My first year as an Associate
Before Joining
Going into my final year of University I knew that I needed find a job. After a summer of Investment Banking I realised that it definitely wasn’t for me – I needed something more creative and varied – and so Consultancy looked like an appealing option. I had been really impressed by the people I had met from BCG during the summer and this impression was further enhanced when I met more BCG consultants at their presentation in Cambridge. I sent off my application and after my interviews I was lucky enough to be offered a job.
BCG were really flexible on starting dates so I decided that I would join in January, taking some time to go around Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and the US. During my last stop in Boston I made sure to make the most of the cheap dollar by buying a suit for work and getting the ‘gap year hair’ tidied up a bit!
Getting things started
I was quite nervous on my walk into work on the 2nd of January, but these nerves quickly dissipated when I met my group of new joiners. Through various social events organised when I signed for BCG I had met most of them before, and all the others seemed fun too. After a week in London we went off to Germany for a European training programme. It was really interesting to work with people from such a large range of nationalities and backgrounds. During the week, some of my peers started to get details explaining what their first cases were, it was all very exciting and I couldn’t wait to find out what mine would be.
When I got back from training I was told that my first assignment would be for a major European airline. It was a small case team, just myself and a Principal, which turned out being great as I got so much time from someone who was very experienced in both consulting and the airline industry. I felt like I was doing an apprenticeship, but at the same time my Principal was very interested in hearing what my ideas were and trying to incorporate them into the work we were doing. It was also a great chance to put some of the analytical tools and techniques that I picked up at training into practice.
The social side
It wasn't long before I got the chance to pursue some more social activities within BCG. In March all the Associates and Junior Consultants went away to Austria for a weekend skiing. Although my skiing was definitely a bit rusty, I found it a great opportunity to get to meet more people in the office, many of whom had been working away at the client site or abroad.
As the spring turned into summer I had a chance to get involved in drama again with a full blown musical (of sorts), performing in ‘The Wizard of BCG’ at our office away weekend near Reading. I also managed to make it into BCG London’s football team and went to Real Madrid’s training pitches to compete against all the other European offices for the much coveted European Cup. Unfortunately our team went out on penalties in the semi final, keeping in line with our national stereotype…
Phase Two
After completing cases in Pharmaceuticals and Banking I got the chance to move back to do a second phase on the airline project that I worked on for my first case. It was really interesting to go back and see the Clients again after gaining more experience from my work in other industries. This time we had a much larger team and it was great to help realise the changes that we recommended in our first project.
In the Autumn I also went on the second part of my European training in a chateau just outside of Paris. This training was incredibly rewarding as it was focussed on how to enhance your personal skills and how to best work in a team. It was also very convenient as it meant that I could stay over in Paris for the weekend and see the Rugby World Cup final!
Experience the Nordics
At the European training I discussed the opportunities that BCG provides to work internationally with some colleagues from BCG Oslo. They suggested that I applied for the ‘Experience the Nordics’ programme. I mentioned this to my careers advisor and he got in contact with staffing. A couple of weeks later I was offered a Pharmaceuticals case in Stockholm and I snapped at the opportunity. This was a very international case that allowed me to travel to Sweden, the US and Switzerland, as well as different locations within the UK. As the case team was based across so many different geographies I was given a lot of independence and I spend most of my time working directly with the clients. This really took me out of my comfort zone, but allowed me to grow further in confidence and develop my skill set.
It has been a whirlwind year, but a thoroughly enjoyable one!