When thinking about job prospects and careers, it is a particular tendency of graduates to focus on what they want to spend their next 40 years doing, but not where they want to do it or who they want to do it with. However, in my (admittedly limited) experience, it is often the atmosphere and interpersonal aspect of a firm which determines how much you really enjoy working there.  

In this regard, I could not have imagined a better start to my career than the three-week induction at Eden McCallum. Despite the challenges surrounding the COVID pandemic, the company endeavoured to give us an in-person induction that mirrored the usual experience as closely as possible. This meant that whilst some training, such as the incredibly insightful strategy sessions, was held virtually with our Dutch colleagues, other hard skills like Excel and PowerPoint were taught locally. What is more, every effort was made to give us some great social experiences as well.  

The result was a programme which not only supplied us with the skills and knowledge required to thrive on client projects, but also brought us together into an incredibly tight cohort of new analysts and really integrated us into the fabric of Eden McCallum. It felt like every single member of the firm made an effort to meet us in person and get to know us if they could, and the warmth and friendliness of everyone from the other analysts to the partners really made us feel like part of the family. There are plenty of reasons to go into strategy consulting, but who you work for is just as important as what you do, and from that perspective I feel very pleased with my decision to join Eden McCallum and look forward to developing myself within such a supportive environment.