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The variety of opportunities makes consulting a great option for graduates

Posted At : March 5, 2010 5:17 PM | Posted By : David Kunzmann

The blog below was written by James Simpson. James is an Associate Consultant who joined Capgemini in March 2009.

The opportunity to work across multiple industries and gain experience of different services was one of the main reasons that attracted me to apply for a career as a Management Consultant. For anyone currently going through a similar application process, I can tell you that in my first year at Capgemini Consulting on the CDC programme my expectations have definitely been met in gaining this variety of opportunities.

Since joining, I have had experience of projects in Utilities, Retail, the Education and Health sectors. My assignments have varied from helping to implement operational improvement programmes, designing a new five year strategy for a UK wide health network and supporting the implementation of Government policy through to delivery. In addition, I spent four months on an internal role within the Capgemini Wardour Street offices supporting one of the key Capgemini Account teams supporting their future sales strategies and monthly forecasting budgeting processes.

There is no such thing as a “typical” assignment as a graduate at Capgemini Consulting, but any opportunity you are presented will give you the opportunity for continuous learning and development that will help serve as a fantastic basis for your future career. In my first year I feel I have learnt so much from the people I have worked with and the training I have received. I now also recognise how much more there is still to learn!

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A different way of working

Posted At : February 25, 2010 6:47 PM | Posted By : David Kunzmann

This blog was written by Laurie Edwards. Laurie is an Associate Consultant who joined Capgemini in September 2008.

The most refreshing thing about my current secondment to Capgemini’s Accelerated Solutions Environment (ASE) is the break from traditional patterns of working. The ASE works differently. The thing that people tend to notice when they first walk into the ASE is the physical environment. Moveable walls, which can be written on, fill the space; music is playing; there are plants, books and toys dotted around. The environment, however, is just the face of the ASE. What is really exciting is the work that goes on here. Try asking a room of children how many of them consider themselves to be creative geniuses; then ask the same thing to a group of executives. The ASE principle is that everyone can unlock their creative genius, if only they are given the opportunity and the belief to do it.

Whilst creativity and fun are vital components of the ASE experience, the work that this enables is everything. Event days are long: usually at least eight hours, with minimal breaks, for the participants and much longer for the facilitation team. In a daylong event for fifty people, this translates to about 400 hours of focused work. The process, which underpins the design of each event, ensures that this work is directed most effectively towards the problem in hand.

The first thing I was taught when I joined the ASE team was a definition of facilitation. It is very simple. To facilitate (stemming from the Latin root-word facile) means to make easy. Everything in the ASE is designed to make it as easy as possible for the participants to do the work required to solve the problem in hand. This means that your work as a facilitator could involve clearing away dirty plates after lunch just as much as wrestling with complex design problems during a sponsor meeting. The two are equally important.

Having done a degree course (English and Theatre Studies) that was largely concerned with creativity, I was delighted to find that consulting can involve more than analysis alone. That is not to say the latter is not important. When combining analytic and intellectual rigour with creative insight and the power of group genius, the results can be truly amazing.

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Broad or narrow – follow your own path

Posted At : February 25, 2010 6:42 PM | Posted By : David Kunzmann

This Blog was written by Matthew Ford. Matthew joined Capgemini Consulting in September 2008.

Looking back to a little over two and a half years ago when I was in the final year of my degree, the task of finding the right graduate job seemed unbelievably daunting. With graduate brochures piled high and subscriptions to student forums aplenty, I started the unenviable task of blanket applications to tens of companies across numerous industries – a few investment banks here, a couple of accountancies there, and a selection of consultancies thrown in as well…why not! To be completely honest, at twenty-one years’ old, with a history degree to complete (not to mention a dissertation to write!), I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do as a career. Despite completing an internship in accountancy, I was yet to find my ‘dream job’ and was hoping something would jump out at me. Luckily it did…

In September 2007 I attended an assessment centre at Capgemini Consulting. The promise – “a challenging, varied, entrepreneurial graduate scheme with the opportunity to work across various areas of the business”; two and a half years on and one big decision later I can safely say that the reality is exactly that. My goal was to find a job that is exciting, stimulating, stretching and also fun. That one assessment day in September 2007 answered all such questions and confirmed to me exactly what career was right for me…Management Consulting at Capgemini. What was my main reasoning behind this? The variety…

As you can see on the website, the graduate scheme is a broad programme that enables new graduate joiners (called Associate Consultants) to work on projects and experience life across all areas of the business including Strategy and Transformation, Supply Chain, Marketing, Sales and Service, Finance and Employee Transformation, and Technology Transformation. In addition to this, these projects can span a variety of sectors such as Financial Services, Energy, Utilities and Chemicals, Consumer Products and Retail, and Government & Public Sector. For people like me who have little prior functional or sector experience, such variety is a great opportunity to find what excites you and where your skills lie. Having taken advantage of this variety and developed a range of skills, after fifteen months I realised that Strategy & Transformation is the area that I am suited to most and have since transitioned to that business unit.

