Written by Marnik Willems
As a recent graduate, the world is your oyster
It is exciting to discover all the opportunities and to look for that one perfect fit with your future first employer. I was looking for a consulting company in which graduates are given the opportunity and support to grow and learn. Besides personal development, doing meaningful and impactful work was a key decision factor.
Many companies try to address these needs, but I felt BrightWolves was the only one that could really deliver. I joined BrightWolves in May and can now reflect on the three criteria that shaped my decision to join:
Having a sustainable impact
The tagline of BrightWolves is “Impacting Transformation”, which encompasses two important dimensions. The first one is the scope of assignments and expertise of the company. BrightWolves supports its clients in solving their most critical business transformation challenges in three areas of expertise and from strategy to implementation. The second dimension is the willingness to create a sustainable impact at its clients by delivering high quality and measurable results. The continuous goal to have impact serves as the engine of BrightWolves’ growth.
The combination of these two dimensions puts a young consultant in a privileged position – driving change. My first project was the definition of a positioning and value proposition for a private equity backed SaaS-company. The recent investments marked the beginning of rapid and international growth. Contributing to the client’s strategy at a pivotal moment in its development is what every consultant is looking for. And exactly what BrightWolves offers.
Having an impact and enjoying what you do is only part of the equation. The second and equally important factor is the people with whom you are working. BrightWolves is a small, but fast-growing consulting firm. This has multiple benefits from a cultural perspective: goal congruence, a non-hierarchical structure and working with highly talented people.
Consultants work closely together with management and can count on support whenever it is needed. The absence of barriers and open culture is rare in the world of consulting, but it is one of BrightWolves’ cornerstones.
Every Wolf is also mentored by a Career Development Advisor, a member of the management team who will follow a consultant’s individual progress. Personal development is achieved through challenging client work, support by and interaction with peers and regular trainings. Besides the scheduled trainings and bootcamps, each consultant has an individual learning plan to ensure personal and professional development.
In my first few months, I have experienced the support and focus on personal development. Whenever I had questions or doubts, colleagues were ready to step in and help. And it works both ways – I was able to support two of my colleagues in their client work. Everyone’s voice counts!
Entrepreneurship
I have once been told that “a consultant is an anti-entrepreneur: a thinker and not a doer, a theorist and not a practitioner…” Non of this is true. At BrightWolves, we are all entrepreneurs because we take ownership and responsibility at our clients and internally. This is in the BrightWolves and Quanteus Group DNA.
Because of BrightWolves’ growth, internal processes are continuously changing and improved. At my first Den Meeting, the monthly team meeting of BrightWolves, I had the opportunity to choose an internal workgroup to be part of. Since then, I am part of the dedicated recruitment team and specifically involved in campus recruitment activities. Thinking about targets, balancing effort with impact, managing the budget and negotiating with potential partners – in short, complete ownership over the process. This does not sound anti-entrepreneurial, right?
My first six months at BrightWolves exceeded my expectations, both in terms of day-to-day variety and the people I work with. We recently had the privilege of welcoming six new BrightWolves – with whom we immediately built strong connections during the onboarding weeks. I am looking forward to the next six months!
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