Rafael Miranda Why did you first get into strategy?
In my penultimate year at university I did an internship at the derivatives group of an investment bank and got an offer to join the year after. During the whole year I started looking for alternatives as I thought I would specialize a lot in that job. I got an offer to join Bain & Co., a strategy consultancy and I immediately accepted with the idea of getting to know many industries and developing very different skills.
What was the most significant frustration during your time as a strategy consultant?
I always thought our recommendations were always very sound and got frustrated when clients wouldn’t implement them in full. After my experience working in industry I realized that there are many other factors that affect the implementation decisions and that although the impact of a consultant is very relevant, a company executive needs to factor in other inputs to make his final decisions.
What was the most difficult/challenging project you have worked on as a consultant?
I remember working on a commercial due diligence on a company offering crane services to oil offshore platforms in the North Sea. It was a 3 week project on a topic where I knew nothing and where I had to form a view on crane services market size and attractiveness in each oil field in the world. Didn’t get too much sleep...
What was the biggest adjustment you had to undergo when moving from consulting to industry?
Biggest changes were understanding how decisions where made, how politics played a role, how I needed to adapt my style to the different people...
What was the most difficult project you have worked on in industry?
The acquisition of the biggest cable company in Spain and subsequent integration with a mobile operator. Besides being long and complicated, it was one of the most successful and rewarding of my whole career.
What is your best advice to candidates when taking a case study?
Take your time to structure it at the beginning, avoid making business judgements without a good explanation and make a good summary at the end with a clear answer.
What advice would you give a consultant who is about to move into an internal strategy role for the first time? Be clear about your career goals with your boss when you move to industry. For example, strategy can be a great landing department to move to a more operational role afterwards.