There are other graduates, however, who have prior experience, a related degree or a passion for a particular business area; for these people there is a slightly different graduate track that can be followed. All new graduates join the graduate programme together, follow the same training curriculum and have the opportunity to work on the same wide variety of project. The only difference is that ‘content-focussed’ graduates are aligned more closely to a business area from an earlier stage. This does not restrict them from working across other areas of the business; it simply helps to develop a greater degree of specialism earlier on.

So how would I sum up the best thing about Capgemini Consulting’s graduate programme? As mentioned already…the variety. Broad or narrow, experienced or not, there are a wide range of opportunities available for people from all backgrounds at Capgemini Consulting. My only advice is to follow your own path and find out which one is best for you!

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Raising money…it’s just the way we roll

Posted At : February 10, 2010 11:33 PM | Posted By : David Kunzmann

Chloe Booker is an Associate Consultant who joined Capgemini in September 2008:

One of the ways that Capgemini Consulting differentiates itself is the emphasis placed on people. This is an integral feature of the company and one that is visible throughout the company. One of the most obvious ways to identify this is the preoccupation Capgemini consultants have with raising money for the Prince’s Trust.

There are a whole range of different initiatives that we are encouraged to get involved with as CDCers… mostly consisting of some kind of sponsored physical exertion. Not being much of an athlete, I decided to get involved with Million Makers with a team of five other CDCers. This challenges participants to turn an initial investment of £1,500 into £11,500. It promised to put our business acumen, entrepreneurial assertiveness and team working skills to the test and commenced back in June 09 with a day at ‘Go Ape!’.

For the subsequent six months, we worked together to generate a business idea and turn it into a reality. This required effective team working, project management, marketing strategy and sales. This was all made more taxing by the distribution of team members across the UK and trying to balance this with on top of client and internal work!

The result of our labours was Ad:Vent, an online advent calendar. This provided ‘five minutes of festive fun for a fiver’ throughout December. Individuals paid just £5 for the downloadable application which provided a host of daily fun. They were also entered into a draw that delivered a daily amazing prize to one lucky person. In total we raised nearly £4000…an amount we were really proud of.

It was certainly one of the most challenging things I have done at Capgemini, but also one of the most valuable. It taught me a lot of new things about team working and marketing, but also cemented the training and tools I have been taught. It was also fantastic to witness the amount of support and endorsement we received from within the company….there was even an email circulated by the head of Capgemini Consulting UK to the whole of the business. I think that says a lot about the culture at Capgemini Consulting!

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Top tips for living out of a suitcase

Posted At : January 7, 2010 3:58 PM | Posted By : Fran Wilkinson

The consulting lifestyle can, at times, be akin to that of a hobo. Following a discussion with your resource manager you could be drafted onto a project at the other end of the country. Although this presents a challenge to an established routine (e.g. night-classes or long-term gym membership), the trade-off is the opportunity to see new places and enjoy the benefits of staying in a hotel.

Having spent 10 months of the last 16 working outside of London (including a stint in Switzerland), I think I’ve just about mastered the art of living out of a suitcase. Here are my top tips:

Invest in a decent, lightweight, small suitcase with wheels. Yes, I know wheelie suitcases are mobile obstacles for other commuters, but trust me; it’s a lot easier than lugging a holdall around – and your back will thank you for it!
Travel light – you will never wish you had that extra pair of shoes with you
Try and do your packing before the weekend – that way you don’t have a last minute panic on Sunday evening
Have a designated ‘work’ toiletry bag with a separate toothbrush, face cream etc to your ‘home’ supplies – saves a lot of time and hassle
If working abroad, try to only take hand luggage – if you are creative with packing you can fit a surprisingly large amount of stuff into permitted cabin baggage; many airlines will let you take a laptop bag in addition. Remember to buy miniature toiletries to avoid security nightmares at airports
Wear comfortable clothes to travel in – those killer heels might look fabulous but might not seem so great after a 2 mile walk in them. Sacrifice fashion for the sake of comfort during your commute. Just remember to change out of your trainers before that important client meeting!
Make the most of the hotel facilities – many hotels will have gym (or even spa) facilities, so you can use your evenings to keep up your fitness or even treat yourself to a massage.
Enjoy the cuisine – staying in hotels saves you the hassle of cooking so make the most of the opportunity to try out some new dishes. Be warned, your waistline will not thank you if you over indulge (I speak from experience here!)
Visit some of the local sites/attractions – some museums/art galleries have late night openings. It’s a great opportunity to see more of the area than the train station/your client’s office/your hotel.
Set aside some time for yourself – it’s good to socialise with your project colleagues, but you don’t have to do this every night. Nobody will take offence if you choose to spend the odd evening on your own catching up on work or Corrie!

