During the last years of my PhD, I realized that I wanted more social interaction in my job and a faster-paced, exciting environment than I had experienced in academia. I wanted to be challenged and wanted to learn about a variety of industries and roles in the business world, so I joined BCG. I had heard the learning curve was steep and that the learning never stops, and that's been true in every case I've worked on.

There are unparalleled opportunities and immense resources available for development. I found the continued support for those, like me, who do not come from a business background simply fantastic. On my first day at BCG, I started an intensive business essentials training program along with other PhDs, JDs, and MDs from around the world, and the knowledge and network of friends I got from this first training has stayed with me since.

With each project, I have seen my analytical, teaming, and communication skills grow, along with my knowledge base—the training and learning never stop. If you have an intellectually curious mind and want to see where you can go, BCG is a great place to start your career.

When I decided to go into consulting, I looked forward to diverse professional experiences, both in terms of client work and geographic location. BCG has surpassed my expectations and has provided me with exceptional professional opportunities.

I have worked with clients across Southeast Asia and was selected to be an ambassador to BCG’s Chicago office, which allowed me to manage diverse client needs and expectations in both emerging and developed markets.

Subsequently, through BCG’s collaborative work with the World Economic Forum, I became a secondee, working on financial services innovation in emerging markets, something I feel passionate about. We looked deeply into private-sector-led innovations and sought to influence government policy changes that would enable the private sector to introduce new models for delivering financial services to underserved people in emerging markets. We shared our findings at the Forum’s annual meeting in Davos and launched a major report at the Forum’s meeting on East Asia in Bangkok. Through my work with the Forum, I have been able to drive change on a global scale. I was then chosen to become a member of the Forum’s Global Shapers community, which has given me the opportunity to work on social impact projects in Indonesia and to make a difference in Indonesia and in the global community.

BCG offers you various kinds of training, not only within a country but also globally.　I joined the Asia-Pacific Regional Orientation Program in Shanghai for a week last July, just three months after joining BCG.

The main training was a mock group case with five other members from India, China, and Singapore. Because I had joined BCG right after I graduated from university, I felt that my team members' experience and expertise were far beyond mine. I learned from them how they discuss the topic, how they make presentations, and so many other tips that are helping my work in the office now.

The network still continues among the members, and recently one of my team members asked me about a consumer product in Japan related to his project.　Apart from the training itself, I had many opportunities to talk with other participants and learned from them what kind of projects they are working on and what their offices are like. The training gave me a strong feeling of the diversity and a strong network of BCG offices worldwide.

I recently took the opportunity to travel from Dallas to Australia to join a multi-national team for a three-month assignment. The client came to us with a request to help it grow sales in one of its departments. After the case was sold, staffing decided and the work plans set, we found our client needed an immediate change in the way it ran its business. The project they actually needed was different to the one we originally envisioned. Immediately after our realization, we adjusted our plans, redeployed our team members, and set to work in a new direction with our client. We worked hand in hand with our client to design and execute the path forward. As is a consistent theme in my BCG experience, we were not encumbered by technicalities or what had happened in the past. Our team rallied together with our client to achieve what was needed at the time they needed it.

My Australian experience not only reinforced BCG’s commitment to teamwork and client service, which I have long been proud of in our Texas offices, it demonstrated that BCG holds these same values common throughout the world.

Tony joined BCG’s Dallas office in 2007 and has worked primarily in the retail and healthcare industries. Prior to joining BCG, he worked at the Monitor Group and with a forensic accounting firm. Tony holds an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth and MAcc/BS degrees in accounting from Brigham Young University.

BCG is a very different work environment from what I was used to, but as an industry hire I have felt really supported.

In my second week, I joined a targeted induction session for all European industry hires. Six months later, we all met again for a follow-up web seminar Q&A session. This provided a great opportunity to share learnings with both those who had gone through the transition already, and other new industry-hire colleagues. It was reassuring to know that it's normal to find the move to consulting challenging, and it was great that I could share my experiences and find the support I needed.

What's great about BCG is that anything is possible—if you take control of your development BCG will support you. The opportunities are there to fit with your needs depending on your background.

The amount of collaboration at BCG is simply incredible. Never before have I worked for a company where people are so accessible for help.

Not long after joining, I had the chance to attend the Senior Hire Training. This training was an invaluable opportunity to connect with others, collaborate, and share ideas. I have found that BCGers wholeheartedly believe in helping each other out, sharing their learning, advice, and experience. That includes everyone from my buddies to the senior leadership! In my case, this enabled a very smooth transition into the BCG world.

And I'm still in touch with the other principals I met at the Senior Hire Training to exchange tips and ideas. At BCG, you feel that you are a part of a truly global team.

I have always had a strong interest in teaching, and before joining BCG I spent a significant amount of time in the classroom with students.

Training has therefore become a central pillar of my work at BCG. In particular, I enjoy interacting with the consultants: sharing ideas, explaining concepts, and helping them think through new ways to address challenging situations they have faced while at BCG.
Interestingly, I find that I learn almost as much as I teach in these interactions. BCGers always bring new insights and new ways to approach problems!

But what I value most is the strong international component of the training experience. Every three months I'm in a different country (sometimes a castle in France, other times a hotel ballroom in the U.S.) working with consultants from each of BCG's global offices!

I have always wanted to work internationally, to get to know different countries, cultures, working styles, and industries. I also enjoy being creative as an instructor, and trying out the latest learning methodologies—like inverted classrooms. BCG has given me both of these opportunities.

Joining the BCG office in Brussels meant joining an international team with 14 nationalities and the chance to work all over the globe: in Belgium, Germany, Scandinavia, Spain, Brazil, the U.K., the U.S., and the Middle East. In my training work, it is exciting to support people from many different nations and backgrounds to solve a problem together.

BCG has also allowed me to discover that I would like to focus on health care and energy in terms of industries, and to combine this with my passion for social impact by supporting Save the Children or a project on education in the Middle East. All of these experiences have enriched me both as a consultant and as a trainer.

I believe that people development is the core value driver for BCG. Our main product is the insight and impact that our people generate. Continuously improving our people improves the quality of this [our] product[s].

I have learned a lot at BCG, and still learn every day. When I stop learning, maybe it will be time for something new, but I doubt if that day will ever come. The key development driver for me has been all the useful, and sometimes inspiring, local and international trainings I have participated in. I am also passionate about helping other BCGers grow further, in my role as project manager, trainer, and mentor.

For me, that starts with thinking together about their development agenda, what the person wants to improve, what strengths he or she can leverage. The next step is "making it click," making sure they understand how to do it right, for which training is often a very useful instrument. The final and often most challenging step is "making it stick," making sure the new behavior becomes natural. This happens "on the job", via regular feedback, coaching, and engineering situations to practice.

Nothing gives me a greater thrill than to see one of my team members making a major development leap in just a couple of weeks!

BCG is a truly amazing place for personal growth.‪ Every year, I participate in multiple local, regional, and global training events across an incredibly diverse range of topics. As an associate, BCG also gave me a fantastic opportunity to be seconded to an international client for two years.

But to be honest, what's really special for me about BCG is that I also have the chance to help other people grow. Each year I fly around the world to share my experiences with and train others, from associates fresh out of college to budding project leaders. And even after five years of giving training at BCG, I still find each session as energizing and invigorating as ever.

People often ask me why I spend so much time training and coaching people at BCG. It's my way of giving back—to thank those who took the time to train me.