My first experience at BCG was as a student when I did a summer internship, and the fact I work here now is a testament to how much I enjoyed that experience. I was running meetings with four partners as an intern and knew that this pace of development and early responsibility would be hard to match anywhere else. The variety of work also appealed to me – breaking down the process of putting an oil rig together for an energy client and pointing out the weak links in the chain was a far cry from my studies in geography.
Because you are always challenged to think in different ways about your cases, you do have to put a lot of effort and time into them, but this hard work is recognised in a way it might not be in other industries. I think that is part of the BCG culture, which gives back as much as you put in.
Working with colleagues with different amounts of experience also helps to develop your personal goals. You can look at the high-fliers and see exactly what it is they do that is so special, pushing you to do even better. I like the fact there are so many different ways of being supported.
Your career development adviser can help you understand your development needs, but you also have a buddy at the same level as you so you can always share a coffee and swap notes and tips on a more informal basis.
In fact the biggest pressure when you start here can come from within you – my advice is not to be too hard on yourself to start with and treat every day as a new learning experience surrounded by supportive colleagues.