What's your job title? What did you study? When did you graduate?

I’m a Business Analyst at Port Jackson Partners, from the 2018 graduate cohort. I studied a Bachelor of Engineering (R&D), graduating in 2011 from ANU. I then spent 2 years practising as an engineer before returning to study a PhD at UNSW in biomedical engineering, graduating in 2017.

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in Canberra, and straight out of school at age 18 I joined the Air Force through the Australian Defence Force Academy, studying aeronautical engineering. Whilst this was an exciting time, I ultimately decided that defence life wasn’t for me. I transferred to the ANU where I completed a research-based undergraduate degree.

In 2014, after working as an engineer for 2 years I decided I wanted to work on biomedical devices rather than traditional mechanics and was accepted into a PhD in a biosynthetic polymers lab at UNSW. This was a rewarding and challenging 4 years, and I very nearly became an academic!

Why did you decide on your current job position?

Upon finishing my PhD I was searching for something which had more of a “big picture” focus as research can be extremely detailed. I found management consulting and started trying to understand the industry. Having always thought of myself as destined for employment in some technical capacity it seemed like an odd switch but it’s one I’m glad I made.

Can you describe a typical work day?

Consulting is a challenging job to have. Sometimes you will have no idea what you are doing next week, so being able to tolerate uncertainty is definitely a positive – the variety is really what makes the job special for me! 

My most common activities are meetings with clients, conducting analysis/research on a business issue and presenting findings to others.

What sort of person succeeds in your career?

Consulting requires several very different skillsets. First and foremost, you need to be intellectually curious. Curious personality types typically get very interested in the cases they are on and this leads to successful client engagements. Consulting can be quite a numerical task at times so you will need to be comfortable with analysing client data that typically informs strategy. You also need to be flexible and able to adapt to rapidly shifting priorities. Finally, but most importantly, you need to be good with people and comfortable regularly interacting with new people and forming new teams.

What makes your job suit you? Which kind of task do you enjoy the most?

The fact that our client engagements are typically a maximum length of 3 months means that it is very difficult to get bored in a role at PJP. I love the variety, working on new topics all the time means constant learning which is exciting. One of the biggest draw factors for me is also the people who you surround yourself with in consulting. Everyone who comes to work at PJP is highly motivated and always has an interesting story or viewpoint.

My favourite part of the job is presenting an insightful piece of work that I have dreamt up to people who are senior to me or clients. It’s always great to work through a problem together, batting ideas back and forth. 

Do you have to work on weekends? What’s the biggest limitation of your job?

Weekend work is highly discouraged at PJP, and I can safely say I haven’t worked a single weekend. The biggest limitation I would say is the demanding and intense nature of the work. Clients, rightly, have high expectations of our work and we do our best to meet them.

Consulting can occasionally require you to be flexible with your outside-of-work commitments – one limitation for me (and my wife!) is sometimes not knowing if I can commit to something out-of-work a week down the track.

What would your career be if you weren’t doing what you’re doing now?

If I weren’t doing consulting, I definitely would have moved to the US to undertake an academic career researching heart implants! A very different path no doubt!

Which three pieces of advice would you give to a current university student?

1. Don’t sweat the process, trust it. It can feel daunting looking for jobs and fretting about your future. Make sure you have fun meeting people and thinking about all the things you can do after Uni.
2. Use this time to decide what’s important to you. A lot of people, myself included, get caught up in the next “layer of achievement”. My advice is to think deeply about what you really want to get out of your career.
3. Invest in other people first and foremost – spend time at Uni connecting with friends who you will have for life.