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Working on the most pressing business issues jointly with top management from global blue-chip companies, and creating significant impact, is just as breathtaking as it sounds.

Per
Senior Partner & Managing Director, Stockholm

A Personal Story

Working for BCG means personal development and reward in all dimensions. Working closely with the leading global companies and their senior executives in defining how they should compete to win, while creating significant value for their shareholders, is truly exciting. Being a true partner and being offered a seat at the table is when BCG teams really start to drive value exponentially for our clients. The types of relationships you can develop doing this go well beyond individual projects—it means sharing both passion and drive to create significant bottom-line impact.

Background

Per holds a degree from the Stockholm School of Economics, and an MBA from HBS. He joined BCG in 1990, and has worked in London, Munich, and Stockholm. He is the head of BCG in Sweden.

Seeing how we managed to change a top executive's perspective was a tremendously rewarding experience.

Geoffroy
Principal, Brussels

A Personal Story

I have to admit I was rather skeptical about management consulting when I was a student. Who would believe that a young professional would get the opportunity to discuss a multinational's strategy with the senior management? Barely two years with BCG and I had my turn. Entering the boardroom of one of the largest French utilities to present my findings was one of the most nerve-racking moments of my life. Seeing how we managed to change a top executive's perspective was also a tremendously rewarding experience.

Background

Geoffroy graduated from the Université Catholique de Louvain with a degree in commercial engineering and a complementary degree in philosophy. He joined BCG in 2001 as an associate and obtained an MBA at INSEAD in 2005.

At BCG, everything that forms our daily work is focused on our clients and the trust they give us.

Yves
Senior Partner & Managing Director, Paris

A Personal Story

The client was a global manufacturer of telecommunications equipment, and the eight month project was to devise a strategy for relaunching innovation and reducing development time. The problem appeared to be that because engineers are very fond of technology they indulge themselves with products that are too complex and take too long to develop. As such, the problem left little room for maneuver, except trying to recruit engineers who hate technology. The client asked us to intervene in order to understand the issue better. Analysis revealed a fundamental mechanism that hindered competencies and goodwill. The new organization developed with the client allowed the reversal of this mechanism, thus favoring innovation and shortening development times by 40 percent, at a level 20 percent higher than the best performing competitors at that time.

Background

Yves obtained a PhD in industrial marketing at the University of Strathclyde in Scotland, a diploma of quantitative superior study at the University of Glasgow, as well as a postgraduate certificate in sociology of organizations at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris. He advises at Insead, at the Superior Sociology Cycle of IEP and in conferences and publications about the dynamics of organizations.

The most important thing was knowing that our work would really have an impact on children, and it was well worth the effort.

Javier
Principal, Barcelona

A Personal Story

A few months ago BCG offered me the opportunity, as project leader, to help Save the Children develop their strategic plan.

This project turned out to be one of my favorites. Like in many projects we had to interview experts, analyze trends, benchmark, and draw up a work plan for a global organization. Beyond that it offered me an additional social dimension that made it a truly unique experience.

BCG has allowed me to work at the highest level with an important NGO, helping to make its mission possible and feel first-hand how our work will really affect children. It was well worth the effort.

Background

Javier Roglá has a degree in industrial engineering from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia and earned his MBA at Insead.

The challenge to add value in each of our cases is taken very seriously even at the associate level.

Simon
Associate, London

A Personal Story

I quickly decided that consulting was the field I wanted to go into after university. I felt very strongly that I wanted to do something that would be meaningful and significant, that I wanted to work in a place where I would be valued and pushed to develop, and that I wanted to work alongside interesting and intelligent people whom I would enjoy learning from. It’s rare to find all these qualities in a first job, but the more I found out about BCG, the more I was certain that it was the right place to start my career.

Knowing that you are working on an important problem for a key player in a particular industry and being fundamentally involved in their business is extremely exciting. The challenge to add value in each of our cases is taken very seriously by everyone, even at the associate level. This leads to a stimulating and satisfying degree of responsibility, as you are encouraged to always expand beyond your immediate day-to-day work. For example, at the start of my first case, my manager was helping me determine my daily work plan; by the end, I was drawing on the knowledge I had built over the course of the case to draft our client’s five-year strategic plan by myself. The work that we do, and the close relationships that we develop with clients, means that we are frequently pushed to develop our client interaction and interpersonal skills as well as our analytical ones.

The focus on career development is something that was a little surprising to me at first. In addition to detailed formal and informal feedback throughout and at the end of your case, everyone has a career advisor—a senior BCGer who meets with you regularly to discuss your overall development needs and career ambitions, in quite serious detail. This is then translated into action steps, both for BCG and for you. There is certainly the sense that BCG seeks to ensure that the experience here is as rewarding as it can be.

It is very easy to meet people at BCG, as everyone is very friendly and we are encouraged to meet with as many people as possible through the numerous formal and informal activities in the office. This has certainly helped me to settle in.

Overall, I am extremely proud to be part of BCG. The nature of the work, clients, and people here combine to create an exceptional environment in which to grow, and I am sure this will make an excellent foundation for whatever I choose to do in the future.

Background

Simon joined BCG in 2007 as an associate. Before BCG, he founded and led a small software company, developing two successful educational software products. Simon has a BSc in philosophy and economics from the London School of Economics.