Climbing the Corporate Ladder in Heels

Hi. My name is Nagina, and I am a recent joiner to the world of Consulting.  I’ve joined the consulting industry with great excitement but also with a degree of trepidation.   My concerns are about how consulting works (or doesn’t work) for women.   Perhaps I am overly sensitised; having just completed a unit on Feminism at university I’m on the lookout for examples of inequality of pay or of women being passed over for ‘top positions’.  Interestingly Capgemini often gets praised and recognised as being a good place to work for women but how will that pan out in practice.  Certainly my peers at an intake level are a good balance of both men and women but this doesn’t seem to be represented at the most senior levels where there are definitely less women.  

 So, the question still remains, is there a glass ceiling for those ladies who want to take their careers to the top? At first glance the corporate ladder in the consulting industry seems to be somewhat steeper if you are of the fairer sex.

What I have already observed from my own behaviour and the behaviour of my female friends is that women seem to have added extra layers of complexity to the everyday battle to prove you’re ‘good enough’ at the job.   From attitudes to outfits, emotions, partners and families women seem to agonise over decisions in a way that men don’t seem to.

Am I wearing an appropriate outfit?  Does emotion make me weak?  How can I balance my family and work demands?  Does assertion make me aggressive?  

Let’s consider wardrobes...for a man an interview is about the right suit, the right shirt and the right tie.  For women the options are limitless, as is the potential to get it oh-so-wrong.  Sadly most of us do not have a hotline to Trinny and Sussanah.   As Caitlin Moran, a leading modern feminist so aptly puts it “When a woman says, ‘I have nothing to wear!’ what she really means is, ‘There’s nothing here for who I’m supposed to be today.”

And “how to be” emotionally is not any easier – do I plump for a Shakespearean stereotype (a passive but determined Desdemona or an irreligious, uber cold super bitch like Lady Macbeth).  Surely the right path is somewhere in between?

Then when we add in some of the more unique challenges of consulting such as being based on client-site, far from home, even across waters, working long hours, juggling the extras – how do you focus on this and focus on being a mother?  I’m a long, long way away from needing answers, but it doesn’t stop you asking.

Ultimately, the question seems to be, is being a woman a faux pas in the patriarchal workplace or are we in part putting these expectations on ourselves?  I guess I’ll find out.

That said there are many shining examples of women that confirm it can be done.  Forbes lists its top 100 most powerful women and in the business arena that includes Indira Nooyi (CEO, PepsiCo), Ellen Kullman (CEO, Dupont) and Sheryl Sandberg (COO, Facebook)... just to name a few. Perhaps the time has come to lay stereotypes to rest? Certainly, working in an environment like Capgemini provides inspiration that there are companies that aren’t searching for an Adam’s apple as a must have.

To take it one step further, studies have in fact suggested that women in senior positions can bring financial success, and that women bring something different (and lacking!) to the prominent positions.

It’s a steep road ahead, but I remain an optimist. I’ve found Capgemini waters welcoming thus far.

 And if I’m honest it makes it all the more interesting.  The sky’s the limit, not the glass...

I would like to present myself. My name is Laure, I am a French university student studying at the university of Lyon in France. I am studying Banking, Finance, Management and Economics and I am doing an internship at Capgemini Consulting in UK.

I am writing this article in order to share my experiences at Capgemini Consulting as a French intern.

This is the first time I have done an internship, let alone one abroad.

I am a university student and at the end of this academic year we were required to do an internship abroad. The goal of this was for us to practice and improve our English.

But why choose Capgemini Consulting?

Firstly because, in pursuing my studies and my life, I have decided I would like to consult and audit. Secondly, Capgemini Consulting is one of the biggest consulting companies and it is very famous (well known).  I could not miss the opportunity to spend several weeks working in this firm.

I will try to tell you my experience through the four main goals that I set myself for my time here: observe, listen and understand, practice and progress.

• Observe: As I have an ambition to do this type of work in the future, I had to try to understand what type of work people do here. But this is not always an easy task and even less so for a foreigner as much of the work is out of the office working with clients.

•  Listen and understand: this task is particularly difficult to achieve when it has to be done in a language that is not my own.  It takes a lot of concentration. The first few days and the first meetings were really difficult. Indeed, it takes a lot of concentration to stay focused when you do not understand much of what is being said, which is not very easy. So there I had to force myself a bit at first. I am not saying that I understand everything now, far from it, I think I am beginning to gain a little more concentration, which allows me to follow a meeting or conversation for longer. At the beginning, listening to a phone conversation was also very hard for me, but I think it is good for the ear.

• Apply: After observing, listening and trying to understand, I had to put this into practice right from the first day. During my first day I had to summarize and collect information from a number of CVs. The most complicated part of this was to summarize the pages. Initially, I had to ask some help. I confess that when this first day was finished, it was a little confused because it was all still new to me. But after more than two weeks behind the desk, everything seems clearer, almost simple.

• Progress: This is not something that is done in a snap of the fingers, it takes time and a lot of practice. As for my English, I think being integrated for six weeks in a company in England will do nothing but benefit me.  I probably improve a little every day even if I do not give any account.  Since the first week, I have been working with someone else.  At first, I asked for a lot of help, or had to repeat myself several times. Now, after three weeks spent in the company, I can get better by myself. It is true that from time to time, I ask for help or that I repeat myself but I feel that it is less often than before. As a result, they have to seen or felt that I am more at ease and suddenly I have been given more and more things to do. For example, I have been charged with translating articles from a blog which will then be posted online.

