full checklist.

Samajla ka? On a client project, being careful and clear matters as much as being fast.