A Placement Student's Perspective

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Like many other university degrees, my course involves an industry placement between my second and final year at university. When applying for placement jobs, I was looking for a role that would provide me with a variety of experiences and one that would allow me to develop my business knowledge and skills.

After I secured my placement with Capgemini having successfully passed the assessment centre, I spent my first week at Capgemini’s Head Office in Woking where nine other placement students and I were involved in various team building activities, given informative talks from different business units and we had the opportunity to gain an insight into consultancy (not to mention discovering the meaning different acronyms – whether it be TIM or TOM, BIM or BOM, consultants always manage to abbreviate everything!). Moreover, one of the most important things that came out of the first week was the opportunity to start my very own network within the organisation.

My first project was a steep learning curve in regard to the consulting lifestyle as it involved working for a client in Scotland - flying to work IS as exciting as it sounds, although waking up at 4am on a Monday morning to catch the flight is somewhat less exciting but it’s something that you soon get used to! I joined the Change Team on the project and was soon given a high level of responsibility that was unexpected and was also able to engage with different business stakeholders to manage all training associated with a global SAP rollout.

On reflection, my first client role in Capgemini taught me a fantastic amount in the four months that I was there and will shape the way that I will develop my future career. Some of the key skills that I developed during my first project role include both the ability to engage with key stakeholders and the importance of collaboration in producing project deliverables. Two of the best aspects about being on different projects as a placement student is that you are treated the same as a graduate and you meet a lot of different people. I have already met some great consultants from whom I have learnt a lot and I look forward to working with more approachable and experienced consultants from different backgrounds for the rest of my placement.

Furthermore, another aspect of my placement that I was keen to explore was the opportunity to gain industry recognised qualifications. Capgemini give placement students the opportunity to complete two Chartered Institute of IT certified courses, one in Systems Development and the second in Business Analysis. These courses were really enjoyable and I gained a broad knowledge of both of these areas which I will continue to apply throughout my future career.

Lastly, everyone at Capgemini so far has been tremendously approachable, friendly and encouraging in providing guidance to areas of work that I am interested in exploring as a career with Capgemini. I am already looking forward to experiencing a ‘Raleigh’ Leadership Weekend where several Capgemini graduates and I have volunteered to help a local community through some hard physical graft, and I have high hopes for what the rest of my placement will entail.
 

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Steaming ahead with Stream work

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This blog was written by Felicity Bainbridge. Felicity is a current member of the CDC graduate scheme.

One of the reasons why a career with Capgemini Consulting was initially so appealing was because of the emphasis that it places on people. This is an integral part of the company and is visible in client work, throughout the larger business and to a greater extent – within the CDC.

To develop business leadership, core consulting and people skills every CDCer is a member of a particular ‘stream’. Stream ‘work’ is in addition to client work and we set aside 4 hours a week to focus on our individual deliverable (task). Each stream has a stream ‘lead’ (another CDCer) who oversees the work of the stream and reports back to the stream client - a Consultant who helps to scope deliverables and monitors the progress of the stream. We rotate every 3 months so you will have the opportunity to experience most of the streams as well as applying to lead one! So, a brief introduction to the 8 different streams:

Events: What it says on the tin – the Events stream organise and coordinate all the events in the CDC calendar. This is from our monthly FNFS (Friday night of fun socials) to the quarterly CDC Meeting where we all get together for an afternoon of trade shows and discussions.

Recruitment: Deliverables include designing and testing the assessment centre group exercise, creating a graduate marketing questionnaire and organising buddies for the new intakes.

Internal Marketing: Write and send out the CDC Times (newsletter), manage the CDC Awards by collating and delivering a nominations pack, developing the CDCs relationship with the sectors, marketing the new CDC joiners to the rest of the business and finally, organising a rota for writing this blog!

Framework: Maintain the structure of the CDC by facilitating stream lead calls, creating milestone plans and writing the weekly CDC Bulletin. They also update the CDC calendar, manage the stream rotation process and deliver the CDC Census results – an anonymous questionnaire covering all aspects of the CDC which is presented at CDC Meetings.

