Adam B.
About me
| Adam B. | |
| Economics and Related Studies | |
| Economics and Economic History | |
| Undergraduate | |
| Goodricke | |
| 2011 | |
| United Kingdom |
My employment
| Strategy Consulting | |
| PwC | |
| United Kingdom | |
| Large business (250+ employees) | |
| 2018 | |
| 2019 | |
| £73k | |
| £73k |
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A day in the life of a Strategy Consulting in the United Kingdom
My career goals when I graduated
I did not have a clear goal when I first left, other than looking for something interesting. I would encourage people to think widely to find a role that suits them rather than just the traditional roles. This has helped me focus on what I am good at rather than a more finance focused role
My career history
I started thinking of going into accountancy before deciding against it and looking for more commercial/strategic roles. After a year teaching in Japan I worked for an e-commerce company before moving into strategy at senior associate level, and made the jump to PwC at manager level.
What has helped my career to progress
Trying to balance short and long term performance, and being honest about shortcomings and having a clear path on how to fix them
Courses taken since graduation
Prince2 Project management
How my studies have helped my career
Undoubtedly York helped open doors down the line and helped me get interviews
What surprised me about my career so far
It has been very varied and had a few twists and turns. I didn't know CDD and deals strategy was even an avenue when I graduated
Where I hope to be in 5 years
I have just moved into an in-house strategy role and hope to have risen to director level
My advice to students considering work
Be honest and focus on where your skills lie. Try and choose a growing industry as that will lead to avenues opening up. You may have to tough out the first couple of years but it gets easier as you develop your skills
My advice about working in my industry
Be prepared to work hard and be willing to identify areas of development
Contacting me
Happy to answer any questions,but can talk about graduate applications to PwC in Deals Strategy or other areas, or anything around strategy.
What I do
Working within the deals strategy team (commercial due diligence and pure strategy) as a manager, I help evaluate the commercial viability of potential transactions to help clients make informed decisions. This involves evaluating the market, competitive landscape, and internal capabilities of companies looking to get investment.
Skills I use and how I developed them
You pick up a large number of skills, including desk research, interviewing, and report writing. You also learn data analysis and use tools such as power BI and alteryx. The main tool you learn is structured thinking that gives you a framework to tackle business problems
What I like most
Working as a strategy consultant you gain a lot of information about a wide variety of industries. You are also working on high level, strategic problems from day one. You get pushed a lot and it's a good place to start a career before jumping into industry
What I like least
The hours are long but the job is never boring
What surprised me most
You will be given responsibilities based on how good you are not how long you have been there. It's much more meritocratic than imagined, and PwC are very supportive of development
Next steps...
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