Stefanie Lambeens
Business Consultant
"Even though I am still a junior I feel really valued and respected by my colleagues and superiors."
After having obtained my degree in International Relations and while still studying for my Master in International Business Economics, I got my first job in marketing. I did not completely feel satisfied in this line of work and when a friend told me about Capgemini I immediately checked them out on internet, applied and was hired in a matter of weeks. Getting into consulting was not a deliberate career choice, but all of a sudden the picture seemed to fit my professional expectations: work at a strategic level, use my business insights, get lots of opportunities to build interpersonal relationships, be involved in change management and help people. This is not a 9 to 5 job, but that was not what I was looking for. I was still able to combine my last Masters year with my new job and pursue my personal interests, like running.
I joined a community of some 45 consultants who made me feel immediately at ease. In the last year I have started to get familiar with working as a consultant. I had the opportunity to attend the Capgemini University just north of Paris twice for hands-on training and workshops. It was a fantastic experience to learn from more experienced colleagues from different places around the globe. My first assignment was with our Public sector practice helping out on proposals, doing desk research and writing reports. I was involved among others with the evaluation of the EU Equal programme which provides funds to projects which test and promote new means of combating discrimination and inequalities in the labour market. In my next assignment I got in touch with a completely different world at an engineering and project management company specialized in railway technology. Together with a senior consultant we helped them implement their new strategy. Facilitating this whole process was a truly interesting experience. For the moment I am working in a team of about 10 consultants for another railway company to help their new CIO design the IT strategy.
The next step will be to further increase my SAP knowledge and assume more responsibility in my project work. When I started with Capgemini a dedicated people manager was assigned to me. Together we created a development action plan: a detailed plan on how to grow within the company. We meet and talk on a regular basis. I'm very glad he helped me find my way in the big world of Capgemini. I feel Capgemini really understands how to invest in people: they give you every possible opportunity to grow and learn.
A great amount of autonomy and responsibility are part of the deal when working for Capgemini, this is my greatest source of motivation. Besides that, I especially enjoy the collaborative way of working, the international environment and the very friendly, open and supportive atmosphere. Even though I am still a junior, I feel really valued and respected by my colleagues and superiors. On top of that, we have a great counselling process: it is a wonderful feeling to have a person assigned to you who can help you with any problem or question you might have and give you advice on how to progress your career.
Finally, I would like to make a call for more participants in the "20 km of Brussels". This year only five of us took part in that run, next year we will hopefully double that number!