In my time here, I had an especially big project. Indeed, there were two of us working on the project. We were required to set up a PowerPoint on banking and insurance in the USA. I did not think that this project would take much time but in fact we spent two weeks to the day on it. The first task I had was to find a map of New York, find the addresses of each company and place them on a map. This was the shortest thing to do, that is to say, it took me one or two days. Then came the heaviest work, the part that took the longest: find all sorts of information on these banks and insurance companies. This research for information took both of us to complete it faster. For this project, it was not me who took care to do PowerPoint, but I could see, it took a lot of time. When it was finished, I was asked to check if everything looked good and was perfectly aligned etc. I enjoyed participating in this project because I like the subject. Indeed, it follows on from what I have learned in University.

Finally, I am happy to do my internship in this company. This allows me to see what kind of tasks are done in a consulting firm. Before I knew that I would do my internship here, I had thought to specialize during my years of study, in audit and management control. These weeks at Capgemini Consulting have helped me to confirm my choice.

I would like to say a special thanks to the FS team. Thanks for welcoming me like this in the team, for all your help and for your patience when you had to explain something to me.

Over the next few weeks my blog spot is open to two very special guests who have helped make my life a whole lot easier working with me as my interns over the summer.  Given the early summer interest in the concept of internships from Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg I’ve asked both of them to blog their thoughts on what it’s like to do an internship at Capgemini and I think you’ll find their thoughts interesting.  First up is Tasha Williams

Hello all, I am Tasha. I am a university student at UCL, studying Economics, Statistics and Spanish. I’m looking to go into consulting and have just completed an 8 week internship at Capgemini UK.

I’ve read many articles over the year about a Masters becoming the new undergraduate degree, debates about the return on investment of further education (especially in light of the fee increases), or on the increasing relevance of PHDs, and the decreasing importance of MBAs. However from what I can see, formal qualifications seem to matter less in comparison to an appropriate internship. In fact I’ve been told by recruiters that if I cannot demonstrate a required level of transferable skills, any further education (beyond the necessary undergraduate degree) will not have any impact on a recruiter’s decision. So in my experience, an internship is of paramount importance. For those looking to work in a competitive industry, as they all seem to be now, an internship seems to be a prerequisite that separates successful candidates from the masses.

With that in mind, I have spent my second year at university almost as focused on gaining an internship as on doing well academically. I hoped to have an internship in consulting, which proved rather tricky, with the aim of gaining a real understanding of what a full time job in the industry would be like. Beyond the obvious CV enhancing transferable skills, I wanted to know if consulting would be the right career choice for me, if I could excel at it and while there was still time, learn what I could be doing over the final year of university, beyond achieving impressive results, that would help me to become more successful and ultimately get more out of my career.

The good news is that I managed to secure an internship with Capgemini and I hoped over the 8 week contract that I would gain a real insight into how not only a consulting firm functions, but what Capgemini does to make itself stand out. My ultimate aim was to be able to leave and say that I had contributed – that my time had been worthwhile, that the team would be glad I had been here. I wanted to impress, and I hoped to do that by demonstrating I had the required skills (or at least the ability to develop them swiftly), the right attitude and the ability to adapt and learn quickly.

There is of course the danger of giving up precious time for an internship in which all you end up doing is photocopying and coffee runs, with a minimal amount of learning or contributing. As it has turned out, I’ve done no photocopying but my own, and no coffee runs at all. Instead I’ve worked on a bid for a major client, collaborated on two research projects, been responsible for social media outlets and research, produced monthly reports and reviews, helped with a knowledge management project and written a review of a paper on the effects of the 2008 financial crisis. I was assigned a ‘buddy’ who has made sure that for the duration of my time here I have been fully integrated with my peers, have attended all informative/networking events, and have met all the key people  who could help me understand more about the company and the graduate scheme to which I am now planning to apply. When I first joined, I attended a ‘New Joiners’ course which meant I was treated and felt like an employee from day 1, rather than a university student squeezed in where there was space for me. I’ve worked on the Financial Services desk, which is where I asked to be in my interview, have worked on active projects, and in my humble opinion, made a real, if perhaps small, contribution to the team effort. In my time here I feel I have gained a real understanding of the consulting industry, the challenges it faces, and of Capgemini’s place within it and their key drivers. I have learnt about the company processes, the people, and the working environment, all of which I have gained a deep appreciation for. Through the research projects I’ve worked on I’ve learnt more than I could imagine, and on a very personal level, I’ve learnt more about my own abilities and where perhaps I could improve.

 I was thrown in at the deep end from my very first day and it’s been absolutely exhilarating. I have had a wonderfully tailored, personal and incredibly rewarding experience, in which I feel I have achieved what I aimed to. It has been challenging and stimulating, a little daunting at times, but on the whole amazing and I would effusively recommend Capgemini to anyone.  Although it sounds somewhat clichéd for a consulting firm, truly the best part of my experience here has been the people. Everyone, without exception, has had time to talk to me, to explain anything to me, to discuss everything. Everyone has been wonderfully friendly, helpful and supportive, so my thanks to everyone, it is you who have made this such a wonderful experience.

Special thanks to Rick Freeman, Ian Watts, Tim Dulley, Sarah Moore, Amy Ratcliff, Laure Urrea and the wonderful FS team.