Plot your own path
Far from sticking to a pre-ordained career pathway, you’ll follow your own course and work to your own professional and personal goals. If yours is to make partner, you’ll be reassured to know that all of ours are promoted from within.
Your progress is supported by your Personal Development Partner and six-monthly review meetings, where we encourage an open conversation. To complement our approach to career development, we offer confidential, internal business coaching, from an accredited partner coach of your choice. Our consultants find that coaching provides the space to think, talk about career development and focus on making real progress.
Watch Nicola's story...
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Watch Nicola's Story
I've always been interested in learning about new people and new places. Growing up, holidays fascinated me. I felt like I was discovering new treasures in the different countries we traveled to as a family. Later, I kept on exploring when I moved from my home in Wolverhampton to Cambridge University to study geography.
Cambridge was an amazing experience and provided me with lifelong friends, but I left without really knowing what I wanted to do. I toyed with various ideas from academia to chartered surveying, charity work to investment banking. My parents, who built their own marketing business from scratch, must have been dismayed.
After traveling around Asia, I joined Accenture where no two days were ever the same. Seeking further variety, I then joined Cognizant. The experience of both of these firms gave me a really good grounding, but I always felt drawn towards a smaller company.
Even during the first interview, I knew Berkeley was for me. It's client-focused, has a flat structure, and encourages you to develop as an individual. All the people I met were bright and personable. I was sold. I like getting my sleeves rolled up to help clients be successful. Maybe my parents' work ethic rubbed off on me after all. I also love the social side of things at Berkeley. We have what we call ‘monthlies’ that bring everyone together to get up to speed with what's going on.
The social aspect begins at the induction stage when you're given two weeks just to get to know everyone. This sets Berkeley apart because first impressions really do count. The work is really stretching, but I've had the right level of support from my listening partner and fellow consultants. This is great because it means I can then show up properly at the weekends. So, I'm free to go running through the Epping Forest and continue to plan my upcoming wedding.
At Berkeley, everyone does varied work, needing strategy and delivery across different sectors, and as long as I'm allowed to keep learning, I'll stay happy.
Assignment variety means faster development
Most firms drive you towards specialising, but we’ll encourage you to broaden your expertise – across industries and right along the project lifecycle. As we see it, consultants who focus on delivery as much as strategy are thinking about far more than milestone and budget targets. As well as being great for our clients, it’s an approach that can only benefit your career.
There’s plenty of on the job learning
We give you lots of freedom in assignments that offer a wide variety of interesting work. At every stage, you can call on your Listening Partner for guidance and support. With a consultant to partner ratio of 4:1, this support can be as hands on or hands off as you need. In addition, we are proud of our training curriculum, run by the best external experts and by our own people, designed to help you grow.
If, like Nicola, you want to keep on exploring, you’ll be amongst friends at Berkeley.
