Name: David Biggin
Age: 23
Employer: PA Consulting Group: Financial
Services Practice
Position: Analyst
Qualifications: BA Business and
Management with German
University: University of Manchester
Start Date: September 2007
If you are looking for a straight forward job
where you can be sure exactly what you will be
doing from one week to the next then I would
suggest it's not worth reading any further.
If on the other hand the idea of working in
changing environments where expectation
from clients and your own colleagues is high
but the rewards can be greater then you could
do a lot worse than consider PA for your
graduate position.
I joined in September of last year with about
30 other graduates - all of us were expected to
hit the ground running during grad training by
demonstrating an ability to work in situations
that may be out of your comfort zone whilst
also providing a risk free environment to
make mistakes and get tips from guys that
have been doing this job for years. You also
meet an important group of people to share
experiences with during the first few months.
Once out of the training programme you
get thrown straight in to the business of
consulting and as a new grad your experience
is often a product of the assignments that you
work on. As a result there is not a typical
year at PA but you can be sure the work
will be challenging, new and at times quite
intensive. My personal experience was that
I worked on a couple of shorter projects in
my first few weeks including one for a large
Middle Eastern enterprise before being asked
to support a struggling project for a large
organisation in the City of London. The PA
team there was under pressure to deliver a lot
of time critical projects for a demanding client
but when I sought advice it was generally
given willingly and freely and I think that's
quite indicative of the team mentality within
PA. Aside from your assignment colleagues
you are also assigned both a buddy and a
mentor who are able to answer both "stupid"
questions and give you invaluable advice to
help steer you through the murky waters of
the consulting business towards promotion
and hopefully some job satisfaction.
After a year I am now a part of the same
team in the City currently supporting two
large projects that are bringing together the
business systems and operational processes
of London and Paris offices. The work has
been tough and has faced problems at times
but travel to Paris and regular contact with
senior board members including the CFO
and the CIO, both of whom praise the work
that PA does allows me to look back at the
end of a week and be convinced that not
every grad programme would have given me
the opportunity to do this kind of work. The
nature of the work binds the team together
and you get to know your colleagues well
both during your day to day work and in more
informal settings over a beer or two. This
network of people that you share experience
with are also a good source of advice to help
shape your career.
PA is keen for you to forward your own
personal development too and offers loads
of courses that you can sign up to and fit in
around your client commitments. They range
from skill-based courses such as presenting or
facilitating to more narrow consulting tools
such as PA's own brand of strategy. I have
taken the opportunity to study for a world
recognised project management qualification
which PA has gained accreditation to teach
in order to build on the skills I have learned
whilst on assignment.
By nature the consultants are out of the
office working for clients most of the time.
Consequently a lot of effort is made to bring
people together within the practice and firm
as a whole. This varies from excuses to
take everyone out for a drink to the more
adventurous PA sailing regatta that takes
place twice a year on the Solent, not an event
for the faint hearted... but nothing is at this
place.
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