Hopefully this will help you take the pain out of travelling and enjoy the perks of the consulting lifestyle!

Frances is an Associate Consultant who joined Capgemini in September 2008.

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Recruitment fairs

Posted At : January 2, 2010 5:33 PM | Posted By : Nick Seeley

We’re in a grand old hall, packed out with firms. I’m here, as a member of the CDC, to give a perspective on life in Capgemini’s management consulting graduate scheme. I find Capgemini’s area and being the first there try my creative hand with our stand. There’s a good atmosphere around and people seem excited about the day. Not long since I was here as a student, I think about my time in the company so far and what grand wisdom I can impart…

Since March I’ve built up a much clearer picture of our clients and the different kinds of work we do in management consulting. This has come through a variety of client and internal work, presentations and training, as well as catching up with colleagues in the office more informally – people are very approachable. I’m also with colleagues from our technology and outsourcing areas of the business who can talk about their experiences in their respective graduate schemes.

The fair opens and it gets busy really quickly. Lots of people are venturing towards our stand, clearly drawn in by the attractive display – which I notice our recruitment manager has totally changed round.

Some people know a little, curious about what consulting is – as a profession it is often not as well understood as, say law and accountancy. I talk about how we with work with clients on a wide range of business problems from understanding their market and what products to make, to how to make them efficiently, and how sell them, along with functions that support the business like HR.

Others know more and are interested in how Capgemini stands out, plus whether we do more than IT… On the former I talk, for instance, about the Accelerated Solutions Environment (ASE), on the later – we’re often known as a technology consulting business though there’s a lot more to us than that (see Matthew Ford’s blog entry). Our CDC manager, Deborah Hough, is also at the fair and is able to give a perspective of someone with lots of experience in consulting.

I talk to a lot of different people over the day and it’s interesting to see the variety in backgrounds and why they’re interested in consulting. From history and biochemical engineering students, literature and languages to economics and business, through undergraduate level, masters to PhD. There’s a surgeon interested in our health sector team, a theatre director wanting a change in direction, plus MBA students who’ve done a huge range of things. This kind of variety is reflected within Capgemini – on my current project I’m working with some whose previous field was computer modelling of the brain!

The fair comes a close and time’s flown by. It’s been a good day, though I do note with anguish the unused tea and cake vouchers – clearly plenty still to learn – and I head to a café before jumping on the train back to London.

Nick Seeley is an Associate Consultant who joined Capgemini in March 2009.

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Collaborative Group Working

Posted At : June 3, 2009 3:53 PM | Posted By : Fran Wilkinson

As part of the CDC’s Learning & Development programme, I recently attended the ‘Collaborative Group Working’ (CGW) course, which I’d highly recommend to anybody.

Collaboration is at the heart of Capgemini’s methodology and centres on working with the client every step of the way. The CGW course teaches you to put into practice the different core consulting tools and techniques, learning how to use them creatively through behaviour and use of space to encourage collaboration.

Using psychoanalytical assessments such as Belbin and Coloured-Thinking, we were each informed of our strengths and potential weaknesses in a team environment. Over the next two-days, as well as playing to our strengths, we also strove to step out of our comfort zones and build our confidence in less familiar team roles.

We also learnt how to facilitate workshops, in order to draw out information from a range of stakeholders, without influencing the outcome. This is a key skill that will prove invaluable throughout your career in Capgemini, especially in roles at the Accelerated Solutions Environment (ASE).

CGW is a really action-packed and interactive couple of days. All attendees are encouraged to put their new skills into practice, and given the opportunity to offer and receive feedback. In the spirit of feedback, I’d say this course is excellent and really helps you to discover a lot about yourself.

Frances Wilkinson is an Associate Consultant who joined the CDC in September 2008. She is currently working on a major bid.

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We are in the people business

Posted At : June 1, 2009 7:17 PM | Posted By : Justin Chin

Whereas other industries use the latest technologies, methodologies and tools to develop solutions, consulting engagements rely on the developing trusting relationships with people (clients and colleagues alike). The ability to listen to what is said and what is not said is vital to develop trust with people.

