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Recruitment fairs

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.

A Week in the Life of...

When I started looking at whether consulting was for me, I read dozens of graduate websites that explained: what the company does; what they deliver; how they deliver; how they differentiate themselves; etc.  All very well I thought, however ‘what do graduates actually do on day-to-day basis?’  Well I think the simplest way for me to tell you is to give you a week in the life of.  Yes, 5 days in my life on what I’m doing day to day – a new blog every day of this week.

Please do let me know any thoughts or questions you have.


Alistair Calvert is an Associate Consultant who joined the Capgemini Consulting CDC programme after graduating from Cardiff University in Computer Science.  He is a content focused graduate towards the Business and Information Strategy practice and is currently working as a Business Analyst for a large Government transformation programme.

How do we select the right candidates to join the CDC?

I am a member of the Recruitment Stream within the CDC.  It concentrates on two areas: marketing the CDC scheme to potential candidates; and supporting the selection process to get the right candidates.

Within this stream, I assist in the latter and work to complete a number of deliverables, or agreed nuggets of work that need to be completed by a certain date.  One of the most interesting pieces of work I picked up was to create a case study for which candidates at our assessment centres needed to read and prepare in advance.  This would:

• allow candidates to demonstrate their skills
• score candidates’ competencies which are required for a consultant
• be applicable and relevant as any potential Capgemini project.

It is in challenging situations such as these that CDCers develop their skills in analysing, assessing and presenting information into credible and relevant work.  This work was fascinating to create, form and reform to be a working live assessment tool.

Stream work is internal work that sits along external client or project commitments and allows me to hone my consulting skills within Capgemini.  Working on internal pieces of work helps to develop confidence when working on future client sites.  It gives the opportunity for CDCers to work in other areas of the company which they have an interest in.

As the ‘milkround’ is in full swing, the recruitment stream has also been travelling the length and breadth of the country, showcasing Capgemini and the graduate programmes offered.  More to follow soon.

Justin has been in the CDC for 9 months, and works on a placement at the Acceleration Solutions Environment.