In Her Shoes: Julia Bowler | Management Consultant, Capgemini

Who am I?

In Her Shoes- Julia Bowler | Management Consultant, CapgeminiI’m passionate about different languages and cultures. Having studied for my first degree in History and French at Leeds, I went on to do a master’s degree in Paris, during which I carried out research for a year across France and Algeria, prior to starting at Capgemini.

Joining a company whose head quarters are in France, as a first job felt very fitting, and it’s great to practise speaking French with colleagues when I get the chance. Outside of work I try to keep up both learning new languages and travelling to different countries – my latest adventures have been discovering Latin America.

My typical work day

Something I love about consulting is that no two days are ever the same. Work days are often a combination of client meetings or workshops and desk-based work including analysis, report writing, and preparing client presentations. I’ll also have internal business meetings or calls with other consultants who are working on the same internal project as me. I often have to travel, both to client sites and different locations, to meet with a variety of stakeholders. The variety certainly keeps you on your toes!

Planning my career

I was first attracted to consulting as a career because I wanted to be in a fast-paced, ever-changing environment, learning as much as possible. Change and variety was very important to me: when I was starting out, I wanted to try everything.

To some extent, this still stands but as my career has progressed I have become clearer about what I am really interested in, and therefore what type of projects I want to focus on. My initial plan was to move around and experience as many different industries and client projects as I could, but that’s now evolving into a plan with more focus on specific subject matter, in order to build my career and expertise in this area later on.

Managing my development

I normally try to have an idea of the shape of the six months ahead of me, and what I am going to focus on or achieve. I have a great career counsellor via the Capgemini performance management process, whom I sit down with regularly to review direction, goals and achievements. I find this very helpful both in planning my career aspirations and subsequently holding myself to them.

Since joining the world of work, I’ve found that being proactive and getting involved in the things you are really interested in is the best way of ensuring your career is focused on what you are passionate about. At the very beginning of your career, the most important things are getting stuck in and learning.

Highlights so far

I ran an Accelerated Solutions Environment (ASE) event for more than 100 executives in South Korea. I led a two-week graduate induction for 10 of our consulting graduate new joiners. And I’ve driven an exciting new offer that will bring real innovation to our clients.

Best thing about working here

The people! No matter which office, team or country they come from, everyone has such an open approach, and goes out of their way to help you.

Support that I value

I have benefited a lot from access to career coaching provided by the counsellor (internal mentoring) network, and the investment by our leaders in my development from day one.

What’s next?

I want to develop my knowledge and expertise in market-leading financial technology, and its disruptive implications for our clients and the wider industry.

Advice for new joiners

Try everything! Get stuck in and make the most of the network of people you have access to, and the endless opportunities to get involved with new things.

Why working in tech is great

You are always learning something new in this sector. Technology is constantly changing and evolving and therefore markets and businesses are constantly trying to adapt to keep up – you never ever know everything!

And finally…

Something I really love about working at Capgemini is the opportunity it offers to join a global community. From day one you will work and connect with your colleagues and counterparts in different countries. It could be through working on a cross-country offer, leveraging local expertise on a particular subject, or even attending the amazing training hosted in Capgemini’s chateau near Paris, if you’re lucky enough to have the opportunity.

Read more In Her Shoes profiles from Capgemini here.

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