On Capgemini’s graduate scheme, you have numerous opportunities to work in different industries and client sites to learn and understand different people’s motivations and aspirations. Understanding their differences and adapting accordingly is always a challenge, and a great way to learn how to work and interact with people.

In the last year, I have had the fortuity to work on several varied client projects, from creating a communications plan for a public sector education organisation, running team building event days, to supporting the project management office of a large government change project. In each and every engagement, I had to understand why people were motivated to work the way they do, and to develop effective solutions to get them where they wanted.

I am interested in understanding how people interact with each other. Consulting is a people business and with the opportunities available, this is why I chose a career in consultancy at Capgemini.

Justin Chin is an Associate Consultant who joined Capgemini Consulting in March 2008. He is currently working on a process mapping deliverable for a public sector organisation in London.

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The start of my consulting career…

Posted At : May 27, 2009 8:24 PM | Posted By : David Kunzmann

After returning from my travels earlier this year, it was finally time to kick-off my consulting career with Capgemini. New joiners take part in a two-week induction programme, ran by members of the Consulting Development Community (CDC). You stay away in a variety of pleasant hotels, which gives you a taster of life as a consultant. The schedule included team games, presentations from the leadership team (including Tom Blacksell, CEO), interactive sessions on consulting skills and evening socials, all culminating in a short case study at the end.

All of this sounds quite daunting, but it was a fantastic experience. The induction is run solely for the new graduate intake, and as so it has a great social atmosphere. The evenings provide a chance to relax and get to know your new colleagues, and there is plenty of organised fun as well. I had to organise a Monday Night of Fun, which I did on a “monsters of consulting theme” – all-in-all quite random but very enjoyable.

The sessions in the day start to build core consulting skills such as storyboarding, effective meeting management, presentation skills and strategic analysis. The sessions are run by experts across the business, and as such you get to meet a lot of people in a short space of time. It was incredibly valuable to meet so many people, as building up a network of contacts is important in a consultant’s career.

On the final Friday we were all told where our first project assignments would be. It was time to say some temporary goodbyes as we were all sent to various parts of the country to put the skills that we had learned into practice. After the induction I had made some fantastic friendships and was very excited about getting my career with Capgemini going.

David Kunzmann is an Associate Consultant who joined Capgemini in March 2009.

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“10 ways to tell you are becoming a management consultant”

Posted At : March 3, 2009 1:14 PM | Posted By : Michael Gardner

Even though I have been with Capgemini for only 6 months, I am beginning to see my own transformation from a student into a fledgling consultant. The following are the signs to look out for:

PowerPoint becomes your baby – You will quickly learn that a consultant’s number one weapon has been laying low on your laptop for years. Your expertise will rocket as you begin to create presentations, displays and reports.
Upgrading your suitcase – Working away from home is a key part of the consultant’s lifestyle. I have spent 2 out of 6 months travelling across the UK, usually from Monday to Thursday. The upside is that you get a chance to socialise with your team and see new places.
Brown paper will be a mystery no more! – As a graduate, you will be involved in preparing and running workshops. You will quickly learn how to create presentations using large rolls of brown paper, used as a tangible means of working through client problems.
You become more insightful into Global business – As you work on roles across private and public sector clients, your knowledge of business and current market issues will broaden. For me, working for a large retail client at the height of the downturn gave me an insight into how our economy is making an impact.
You can remember the train timetable – You will spend more time on trains and tubes than ever before. Try and think of something to pass the time – I like to either watch a video on my laptop or have a browse of the Metro.
More points please! - Seeing as you stay in hotels, it’s always a good idea to get the points and air miles too. I chose to build up my air miles and within 6 months have enough for a return flight to Spain, Ole!
Aiming high – You will be working with like minded individuals who are constantly searching for the next adventure. Whether this involves trekking across South America to running mini entrepreneurial projects, you will feel inspired to get more out of life.
Out of the box business – At Capgemini, we pride ourselves on our charity work. We currently have teams involved with the Prince’s Trust getting ready to traverse Borneo. Someone even set up a charity, the Naandi Foundation which supports Indian girls education.
Get a new watch – When at university, wearing a watch was never the top priority. As a consultant you will learn and master time management, being on the ball and meeting deadlines on a daily basis.
A second tongue – Consultants are renowned for using business jargon like ‘blue sky thinking’ and ‘Al Desco’ (lunch at your desk). However, over time you will pick up a fluency in the more common everyday vocabulary used across businesses.

Michael is an Associate Consultant who joined Capgemini Consulting in September 2008. He is currently working in the Department for children, schools and families.

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