The HEC Paris 2014 International Consulting Forum
26 consulting firms were on HEC Paris campus to present their jobs and internship opportunities at the International Consulting Forum. We spoke with an HEC Alumnus working as a Case Team Leader at Bain & Company: a regular exhibitor of our Consulting Forums.
Thomas Barti-Magria, HEC Master in Management Grande Ecole 2003
I quickly identify the HEC Paris students amongst the applicants: very good listeners, fast learners with excellent adaptation skills
- Could you present your career path so far and your current key responsibilities at Bain & Company?
After my HEC graduation in 2007, I started working in finance for BNP Paribas, at the General Inspection services. I travelled a lot for 3 years, from Japan to Singapore, California and Africa. Thanks to this experience, I gained transversal expertise in the different banking services proposed by a “universal” bank. Then, I felt the need to broaden my expertise fields while keeping on discovering new businesses. I heard of Bain & Company from one of my HEC best mates. Strategy Consulting offers a large variety of international expert missions. Above all, Bain & Company has many top qualities as a challenging company but also as an exciting team-spirited experience… and an entrance ticket to have a leading role in the football team in the company, which I confess, was quite attractive and decisive, highlighting one of Bain’s top qualities: serious professionals that don’t take themselves too seriously. I had 3 rounds of interviews and joined the Bainees in 2011 as a Senior Associate Consultant. After several years of challenging yet exciting assignments, I now am a generalist consultant / Case Team Leader in charge of managing teams and clients in different environments.
- Have you ever worked with HEC alumni or HEC students within your company? If so, how do they perform in your group?
I see HEC alumni everywhere at Bain & Company, among which senior partners, managers, consultants and associates. All of them surprised me by their visionary spirit, curiosity, ambition, open-mindedness and productivity – sometimes even more under pressure! I can also quickly identify HEC students amongst the applicants: very good listeners, fast learners and with excellent adaptation skills; they often reveal this edge that can make a good interview decisive for recruitment. In addition, within the Bain course (Strategic management of a company), I have discovered that new HEC generations are clear out-of-the-box thinkers, which is a key consultant quality.
- Finally, what advice would you give to students to succeed in case interviews?
Prepare. Prepare. Prepare. And be yourself on the D-day. At Bain & Company, we look for people we want to work with. Not machines. But the case fundamentals must be fluid, clean, surgical and completely integrated by a successful candidate.
See the list of participating Consulting Firms:
ACCENTURE, ADVANCY, ARTHUR D. LITTLE, AT KEARNEY, BAIN & Company BEARINGPOINT, CAPGEMINI Consulting, CSC, CVA, DELOITTE, ESTIN & CO, EUROGROUP CONSULTING, EY, KEA & PARTNERS, KPMG, LEK Consulting, LYNX Conseil, McKINSEY & Company, OC&C, OLIVER WYMAN, PWC, SCHLUMBERGER Business Consulting, SOLUCOM, SOPRA CONSULTING, TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES, THE BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP