I chose Bain because I felt most at home in the entrepreneurial and driven atmosphere.

• Background

  At the end of 2004, after completing my Masters in International Financial Economics, I took some time to travel in Mexico and came back ready for a new challenge. After enough years of studying, I wanted to roll up my sleeves and get to work.

  I debated between working in corporate finance and joining a strategy consulting firm. I felt that both jobs would offer me the opportunity to solve complex puzzles, and would give me the chance to learn a lot about business. I chose strategy consulting because I wanted to experience a broad set of business questions, in addition to the financial perspective I'd focused on in school and during the internship I did at a large bank. I chose Bain because I felt most at home in the entrepreneurial and driven atmosphere. It felt like an opportunity to be part of something exciting, this fast growing company in the Rembrandt tower, with its team of young and enthusiastic consultants.

• My Bain experience

  Three and a half years later, I felt I had reached what I had set out to do in consulting.  I had collected experience in many different industries and had been part of the solution of all kinds of business problems. I had played different roles on the teams I worked in, from the more analytical role of the associate consultant, to the more managing and client facing role of a consultant. I was able to help Bain grow as a company by being involved in recruiting activities. And I had made a group of close friends to boot!
  

• My alumni experience

  It was time for me to take the step from consulting to the corporate side, as I had always planned to do eventually. Based on my project experiences, I had some ideas on what kind of company I'd like to work for, and during the interviews I felt I was able to give many examples of why I'd be able to do the job, simply because there were so many topics I had already worked on.
  I decided to aim for E-Commerce, as the fast moving pace of this industry attracted me. And though I had not actually done projects in this business, I could fall back on a key strength of consultants which was becoming an expert on any topic very quickly by asking the right questions.

  I joined Nike, at the European Headquarters in Hilversum, as Business Development Manager for www.NikeStore.com, Nike's own online store for 21 countries in Europe.  In this role, I'm part of the management team of what is basically a start-up business within the larger Nike organization.
  
  In my current role, my consulting background is essential.  I connect the different functions to achieve a common goal, and am continuously working on optimizing what we do and how we do it. My experience with different companies also helps me understand how the (political) processes in the organization affect our part of the business.

  At the same time, working "in business" has a whole list of challenges and experiences of its own, but you'll have to ask me again in a few years time what I think then!