Please describe your short term (3 year) career goals:
Ideally, I would start my career within the consulting field, where the strong academic advantage in quantitative analysis that I have gained through my undergraduate studies would allow me to conduct accurate business analyses. Being very interested in management, my chosen Master’s degree should enhance my academic skills, as well as my employability in related fields, which is why I would like to work for a consulting firm operating in the management consulting sector. In three years’ time, I will have gained some professional experience as a junior consultant (consulting assistant).
As a graduate, it is important to obtain some professional qualifications to enhance my own marketability to the clients and firms that I will be working for. That is why, after my MSc studies, I will consider earning either a CMCE (Certificate of Management Consulting Essentials) or a DMC (Diploma in Management Consultancy). After acquiring some entry-level industry knowledge, I will identify my main interests and strengths in the consulting industry and commit to a specific sector in order to work towards becoming a high level associate or consultant.
Please outline the challenges you think you will face in achieving these short term career goals and how you will overcome them?
The challenges I expect to face in achieving my career goals include high competition among candidates applying for graduate jobs, insufficient time to study in order to achieve the aforementioned professional qualifications and a lack of balance between my work and social life.
I intend to overcome these challenges by enhancing my employability through targeted activities to make sure I stand out from the crowd at the recruitment stage. Even though I am aware that I will encounter fierce competition when looking for employment, at the start of my master’s studies I will be alarmed and during the year I will try my best to achieve excellent academic results. Having already worked as an intern, I know how hard it is to find time to study whilst being committed to a full-time job. However, I will do my best to pursue interesting and strong qualifications which will motivate me to always find time to study.
Finally, as a young graduate, work should come first in order to start building a career in my chosen industry. However, social life cannot be ignored, which is why I will attend networking events which may benefit my future career whilst allowing me to learn from and interact with others.
Please describe your long term career goals or, if these are not clear, please outline the industry sectors that are of particular interest to you and why:
My long term career goal is to become a senior consultant in the management consulting industry. As stated above, qualifications are of paramount importance when it comes to employability. After earning my entry-level certificates, I will continue pursuing higher qualifications, including a CMC (Certified Management Consultant), which will further enhance my marketability by providing me with additional knowledge in order to perform better at work.
I would not mind starting my career at a start-up firm, as such a business would allow me to gain some hands-on experience and familiarise myself with the job market. However, as I accumulate enough experience and inside knowledge of the industry, I would like to work for a relatively well-known or internationally-recognised consulting firm as a senior consultant, which is why it is important that I gain my CMC qualification in order to reach my long-term career goal.
What skills do you think are important in the career that interests you, how would you demonstrate that you have been developing these skills so far?
Analytical skills – you need to be able to accurately analyse problems in order to help your clients to solve them. During my bachelor’s degree, three years of Micro/Macroeconomic analysis allowed me to develop stronger analytical skills, as demonstrated by my first class results. As part of my previous work experience, I have gained familiarity with both research and project management, which improved my ability to analyse data and to think critically.
Initiative – the ability to identify where action is needed and deliver quality work in a timely manner. As a highly organised person, I value time and have trained myself to be efficient. During my academic career, I have always been a leader and a motivator, which has offered me many opportunities to show initiative by completing a variety of tasks for my teachers whilst ensuring that my academic results were always excellent.
Flexibility and communication – the ability to adapt and communicate. As an overseas student, the fact that I have been living in the UK on my own, whilst developing a brand-new social network and achieving first class results clearly suggests that I am very flexible. Travelling and making friends from all over the world has certainly enhanced my ability to adapt to new contexts and people.
Influencing skills – the ability to communicate and influence others. I have previously worked as a business development associate and have held various customer service roles. All of my roles entailed persuading others to work with my company or to solve their problems in such a way to satisfy their needs. I have received recognition from the general manager for my contribution at work which indicates that I did well in my job. As an optimistic, very out- going and open-minded person, I have noticed that I can easily influence those around me in a positive way. This indicates that I possess rather strong influencing skills.
Interpersonal skills – the ability to work as part of a team. As a people person, I enjoy team-work greatly because I firmly believe that people who share their ideas and common goals are more likely to achieve excellent results than single individuals. The active role that I play in my social life demonstrates that I can easily work with others.
