BrazilRuth Cameron and Fabian Feichtinger on working at OC&C in Germany
Strategy consulting is well-known for its steep learning curve, and opportunities for rapid progression – something which attracts many of the brightest talent. Consultancy.eu spoke to Ruth Cameron and Fabian Feichtinger about the challenges and rewards of their early experiences with OC&C Strategy Consultants in Germany.
After more than 30 years in business, OC&C Strategy Consultants is one of the world’s leading specialised strategy consultancies, with more than 600 consultants in offices in the UK, Germany, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Poland, the US, Australia, Brazil, and China.
Ruth Cameron joined OC&C’s office in Munich back in 2017, shortly after the German team re-launched under OC&C’s “one firm” strategy. In the five years since, there have been “lots of highlights” she said, including strong growth.
From a client perspective, “I have really enjoyed the journey to becoming more specialised in consumer goods and the growing scope now of the project manager role,” she explained. “Rather than being very focussed on a specific module, I get to be active now across lots of different work modules and liaising between junior team, senior team and client.”
In the last year in particular, Ruth has found this shift especially rewarding. Recently she has spent a few months working on a major strategy review for a global consumer goods business. This involves going into the details of the financial implications of the strategy, while at the same time, Ruth is taking on a diverse mix of due diligence and smaller strategy projects across beauty, pet food, beverages and ice cream brands.
Fabian Feichtinger is a more recent arrival with OC&C, having joined in 2020. He has similarly enjoyed the wide-ranging strategic work which OC&C undertakes. Since joining, he has participated in more than20 different projects for both private equity and corporate clients.
Having previously held intern roles with Bain & Company and A.T. Kearney, the Associate Consultant has largely helped clients with commercial due diligence, or high-level strategy assessments to help make decisions relating to deals in consumer-focused industries – but the specific situations vary.
“Industries I worked on are primarily consumer-focused, such as consumer goods and retail. Speaking about one engagement, Fabian said: “One of our clients in the consumer goods segment asked OC&C whether it would make sense for them to expand to China, which is an exciting question if you then compare customers and their needs across geographies, think about the product-market fit and what hurdles there would be for our client to be successful there.”
According to Fabian, the large number of projects he has worked means OC&C mores than lives up to strategy consulting’s reputation for a steep learning curve. This provides “a lot of insights I wouldn't have gotten elsewhere,” with the exposure to a variety of clients and experienced partners both providing plenty of opportunities to glean new information.
“Of course, that pace is sometimes challenging but it is a lot of fun and really helps you grow rapidly.”
When required, Fabian can always fall back on the support of the firm and his colleagues. “At OC&C, we have an open and helpful culture. You can always chat to peers or more experienced consultants and ask for their advice.”
“On top of that we of course have formal training sessions throughout the year and across levels. Unfortunately, with the pandemic we did this online, but we are all very much looking forward to the next in-person International Training Week.”
Progression
Over the last five years, Ruth has seen how the opportunities to advance present themselves. Initially joining as an Associate Consultant, she is now a Manager, mentoring four associates and giving regular feedback to her own team. While this adds to her workload, she is enjoying the new responsibilities.
“I have more pastoral responsibilities,” she stated, “which I normally enjoy as it’s a chance to help someone develop. Also, I work a lot more closely with the OC&C partners – which is a good learning experience and opens you up to new perspectives.”
Besides this, becoming a Manager also means Cameron has “much more client exposure” than when she first joined. She is now more active in directly impactful work, which sees her “often running meetings rather than just participating,” and spending “less time in Excel and more time talking about the overall answer.”
The opportunities to learn and progress within the German firm mean OC&C is an employer she would happily recommend to others. “I think we offer a really unique proposition. We do top tier strategy work, focussed on really interesting questions and with lots of variety. We are a global firm with all the security and flexibility that that offers, but in Munich you also have the chance to be part of a small, friendly team which is very supportive – and on an exciting growth trajectory!”
“It’s a great chance for anyone who wants to be challenged and learn the consulting toolkit, but also get stuck into firm-building.”
Fabian is similarly enthusiastic about encouraging others to consider life with OC&C. Describing the firm’s welcoming culture, he explained the company’s tight-knit team had seen him make friends with the colleagues who he learned from and worked with.
He concluded, “This makes work much more fun, which I think is extremely important, especially in environments which can still be quite challenging at times… We are really making sure to re-enforce this – for example we often go for drinks on Fridays, and many of us do sports together (we have quite the skiing, golfing and tennis communities in Munich).”
