-
How would you describe your field and main tasks?
As an associate within the Technology Advantage practice area of BCG, I work with some of the greatest challenges of IT. This includes fields such as organizational design within Agile at Scale, Scrum and classic Waterfall, as well as Enterprise Architecture, choice and scoping of new systems, and total transformations of the IT and Digital functions. My task on these projects would most often be a carved out sub-part of the overall task, such as to optimize a specific part of the company or to carry out a specific part of the project, such as a sourcing strategy, or a review of a proposed organizational setup.
-
What are the most exciting and challenging aspects of your job?
The most exciting aspect is always having an answer. Making a strategy for how to get an answer that can be used for further analysis when the data is lacking, or when the client simply does not know. It is taking abstract questions and creating a robust set of hypotheses and a plan of how to test them.
-
How do you apply your education in your job?
My education (MSc of IT in Digital Innovation and Management) covered the intersection between IT and Business, and was targeted specifically at how to optimize the use of IT in business. Since I work specifically within that field, I apply my education on a daily basis. The cases are often very varied, so what part of my education that is applied changes on a monthly basis.
-
What are the three most important things to you in your job at BCG?
Stubbornness
In BCG, there is no such thing as ‘not being able to find out.’ It is about pushing on, even when it is difficult to get the necessary knowledge, and finding creative ways to solve different problems. There is always missing data, and it is key to know how to then find an answer.
Structure
When dealing with large and often vaguely defined problems it is essential to have a structured approach. Defining the problem upfront and breaking it into smaller problems, as well as testing all your hypotheses with the data, is core for providing the quality advice that our clients depend on.
Humility
One of the great benefits of working within BCG is working with the brightest minds from each field. However, when working with people like this it is important to stay humble, and always being willing to learn.
-
Why do you consider BCG a desirable company to work in?
Most people who go into Tier 1 consulting do it in order to learn and become experts within their fields in a very short period. This is true for BCG as well – there is a steep learning curve, but it pays off in the long run.
In my opinion, what makes BCG more desirable to work in than other Tier 1 firms is the slightly more ‘geeky’ reputation that BCG has. While all of the Tier 1 firms have strong management skills, BCG has a reputation for having deeper competencies, which I feel shines through with initiatives such as our IT subsidiary ‘Platinion’ or our Data Science group ‘Gamma.’
