CDC Blog: Working in the heart of it all

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Working in the heart of it all

Posted At : July 4, 2011 12:57 PM by Tim Antos

Graduate Programme: Consulting

This Blog was written by Robert Ord. Robert is a current member of the CDC graduate development community.

We are all familiar with the economic problems of the last few years. We are also all familiar with the sharp cut in public spending. However, it is sometimes forgotten that Government work continues and so too does the need for specialist consultant support in Government Department transformation projects that are very large and implemented over many years. It is with this in mind that despite the marked decrease in the Public Sector consulting market, there is still a need to have Consultants in Westminster to help. And what a place Westminster is to work.

To prove this point, I will name two events when I was lucky enough to be in Westminster at the time; the run up to the Royal Wedding and the state visit of President Obama. Both occasions were fantastic attractions to Westminster and it was great to watch the build up live and in person. From the public viewing stands being built, to the Royal Horse Guards practicing their routine along Pall Mall to the dressing of Westminster Abbey and hanging the Stars and Stripes around St James’s Park, I felt part of something big. A feeling that is so fundamentally important when you are new to a company and industry.

Part of becoming a new consultant is finding the right way to integrate yourself into a large sector full of daunting people who have years of experience in areas you didn’t even know existed. If you then think of our clients and our client’s customers and their customer’s customers, you begin to realise how large and foreboding the chain becomes. It is then that you wonder if you and your roll of brown paper are really up to the mark. Well I can tell you, the answer is yes you are! And being in Westminster is one of those times that remind you of it.

Not only do I get to share the occasional elevator with the Secretary of State or Permanent Secretary, but I get to buy my lunch next to Vince Cable and see Boris Johnson riding his bike to work. I get to stand at the gates of Downing Street when the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister return from a hard day’s work. I get to see the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall driving to a theatre show. All-in-all, I get to see a lot and I get to do a lot. It is this feeling of being in the centre of the action that makes working in the Public Sector so exciting and rewarding. It makes you recollect the principles of why you joined consulting; to help progress society one programme at a time. The Public Sector is more real than anywhere else in the business.