Learning and Development: Monitor CDC ‘learning’ by organising ‘MySkills’ sessions (presentations delivered by CDCers on topics such as Excel and project roles to upskill others) and ensuring that the CDC follows their required training schedule by attending all mandatory courses.

External: The charity stream! This is wholly committed to running initiatives to support the Myotubular Trust and the Voluntary Police Cadets as well as raising as much money as possible for our charity of the year, Alzheimer’s Research UK. Deliverables this rotation have included coordinating and facilitating the fortnightly Charity of the Year call, running a CCUK eBay project and organising a weekend ASE (Accelerated Solutions Environment).

CCUK: Support the wider Consulting business by updating Silhouette profiles for members of the VPP (internal CVS for the Vice President and Principal Community), conduct external research on internal communication methods and analyse these results to provide recommendations.
Business: Concerned with supporting propositions and capability development across CCUK. This involves looking into the use of innovative tools to capture client assessments and researching how leaders in the digital space use them. The next phase is testing the tools and preparing them for client engagements.

It is important to remember that specific deliverables and required outputs vary for each stream from rotation to rotation. They very much depend on new ideas, different approaches and collaborative group work. Stream work is a great opportunity to cement the tools and training that we’ve been taught in a relatively ‘safe’ environment (not under the watchful eye of clients) and to enhance the community spirit that really does make the CDC a fantastic place to be and an excellent place to start your career!

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Life in the fast lane – Bid work

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This Blog was written by Alex Hammond. Alex is a current member of the Graduate Consultant Development Community (CDC).

Having completed the rigorous training and induction at the start of our time on the CDC, our group were split. Some wanted to take the time to assimilate the wealth of information they had been exposed to in the preceding weeks, enjoy some slightly less manic time on the bench, and get settled into their shiny new job. Others were chomping at the bit to get stuck in. I was overwhelmingly of the latter - I could not wait to get started. Having been trained to within an inch of my life, I was now ready to unleash this knowledge on the world.

Unfortunately (or perhaps wisely, who’s to judge?!), I was not set loose on the CEO of a Global Retailer, or asked to redesign the NHS within my first week out of induction. What I was able to get involved with, however, is a project that epitomises the very nature of the work that we do - I joined a bid team.

Those that have experienced any sort of formal sales process, whether we’re talking a few pounds to a few million, will know it is an emotional rollercoaster. Our client was a major bank - nothing new there you might say - but this was (and still is) a bank undergoing a phenomenal amount of change across the entirety of its business. What this meant for us was a great opportunity for Capgemini to get involved in this change, and make things happen. Trouble is we had to convince the client to part with a fair chunk of change in order for us to do so.

A bid is a great thing to get involved with early in your consulting career. It encompasses everything that is good about consulting – fast-paced environment, a great team effort, quick decisions, a huge amount of variety, and the opportunity to work with some really big fish (or VP’s as they generally prefer to be called). This is to name but a few. Delivery is our day job, and of course most of your time will be working to actually design, deliver and implement what it is you have been selling. But when the opportunity comes up to bid and sell a project, it is worth getting involved.

The nature of the beast is momentum. The start of a bid tends to be fairly restrained - gathering research, reading documents, discussing solution options, playing with figures and costs, and ultimately developing our idea of what a good solution looks like. At the start, and particularly as a new joiner, you can get lulled into the sense that you have a chilled couple of weeks ahead of you... but how wrong you would be! This truly is the calm before the storm.

By week 2 things have really kicked off, and come the week of submission the pace of work is such that if you switch off for a minute you will have missed a complete change of strategy. Finally, as the final proposal is signed, sealed and delivered (well, emailed at least), you realise how much of a team effort it is to deliver something like a multi-million pound bid, and the sense of achievement you have when you find out you have won! (Disclaimer – unfortunately we don’t win all bids, but if you’re like me you can claim a 100% record and not worry about this too much). Can’t think of a better start to my career as a consultant...

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A Telecommunications, Media and Entertainment Sector project

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This Blog entry was written by Ursula Mulholland a current member of the CDC.

