Case studies: Analyst: Jason Caplin

Jason explains how a degree in archaeology and anthropology led to his job as an analyst at Accenture...

I worked outside management consultancy for a few years after leaving university, primarily in PR and communications. I built up a set of skills that were transferable to management consultancy, however, including business acumen, stakeholder management, project management and team development. When the opportunity to join Accenture came up through their Boot Camp, I jumped at the chance.

I'd say my degree was highly relevant to my work; within the Talent and Organisation Performance practice we work with a wide range of people, and understanding individual and group dynamics, which formed a strong part of my degree, is incredibly useful. In addition, the research, logic and rigour I learned at university (not to mention getting involved with societies and activities) all hold me in good stead for my work here.

I'm working in a small team that is helping to deliver a fairly controversial change across six global departments of a large pharmaceutical company. I'll typically start the day by reviewing the list of our outstanding concerns, prioritising them and responding to client and team emails on the key issues. I'll meet with my manager to discuss our key priorities for the day - at the moment, that involves writing presentations and speaker notes for a workshop with our client's senior leadership later this week. I'll also usually block out half an hour over lunchtime to review a module in an online training course I've been asked to take.

A fair amount of our work is reacting to the sensitivities over our proposed change. The client senior leadership needs our help in developing a strong business case, communications and training material to help them motivate their staff to use the new systems we're helping them implement.

I'm working within a team of incredibly intelligent, resourceful and creative people. And I enjoy putting my skills to use for a client that appreciates our efforts. We receive honest and constructive feedback, which allows us to do not just the job as it appears on paper, but also to improve upon what we had expected to be able to deliver, and learn about complex processes and methods through the process, which will be very useful for future projects.

Although it's exciting to shift clients and roles on a regular basis, there's no getting around the fact that you are effectively applying for a new job every few months. Fortunately, there's a strong support network in place to help guide and encourage you, and even when you're not 'booked to client', there's plenty of training, graduate recruitment and internal research to help out with.

If you would like to get into this career, don't be afraid to show your creativity. Although Accenture's a huge company, there's plenty of opportunity to innovate, and both managers and clients like to see the benefits of original thinking. Be prepared to be flexible as your career path develops - you never know what tiny niche you might suddenly get fascinated by. And if you don't know, never be scared to ask.

AGCAS

Written by AGCAS editors

Date: 

November 2010

© Copyright AGCAS & Graduate Prospects Ltd | Disclaimer