Meet BCG Graduates

After university I decided to go into management consulting, as I was looking to develop intellectually and challenge my problem solving skills, while working in different industries.

BCG has given me much more than just that - it has given me inspirational role models and an opportunity to make real impact working with extraordinary people. On the intellectual development front, I had the opportunity to develop an economic methodology and debate it with a world-leading economist who wrote some of my university textbooks.

On another case, working with a leading UK retailer, I partnered with the client team to help them improve the way they work together, and it was very satisfying to see the difference we have made. But the most important element of the firm for me is the BCG people.

I am continuously amazed at the collaborative atmosphere within the firm: you can email virtually anyone in the BCG network, and they will make an effort to talk to you about their area of expertise to help you out in your work.

There is also an incredible amount of support from my teams and peers on a personal level, which makes my work so much more enjoyable.

One thing I have observed at BCG is that everyone is treated as an individual, from interns to partners to clients.

BCG understands what a client wants and works very closely with them to make sure their aims are achieved. This is why the types of cases we get to work with are so diverse.

I have worked with the commercial director of London’s Olympics on the alignment of his various commercial teams, and the development of an alternative revenue streams strategy for 2012. Although just a short project, this had a big impact in ensuring things run smoothly and decreased the scope for duplication.

Another, very different, case was with a large media group developing their digital strategy. This was a much broader topic but the CEO listened to me and was really interested in what we had to say. However, I didn’t realise quite how much I had learned until I was given the opportunity to do a secondment in Tanzania as a volunteer for an NGO.

We were working to improve the incomes of smallholders and it was here, training tomato farmers in business methodology, and increasing the efficiency of tomato sauce processors, that I realised I could use all the experience I had gained with business clients to really make a difference and put something back.

I couldn’t have done this without the supportive learning environment at BCG.

Many people grow up wanting to be Premiership footballers, but during my study of maths at Edinburgh University I had no idea that a few years later I would be advising the chief executive of a Premiership team how to use innovative ticketing and merchandising programmes to raise money to pay for more star players!

That’s what I enjoy about BCG. The variety of cases means I learn something new every day and never get bored.

The responsibility BCG has offered me so early in my career has also been remarkable.

Another project I worked on was a pro-bono case with The Courtauld Institute of Art to help generate revenue from streams other than government funding. It was an incredible learning experience because I was able to find out about client relationship management and how to scope a project by actually running the day-to-day case myself.

It isn’t until you are in a real-life environment that you really see how far you can push yourself to achieve better.

Aside from the cases I have worked on, the number one thing about BCG has to be the people I work with. Other companies might have a couple of people you click with, but at BCG everyone gets on really well together from day one.

I worried about moving to London and not knowing anybody, but I needn’t have done. I think one of the most remarkable things about my colleagues is that though they are the most impressive group of people I have ever met, they are also very humble so there is no clash of egos or jockeying for position.

From the most junior team member right up to partners, everyone will give the time to have a chat with you if you ask them. That’s why they’ve become some of my best friends.