Working on a project with a sector such as the TME (Telecommunications, Media and Entertainment) team means you get to work with industry experts. Unlike a capability unit who concentrate on a particular type of project; sectors need to be able to apply a full range of capabilities within their given sector. Sometimes however, sector teams require an additional skill and so call on those outside of their immediate team with the necessary skills.

Although I joined with the CDC, I entered straight into the Operational Research team. I was brought onto a TME project to build a financial model using my modelling and data skills. The project was to review the price plans and packages of a telecommunications company in Belgium. I used data from over 2.5million customers to track how the changes customers made to their subscriptions over time and if these changes were beneficial to the company; taking into account predicted lifetimes of customers based on combinations of products and services.

Working on a project abroad does has additional factors to consider. Within that country or at times even just a company, there may be cultures which are different to your own, but are required to be understood in order to deliver a successful project. I was lucky in this project as I was working alongside two locally based Capgemini consultants who provided advice on the culture issues that were different from what we were used to in the UK.

I would highly recommend working with a sector team as there is so much to learn from them about their specific industries and also their working lifestyle. I really enjoyed this project despite long hours and a lot of travelling;, I consider working abroad a great opportunity to collaborate with global colleagues and explore other working cultures.

 

 

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The Consulting Skills Workshop – Les Fontaines

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Ben Williams writes about his time at Les Fontaines:

Emerging out of the Autumn mists, nestled amongst the trees and overlooking a still lake is a beautiful Chateau, just outside Paris. It may surprise you to hear that this is not a spa or luxury hotel, but actually a place where we are sent shortly after induction. This is Les Fontaines, one of the locations for the Capgemini University.  

As a new joiner you will be sent here for Consulting Skills Workshop (CSW). CSW is an immersive one week course which gives a fantastic grounding in many of the core skills that you will need on projects. I thoroughly enjoyed the course, especially the opportunity to work with colleagues from the rest of the group – my group had consultants from Germany, France, the Netherlands and Sweden. It is a safe environment to practice new skills and experience some the challenges of working on multi-national teams. Suffice to say that English humour does not always go down as expected.

I took a lot away from Les Fontaines, in no small part because of the highly interactive style of learning – most of the time is spent in small teams preparing for group work. One of the most useful parts of what I learnt was how to interact with clients (ably played by our facilitators during the presentations).  There is also the opportunity for a lot of personal feedback, and you will be surprised at the progress that is made in that one week. While there is plenty of work to be done, Les Fontaines does not disappoint on the hospitality. There is a gym and pool, which come in very handy given the quality and quantity of food on offer – often welcome after a day of working on presentations.

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Privacy: The right to be left alone?

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“So what do Management Consultants do exactly?”

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Technology savvy..? No, me neither!

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Many people think of Capgemini as a technology company. Although it is highly likely that you will be placed on project roles that are IT related, it is reassuring to know that you don’t need to be technologically gifted to participate fully in project life. All you need is a lot of common sense, great people skills and the capacity to learn quickly.

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CSW – what’s it all about?

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When you first join the CDC, you will undergo three weeks of training; two weeks in Woking/London and a third week at Consulting Skills Workshop (CSW) in France. CSW gives you an invaluable insight into the Capgemini way of working and equips you with the key consulting skills you need for a client-facing role.

The timetable at CSW is pretty intensive (be prepared for 8am starts!) however, the skills you gain from the course will prove invaluable throughout your consulting career. Here, you will discover the magical world of Brown Papers, RACI Charts, Bi-directional Transformation maps and many other tools we use when working with clients.

CSW is not just about hard work – the week includes a range of team-building exercises and social events. As well as expanding your mind at CSW, also be prepared to expand your waistline – meals are a gastronomic extravaganza and the bar is a great place to let off some steam. For the fitness fanatics out there, Les Fontaines also plays host to a pool, gym and tennis courts.

Personally, one of the best parts of CSW (apart from the four course dinners!) was the chance to get to know colleagues from across Europe. Despite differing business styles and the occasional language barrier, I found there to be a genuine sense of team spirit and willingness to share knowledge and ideas.

CSW is compulsory for all those new to Capgemini Consulting, so if you are accepted onto the CDC, look forward to one of the most rewarding weeks of your life!

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