I have been a strategy consultant since graduating in chemistry
Since joining Roland Berger full time in 2018, I've been mainly focused on life sciences, sustainability and investor support topics, working with colleagues from across Europe and North America on my projects. Highlights of my time at RB include travelling to Brussels to present to a number of major figures in the aerospace industry on sustainability, an office trip to Venice, and regular snooker and football sessions with colleagues.
Prior to RB, I studied for a masters in chemistry, during which I managed to almost blow up 3 different labs and went on University Challenge. During this time, I also did internships with Novartis (during which I helped develop forecasts for a couple of drugs undergoing clinical trials), and Roland Berger (during which I helped develop an internationalisation strategy for a specialist recruitment agency).
I advise companies on major strategic questions
Whilst on project, my typical responsibilities include structuring and conducting analysis, presenting to the client and managing other team members. I also support a number of internal initiatives, including onboarding, recruitment, and sustainability.
Some recent projects I've worked on include advising a Horizon Europe fund focused on aviation on their technology investment strategy, conducting a consumer health portfolio review for a major pharmaceutical company, and advising a manufacturer of EV chargers on their international growth strategy. Other highlights include developing a long-term terminal expansion plan for a UK airport and a 5 year growth strategy for a manufacturer of scientific instruments.
Interesting work with great people
People hire consultants because they have important, complex, and time-critical problems - this means that on every project you are working on an interesting problem and are constantly learning something new - whether that's insights into how businesses that we see daily operate (e.g., pharmacies), or arcane trivia about random niches which you hadn't thought about prior to the project (e.g., injection moulding for contact lenses). A large part of what makes these projects fun to work on (beyond the nature of the problems) is the people you end up working with across the different RB offices.
Let the real you shine through
During job applications (and your career itself), you will feel a pressure to conform to what you expect other people want you to be. Typically, this expectation is not fully accurate - In consulting specifically, we are actively looking for people with different perspectives, personalities and backgrounds to make sure that we provide the best solutions to our clients leveraging a true diversity of thought.
